Vixen Apex Pro Roof Prism binoculars Part 1

[F15Rules]

For a while I've fancied a smaller aperture pair of bins for daytime ultra portable use, especially casual birdwatching both in the garden and on local country walks (we are lucky enough to be just 150 metres from open fields. For night use I have an excellent pair of Opticron SR-GA 8.5x50s (made in Japan), so although I would like to use the smaller pair on the night sky now and then, the primary use would be in the daytime.

I had a nice old pair of Zomz 8x30s which gave nice sharp views, albeit with a slightly yellow cast. I also wanted closer focusing capability and better fine focusing mechanics for comfy watching of birds in the garden. So I gave the Zomz to my daughter and hubby, who also wanted to get a taste of binoculars, and began a search for some more modern ones.

Having a limited budget of c £60-£70 or so, I felt that a used pair might be the best bet. I started the search on that well known auction site, expecting to be looking for quite a while: however, I had a "saved search" set up for Vixen products, being a big fan of most things Vixen, and within one day of setting the search up, this pair of dinky Vixen Apex Pros came up. Never heard of them. 

I soon put that right by doing a bit of online research, but there wasn't a great deal of info on these particular binoculars: I did however find the same bins marketed under the Ace Avian brand. Here are the key specs at a glance;

- Magnesium Alloy Construction

- Water Repellent Lens Coatings

- Close Focus to under 2 metres

- Fog Proof & Nitrogen Filled

- Twist-up Eyecups with click stops

- Aspherical lenses & Flat Field Coatings

The Complete Package :

These are, I believe, identical to the Vixen's, and must therefore have been contract manufactured by Vixen for Ace Optics.

I liked the online description of the Vixen's as being little used and in great condition, so I made a cheeky offer and was delighted to secure them at quite close to my budget - not bad considering the only retail price for these that I could find was c £300.

I was taking a bit of a risk as the seller was new to online selling and had virtually no feedback: however, the seller communicated well and seemed to answer my questions promptly and genuinely, so I went ahead and bought them.

They arrived safely, well packed, and upon opening them it was clear that these bins are almost as new, and very rarely used. I was both pleased and relieved.

Below are some photos of the bins.. I'll post up my thoughts on their performance in part 2..

Thanks for reading😊

Dave

 

Edited January 24, 2020 by F15Rules
Photos added

[Alan White]

Very nice indeed Dave 👍
Be interesting how these behave after dark too though.
As you say, what's not to like about things Vixen.

[Captain Scarlet]

I can just about see from one of the pics they’re 8x32 7.5 degrees ... nice! At £300 retail they should be very good.

i secured one of my pairs on the same auction site by accidentally searching for bionculars, and found a pair that had been posted with the same spelling mistake and got them for a total bargain.

look forward to reading more about how they are...

cheers, Magnus

[Ruud]

Congratulations Dave, they look wonderful and being this compact they must be very convenient  to take along. Small binoculars are a great thing to have!

[Paz]

17 hours ago, Captain Magenta said:

i secured one of my pairs on the same auction site by accidentally searching for bionculars

It is interesting how easy it is to type words like "binoculars" or "telescope" by accident! 😆