Product Review by Bill Dellinges
December, 2009
Vixen 7x50 Foresta Binoculars ($329)
Purchased from Orion Telescopes and Binoculars=
I wanted to buy a mi=
ddle
of the line binocular I would feel comfortable sharing with other observers.
You have to have nerves of steel to hand over high end binoculars to
laypersons! I had my eye on Orion’s 7x50 Ultra View which they’ve sold for =
many
years. It was recently discontinued however.
They suggested several alternatives including the Porro prism style =
Vixen
7x50 Foresta. I checked their specs and liked what I saw. Triplet objective=
s,
fully multicoated, nitrogen purged, real field 7.1 degrees, apparent field =
49.7
degrees, eye relief 20mm, tripod adaptable, center focusing, Bak 4 prisms,
twist-down eyecups, and weight of 1.9 pounds (30 ounces). Though Vixen is a
Japanese company, the binocular was made in China. Having used them several
times and testing them against my Swarovski 8x50, I can say they are a very
good binocular for their price range. The objective lenses looked smooth and
clean. The coatings were even and apparently doing their job as I could not=
see
my reflection in the lenses. The twist-down cups operated smoothly and have=
two
click stops travel above the lowest setting (that is, a total of three
positions). Set to the low and midway click positions, I could see the full
field with glasses on. The focus wheel and interpupillary adjustment is smo=
oth.
The body is of the German style, not the American one piece construction. T=
he
general appearance and covering material are of slightly above average qual=
ity,
not inferior but not of Swarovski or Fujinon quality, or even of the old
discontinued Celestron Ultima line. Testing: With the Vixen and Swarovski b=
inos
tripod mounted, I compared performance on Jupiter and its moons, Albireo
(Cygnus, 34”), Struve 747 (Orion, 35.7”) [both binos split each one], 32
Camelopardalis (21.6”) [neither bino split it but both showed a “figure 8”]=
, M35,
the Pleiades, and M42. I was surprised the Vixen held up admirably competing
with a bino four times its price. =
The
Vixen’s edge correction was excellent out to 50% from field center. Stars t=
hen
began to show coma, getting pretty bad near the edge. To be fair, the
Swarovski’s 7 degree field didn’t do much better. I had to wonder why one w=
ould
buy a $1000+ bino when a $329 would do fine. The answer is binos such as the
Swarovski (reviewed at Evac Reviews) are high end glasses meaning unusually
thorough quality control, superior coatings, excellent edge performance, and
durability. Also, roof prism binos are more expensive than porro prism
binoculars due to higher and tighter construction requirements. Nevertheles=
s, I
feel the Vixen Foresta would make a fine 7x50 binocular for the average
stargazer. At the price, your heart attack from dropping them would be much
less severe than if your Swarovski’s hit the pavement. Any negatives about =
the
Vixen? The bino strap and soft case, while serviceable, are not of high
quality. The cap covering the tripod bracket hole pops off, doesn’t screw o=
ff.
I prefer the latter. There is a tiny spec of something on the inside of the
right objective lens. Not sure what it is, possibly a dust particle held th=
ere
by electrostatic force (?). I wasn’t crazy about their being made in China =
(a
Vixen vendor had emailed me that they were made in Japan. Only upon opening=
the
shipping box did I see “made in China” on the bino box).<=
/p>
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