Vortex Stokes Talon, 8x42, 10x42

The Talons are the least expensive models of full-sized roof prism binoculars offered by Vortex Optics in the Stokes Birding binocular series. We really like the Talons for some of their optical and physical properties. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. The Talons are another entry into the low price bracket of binoculars (i.e. – under $400), while offering performance more characteristic of a mid-price optic. To be clear, the Talons have an MSRP of $240 for the 8x version, and $250 for the 10x version, but they can be found for $180 and $190 respectively.

Despite being the least expensive, the Talons are the most distinctive looking of the three full-sized Stokes Birding binocular series. The Talons are clad in dark olive green rubber armoring with black accents on the eyecups and various knobs. Unlike the slender, straight barrels of the binoculars of this series, the Talons have gently curved barrels with longitudinal ridges running down them to improve the grip. The Talons also feature the same flaring ridge just under the oculars to improve comfort by distributing weight to the webbing of the hand. The Talons are pretty compact, measuring just 5.9 inches high by 4.9 inches wide, and weighing 26.4 and 25.8 oz. respectively for the 8x and 10x models. The weight is nicely balanced, so they feel good in the hand. Like their more expensive cousins, the Talons are fully sealed and nitrogen-purged to be completely waterproof and internally fogproof. They are also made with BaK4 glass, completely multi-coated to deliver the brightest image, and phase-coated for enhanced sharpness and contrast. We were quite impressed by the brightness of the Talons, which delivered more light than some more expensive optics we compared them with.

The Talons do well with the basic optical properties. They have a very impressive field of view at 1000 yards, measuring 345 feet for the 10x and 420 feet for the 8x model. That is much better than average for the 10x and way, way better than average for the 8x. The minimum close focus on both Talons is advertised at 4.5 feet. We couldn’t get them down quite that far, but we measured the 8x at 5.0 feet and the 10x at 5.25 feet with no tendency to collapse to the dominant ocular field, which is clearly better than average performance for both magnifications. Eye relief on the 10x Talon is 16 mm, compared to 18 mm on the 8x.

One place where the Talons finally act like a binocular in their price range is in flat field performance. The image is sharp and clear in the middle of the field, but odd things happen near the edge. There is the usual amount of pin-cushioning: straight lines that bow towards the field center as they approach the edge of the field. We did not detect any notable color bias – colors stay sharp and true under all viewing conditions, but there was a fair amount of prismatic separation when viewing high-contrast objects under bright light. Under these conditions, objects can appear yellow- or blue-fringed. The Talons go from minimum close focus to infinity in 1.75 turns of the focus knob – this is fairly slow for modern roof prism binoculars. Compensating for this is the fact that the focus mechanism is very smooth even on brand new binoculars, and the depth of field is a bit better than average, so focusing is also fairly forgiving.

In terms of user-adjustable qualities, it’s kind of a mixed bag. The eyecups adjust with the common helical twist mechanism, and “lock” in the fully-in or fully-out positions, but no intermediate positions are available. The diopter adjustment is fairly simple: a rubber twist-ring on the right ocular. Raised marks on the barrel include + and – signs flanking a vertical hash mark, indicating the direction of diopter adjustment, and the position for equal eyes, when lined up with a small hash mark on the twist-ring itself. There are 5 little indentations on either side of the hash mark on the ring, presumably for marking settings for unequal eyes. Oddly, on the 8x pair we reviewed, you could turn the ring in the plus direction to between the 3rd and 4th mark, whereas you could go well beyond the 5th mark when adjusting in the minus direction. We don’t know quite what to make of that!

The rainguard is the usual thing we see: pliable rubber cups that fit fairly tightly over the eyecups, with brackets for threading the strapped through, fixed on the right side, and gapped for easy detachment at will on the left side. The fit is fairly good – it could be a bit tighter to prevent accidental dislodging, but it’s not too bad. The objective lens caps are much better, being attached to pliable rings that fit over the barrels, so the cap is tethered. The caps dangle when not in use, and show little inclination to blow around except in hurricane force winds, because Vortex made the tether straps fairly wide, which discourages movement under normal conditions. These are well executed. The strap is really nice: a 1.5-inch wide neoprene affair attached to thin cordura straps that fit into mounting brackets on the flared ends of the upper barrels. We’ve seen much less comfortable straps on far more expensive binoculars, so Vortex gets credit for this one. We didn’t like the case as well. It’s reasonable enough: padded cordura with a Velcro-closing flap. There’s even a zippered net enclosure beneath the flap that holds a soft blue lens cloth. Our gripe is with the overall size: it’s simply too small for the binocular, such that getting it in is harder than it should be, and getting it out can be an epic struggle! We accidentally pulled off one of the tethered lens caps while trying to remove the binocular from the case. Just a bit more room would have been very welcome here.

So what we have here in the Vortex Talon is a pretty good binocular overall, at an extremely reasonable price. Many of the optical properties are quite excellent for a binocular priced at less than $200, and most of the stuff on which we downgrade them is either pretty trivial, or only to be expected on an optic in this price class. The ergonomics are better than the average binocular in this class, so they feel good in the hands. We can cheerfully give the Vortex Talons a thumbs-up.

Vortex Stokes Talon Binoculars - current price and availability