Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics The Mystery Bins

My hat goes off to Doug. He works insane hours to keep up the level of service that he does. He sounds tired when I talk to him and yet he is always friendly and courteous. You are a rare one Doug. Thank you for doing what you do.

Not too sure how to read that.

Did they pick from a "Chinese menu" at the OEM or did they actually do the optical design in the US? Note I don't think the former is worse than the latter (I've worked with lot of smart Chinese engineers!).

The second sentence is more clearly the body was designed and production engineered by the OEM (as I'd expect) based on their spec ("Make it open bridge like a Swaro" ... that's a spec ).

Yes, those were Rhetorical Questions.

I suppose the motive behind my question is more or less along the line of the fact that I'm curious as to what makes that Promaster ELX click. Is it a much improved manufacturing process that is also less expensive? These are too good to have "cheap" even enter the discussion. Is it some new design/technical innovation? Or is Promaster using this thing as a lost leader to position themselves in a better position for a forthcoming glass for less than $1,000 that will be designed to take a shot at the alpha glass?

I have not seen these binoculars, so I can not say for sure, of course. Generally speaking, manufacturing techniques in China are steadily improving. Also, with a lot of Japanese companies setting up factories in China, there is a lot of cross-pollination of expertise occurring since Chinese engineers are getting much better training and taking it to their next jobs. The quality of stuff coming out of China is getting better and better every year.

ILya

Just received the binoculars in the mail today first impressions are very favorable while I've only look through them for a little while I have to say that for glass that is made in China they are very good. While I do not have the high end German glass which I could never afford for $2,000 and I'm no optic expert,but I'am dam good at spotting name which is all that matters and why I buy the best glass that I can afford, I do have a pair of Bushnell Elites 10x43, great glass and a pair of German Made Minox 7x42 that I bought from Doug for a great price by the way thanks Doug that I would not sell for 1,000 dollars that are fantastic only beef with the minox's are field of view. Will do a more in depth review tommorrow but so far I would say that they are almost identical to the Elites and just a touch behind the Minox's. I do love the lens cover to which fit tight and do not fall off. More to come tommorrow.

Oldlogger

Well, I have spent a couple days with these binoculars, and here is my impression�s.

Cons
There really are none for me the focus is a little bit of a pain but not bad..

Pros
Resolution compared to my Elites and Minox�s is very good equal to the Elites and just a hair behind the Minox�s., color fringing, flare and blackout are not a problem at all.
To my 57 year old eyes the edge to edge sharpness is very good and the view with eyeglass�s is also good, and I love the FOV. The wide FOV is really noticeable, when compared to my Minox, Color rendition is very good. Build and quality looks good, ergonomics and feel very similar to my Elites except they are bigger and heavier very easy to hand hold. Twilight view was on par with my Elites which is very good. My impressions are that I think this is another very good binocular for the money. The list of mid priced binoculars just seems to be getting better and better which is a very good thing for us guys that just can�t justify spending the money on the big 3.

Oldlogger

Oldlogger I just sent you Pugs ship to info.

Pugs, thanks for taking the time to get involved with the forum and do this.