Kite Lynx HD 8x30 (1 Viewer)

[oetzi]

Samandag, post 36,
From your verdict about the Kite Lynx 8x30HD I understand that you have done solid research about its qualities in comparison with the Nikon M7 8x30. Can you please inform us in detail what differences you found, since that is important for this forum.
Gijs

Maybe he is Dennis´distant cousin?

 

[SteveTS]

Thanks, having found the Kite not to be the best buy for my purposes I've not been following this thread, life's too short.

I've tried the MN7 8x30, the Kite Lynx 8x30 and the Zeiss Conquest HD 8x32 ; I own the Zeiss.

For me the Kite offers no significant additional quality over the Nikon to justify the additional cost. To me it seems purely a very low volume follow-my-leader product at the wrong price point held in quantity only by retailers and not owned by many in the outside world.

What works for me may not work for you. There is some interesting comment on here but important, no I don't think so, I would always want to see it for myself to make up my own mind. As for some of the rest of it, Gary Larson would have trouble making it up !

Best wishes

 

[pompadour]

Neither Chris in post #30 nor the title of his excellent thread linked there indicates it's a *three*-way comparison among the Kite Lynx 8x30, Nikon Monarch 7 8x30 *and* Zeiss Conquest HD 8x32.

 

[SteveTS]

Neither Chris in post #30 nor the title of his excellent thread linked there indicates it's a *three*-way comparison among the Kite Lynx 8x30, Nikon Monarch 7 8x30 *and* Zeiss Conquest HD 8x32.

So what. I didn't say it was a three way comparison ; just my choice but as usual you can't see it. Best wishes,

 

[pompadour]

Samandag, that wasn't a response to you - in fact, hadn't seen your last post when I sent that in! Sorry if my brevity misled. Meant to be useful info (hopefully) for those interested in comparisons between, or involving, the K. and N. BTW, surprised by that last statment! Best wishes.

 

[cycleguy]

Is the Kite Lynx available in the US? If not, how could somebody go about getting one?

CG

 

[PhilR.]

Is the Kite Lynx available in the US? If not, how could somebody go about getting one?

CG

The Kite website lists only one dealer in the US - Eagle Optics. EO does not show any Kite products on their website, but you might call them and see what they can do for you....

 

[Ries]

Dear Chris and David,
We have investigated the Lynx 8x30 and 10x30. From the 8x30 we found that 95% of 151m/1000m FOV was sharp. This amounts to 144 m/1000m, measured with a Möller FOV meter was sharp and there was not much distortion. We did not observe a difference in shape between the sweet spot of the two binocular tubes. The actual magnification of the 8x was 7,8x (measured) and exactly 10x for the 10x30. We learned that Kite Optics wanted good quality eyecups for the Lynxes and that wish came true, the Japanese company, which makes the Lynxes as well as the Conquests and the Nikon Monarch 7 8x30 did a good job.
Light transmission was pleasant high : for the Lynx 8x30: 85% at 500 nm, and 88,3% at 550 nm. The Zeiss Conquest scored 89% at 500 nm and 91,5% at 550 nm. Eyerelief for the Lynx and the Conquest was almost the same: 15 mm for the Lynxes and 16 mm for the Conquest. As could be expected from the shape of the transmission spectra: the Lynxes had a slight red bias: a warm image impression, which is liked by some and disliked by others. The small red bias can also be observed by looking at a bright white surface.
As far as weight is concerned: the 8x30 Lynx weigs 463 grams, the 10x30 468 gramss. The Conquest 8x32 is heavier with a weight of 643 grams.
Close focus: 1.3 m for the 8x30 and the 10x30 Lynx and 1,6 m for the 8x32 Conquest.
Color dispersion is small for all binoculars and they all had good handling comfort.
Focussing speed: 1,1 revolution from close focus to infinity for the Lynxes and 1,4 revolutions for the Conquest 8x32.
The turning resistance of the Lynxes was somwhat high, which is a disadvantage for fast focussing, but an advantage for accurate focussing, since one does not slip out of focus so easily. We did not observe a low resistance for the hinges of the Lynxes , they worked fine.
The eyecups of the Conquest felt poor and we thought that this might be a weak point of these binoculars.
That is it for now,
Gijs

Goedemorgen Gijs, have you had the chance already to investigate the new lynx/valk hd+? Wondering if the claimed 3% higher transmission holds up.

 

[Gijs van Ginkel]

Ries, post 38,
No I id not have the opportunity yet, perhaps after our lockdown next year.
Gijs van Ginkel

 

[Ries]

Yeah, that's a limiting factor... A bit of hibernation first, I guess.

@ mods: could this thread be moved to the Kite subforum? Thanks.

 

[ZDHart]

Looking forward to any new/current evaluations/reviews on the Lynx HD+ 8x30.

Does anyone have any new information on these bins?

Are they generally considered in similar league as Maven, Kowa? Higher, lower?

 

[ZDHart]

Living in the USA, there appears to be no Kite presence here. Oh well.

They seem to be excellent bins, quite readily available to Europeans, though.

 

[PeterPS]

Living in the USA, there appears to be no Kite presence here. Oh well.

They seem to be excellent bins, quite readily available to Europeans, though.

You can order Kite binos by emailing to one of the owners (Sebastien) at [email protected]. I have used his service and have no complaint whatsoever. Concerning the Lynx HD+ 8x30, I owned the former version and thought they were good binos in their price range (the deal-breaker for me was subpar glare control, and as the OP said the eyecups did not have firm click stops)

 

[dalat]

Ordered a 8x30 for my daughter (the formate is perfect for kids). First impression very good. High quality build and optics.

What I liked especially is that looking near the low sun, it performs quite well in suppressing reflexions. In the short test I did, it performed actually as good as my Ultravid, which is pretty impressive.

I'll have to see if this will be confirmed in more prolongued use. However, as glare and flare is a frequently reported problem in earlier Lynxes and similar speced versions from Nikon, Opticron (the only other one I know from personal experience) or others, this first impression is quite a pleasant surprise...