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Magnification	Lens diameter	Angular field of view	Prisms	Eye relief	Weight	Price
10	42	109/1000(6.2o)	BaK-4/roof	15 mm	652 g	729 PLN
Owners opinions: 0 Specifications

Real front lens diameter	Left:   41.63+/- 0.05 mm Right:  41.66+/- 0.05 mm	6 / 8.0 pkt
Real magnification	9.92+/- 0.05x	3/3.0
Transmission	75.1+/- 1%	8/25.0
Chromatic aberration	Slight in the centre but still noticeable. On the edge distinctly higher than medium.	4.4/10.0
Astigmatism	Slight.	7/10.0
Distortion	The distance of the first curved line from the field centre compared to the field of view radius: 46% +\- 3%	5/10.0
Coma	Appears in a distance of 45% of the field of view radius and is high on the very edge.	2.5/10.0
Blurring at the edge of the FOV	Blur occurs in a distance of 75% ± 4% from the field of view centre.	4/10.0
Darkening at the edge the FOV	Moderate.	3.7/5.0
Whiteness of the image	The transmission curve is slightly slanted, with a noticeable dip in the middle of the range and surplus of red light so images feature delicate red hue.	3.7/5.0
Collimation	Perfect.	5/5.0
Internal reflections	Left: Right: Noticeable arcs near the exit pupil.	3/5.0
Housing	Very nice and stylish and of typical dimensions for the 42 mm class at the same time. Padded with good quality rubber armour that sticks to your hands properly well. Rubber on the body can't be pulled away near to objective lenses. Comfortale to hold – thumb indents certainly help here – and to look through. No shoddy workmanship visible anywhere. Rubberized eyecups with smooth regulation. Everything looks and works fine – especially for a piece of equipment at this price point. Produced in China.	8/8.0
Focusing	Big and comfortable central wheel with ribs moves smoothly and is properly damped even though from time to time you can hear squelching of grease. Its full working range amounts to an angle of about 620 degrees. Dioptre correction done by a comfortable ring on the right eyepiece that performs as it should. It moves the outer element.	3.8/5.0
Tripod	Quite comfortable access.	3/3.0
Interpupilary distance	from 57.4 to 76mm	5/6.0
Closest focusing distance	2.65 meters.	1.5/2.0
Eyepieces FOV	Apparent field of view amounting to 61.7 degrees (simplified formula) or 56.6 degrees (tangent formula).	11.5/20.0
Field of view	Measured by us amounted to 6.22 ± 0.04 degrees and it was in perfect accordance with field stated in official specifications. A good field for this class of equipment.	6.5/8.0
Quality of the interior of the barrels	Inner tubes are dark, but not completely matt, without any ribs. The bottom is gray and probably not covered by anything; outer tube keeping the prisms in place is dark and matt. Very clean inside.	3.5/5.0
Vignetting	Left: Right: OL: 2.21%, OR: 2.43%	5/8.0
Prisms quality	Good quality BaK-4.	8/8.0
Antireflection coatings	Greenish on objectives and eyepieces. Strong, uncoloured reflection from the prisms. Medium intensity.	3.5/5.0
Warranty [years]	lifetime	6/6.0
Final result	63.5%	120.6 / 190 pkt
Econo result		0pkt.

Summary

Pros:

• surprisingly solid and well-put-together casing, especially for a piece of equipment at this price point,
• slight astigmatism,
• proper colour rendering,
• clean inner tubes, sensibly blackened inside,
• good quality prisms made of BaK-4 prisms,
• rich accessory kit,
• lifetime warranty.

Cons:

• low transmission,
• truncated exit pupils,
• significant coma,
• too high chromatic aberration on the edge of the field of view.

After the recent launch of the Vortex Triumph HD 10x42 that costs about 150 USD, the Vortex Crossfire HD 10x42, sold at less than 200 USD stopped to be the cheapest roof prism 10x42 class pair of binoculars offered by this American company. Still, the final score of the Crossfire HD 10x42 in our test is noticeably higher than the score of the Triumph and it seems that while paying more you also get more. However, during our test we had several surprises.

The first surprise was not especially big one: in both binoculars the producers applied antireflection coatings of exactly the same quality. Their reflections are of the same colour and their transmission graphs are similar as well. What's interesting, in case of the more expensive Crossfire it seems the graph is even a tad worse because it is more slanted, with a more pronounced dip in the centre of the range. It most probably stemms from its more complex optical system; with the same class of coatings its performance is bound to be a bit weaker.

The second, far more unexpected surprise, is the fact that the more expensive pair of binoculars, despite a bit narrower field of view, corrects coma weaker and features more truncated exit pupils. Of course it might also be caused by a bit smaller and slimmer design of the Crossfire's casing.

Vortex Triumph HD 10x42 and Vortex Crossfire HD 10x42.

The more expensive binoculars present also a more serious approach towards the compliance of parameters with official declarations of the producers. There are no slip-ups like in the case of the Triumph. Especially the weight is practically the same as in the specifications (and, according to our measurements, it amounts to 660 grams). Additionally, that increased weight might mean that the barrels are made of parts of better quality and mechanisms inside are more complex. For example the focusing range is distinctly better in the more expensive model because this pair of binoculars is able to set the focus from approximately 2.65 meters, a result over 2 meters better than that of the cheaper Triumph.

The more expensive Crossfire HD is also sharper on the edge of the field of view; it corrects better chromatic aberration, astigmatism, distortion, and brightness loss on the edge of the field. These are serious assets.

To sum up, you can say that the new line of 10x42 Vortex binoculars has been constructed very nicely indeed. At the bottom you get the basic Triumph HD, costing less than 150 USD, aimed at buyers with the lowest budget. If you can spend about 50 USD more you get a bit better Crossfire HD; paying 300 USD you can purchase the Diamondback HD that performs even better. The next price point is occupied by the Viper HD and the top-of-the-range segment features both Razors – take your pick.