Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Promaster Binos vs. The Best from Europe,do they really stand up?

Some time ago,I asked to participate in a test of some new mystery Binos.I now know that they are made by Promaster,a camera and optics company that has been around for more than twenty years that has only recently produced sports optics.

Those of you who read my posts know that I am a real fan of top quality European optics,and not without reason. The best European optics companies produce incredible products.At my house we have Leica 10x42s,Swarovski 8x30s,and Ziess 8x56V binos.

I figured that a fair comparision of the Promasters to this crowd of euro optics would pretty quickly reveal anything from asia to be lacking. That has been my impression when looking at a number of asian brands in the past so I have to admit that I was a more than a little skeptical of some upstart asian company.

The first thing that I did was spend a day glassing a big clear cut with the Promasters while using the Swaros and Leicas as well. I would swap binos every few minutes and reapeated the process for a few hours.

At first,I had a little trouble getting the Promasters focused for my eyes. With my three Euro binos,I can just set the independent focus on the right ocular lens to zero or neutral,and they are in focus for both eyes. I found that my right eye needed a slightly different setting with the Promaster,with this out of the way,they were properly focused and could be compared fairly to the others.

I never thought that I'd say this but they were competitive with the Leicas and Swaros in every way. In terms of resolution,they were the equal of the Leicas and bettered the Swaros. In terms of field of view,they were a little behind the Swaros but competitive with the Leicas. With regard to color contrast and fidelity,they were just plain better than the Leicas or the Swaros.

With regard to ergonomics,they are superb with their open hinge design that looks a lot like my friends' Swaro ELs. I have always used single hinge binos because that big,long piano hinge just looks stonger. But industry people tell me that many times binos that appear to have a single long hinge often actually have two hinges inside of a cover that makes them appear to be one. When we think about the function of the hinge system,the real trick is to keep the two optical systems collumnated. Long ago,hunters decided that two connectors were better than one when it comes to keeping our rifle scopes collumnated with our rifle bores.

The bottom line is that the two hinge, open designs appear to work just fine,and they are very comfortable to use as well as lighter than a more bulky closed design.


My final test of the Promasters was a late evening hunt on a very cloudy day in a wheat field. Again,the low light performance of these binos was shockingly good. Many times in the past,I have seen binos fail to outperform my big Ziess rifle scopes. Not this time,the Promasters were a very good optical team paired with my Ziess 3-12x56V. I would have no hesitation recommending them as a superb low light glass.


These binos retail from Doug at Cameraland for around 500 bucks,in my opinion they do compare well with binos that sell for three times that much money. I can not speak to their durability but Doug tells me that they feature a lifetime warranty and that Promaster has provided good warranty service for his camera owners for years. He recommends them. So do I.

Ruraldoc

Thanks for taking the time to post your findings.

ruraldoc,

Thanks for the post. Your views seem pretty much to coincide with mine. I had a lot of "...$500, Chinese binoculars, for pete's sakes they can't be this good!" After using mine a lot and now having had a chance to do side by side to Bushnell Elite, Brunton Epoch, Cabela's Euro (admitedly an 8x vs 10x comparison here), Meopta Meostar, Minox HG, Leica Ultravid HD, Swarovski EL (no SLC), Steiner Peregrine and Peregrine XP, and Zeiss FL, I have reached the same conclusion you have posted. You have to get more nit picking and use far more sophisticated optical tests than I have the equipment to do to do any practical seperation of the image quality. The images of each do tend to have a different "look" to them and some will find one particular image more appealing to them than another. For me I could easily live with any. I do feel that the Promaster is a better image than the Elite or the Meostar. But as a matter of practical use in the field, any of them will work just fine.

I do see three deficiencies with the Promaster. You mentioned one. The Promaster is a little bit picky about the diopter setting and it does take more work to get the binocular adjusted just right. However once set, mine has not moved. Secondly the focus wheel rate is really too slow for my liking, I'd rather see it at 1.5 turns rather than 2. Third, when focused the depth of field of the Promaster is a tad shallower than the others. The shallowness reveals itself in the near part of the field of view, inside about 40-50 yards. The Swaro seems best in the dof regard. but from the limit of near focus, about 40 yards for the Promaster and 25-30 yards with the Swaro, 30-35 yards for the rest, focus on to infinity is about the same.

Wow, that is the most definite comparison I have read, and from someone without an ax to grind versus the Euro Alpha's. Good review from a credible user of Euro and Asain optics.

I also appreciate your analysis of the open hinge design in general. I have come to the same conclusion, after looking at the "piano hinge" on my Leica Ultravids it appears that they are simply two hinges butting against one an other while some of the open bridge designs takes the same hinge area and separates them to create an "open" bridge. I never made sense to me, that a company such as Swarovski would create and market something they didn't have total confidence in. Now if some low end company had developed the idea and tried to pawn it off as an improvement I would be sceptical that it was just a cost saving technique coupled with good marketing. Plus I have never heard of an EL failing at the bridge, of course I have never heard of a fogged Swaro expect on this site. It's funny, I have heard of fogging Leica's over on the birdforum site. Now I did it, please everybody, let's stay on the Promaster topic.
John

There are some respects in which they are a little less user friendly than the Euro glass.

Diopter Settings are more critical.

Focus wheel rate is slower and takes a bit longer to get right.

Depth of field was shallower.

But they do focus very precisely and when properly focused offered amazing color contrast and fidelity,and their low light performance is as good as anything that I have used with an equivalent exit pupil.

A guy could get by quite well with them as a multipurpose hunting bino. Optically speaking,they are top notch once focused on the subject.

What size and magnification were you testing ?
I've noticed much the same thing with other makes. I continue to be surprised as to how well my Pentax SP 8X43, my Minox 6.5X32 and even my Leupold 6X30 Yosemites perform. E

E,

Thanks for pointing out that I omited that important detail.
It is a 8x42 Promaster ELX.

My son has the Minox 6.5x32 and my daughter uses the Leupold 6x30 Yosemites,I agree that both are real values for the money.

The Promasters are not just good for the money,they are good next to super expensive stuff.

Thanks Doc. I never have/spend the time to write as well as others but you hit the nail on the head. I have both 8x and 10x Promasters and am seriously considering selling my 8.5x42 EL's.
I too found the diopter took a minute longer than normal to set. Until I did finally "hit" it I was not overly impressed but when I found the correct setting it was "WOW". Hard to believe the view. I have 10X Leica Trinovids and 8.5 EL's and have yet to compare the 10X's but will as soon as I can. I compared the 8x's to the EL's and other 8X's and they are truly amazing.

Skane - you listening? Your dad needs a set.......

Dave

Indeed - doc pretty much echoed your sentiment. I just wouldn't take your word for it.
Now, doc, is a guy I can believe.....

I don't blame ya. Really....

Thank you for taking the time to do, and post, such a complete review.

OK, So who want's to do the next Test & Review???? Please PM me if you are interested

I'd bet the proverbial farm on any recommendation that you made - you know that.

Leica Ultra HD's in 8x42 and you can send them to me first...

It will be a long term test, couple of hunting seasons up north should do it.........