A few years ago, I looked at Athlon Optics’ original line of Midas binoculars. Already at that time they had been discontinued but most were (and are, as of this writing) still available at Amazon.
Now, let’s see what has replaced those binos and look at what other binoculars Athon Optics has for you.
Contents
Their product lines include something for virtually everyone’s budget from about $100 all the way up to around $700. (If you need something really fancy, as in laser rangefinder binoculars, they’ve got you covered there too…for a bit more.)
Athlon Optics has 5 lines of binoculars. That is, they give a group of instruments with similar features a name different from another group with more or fewer features. Starting with the group that has the fewest features and working up to the cream of the crop, we see these lines.
- Neos – 2 models
- Talos – 2 models
- Argos – 6 models
- Midas – 5 models
- Cronus – 3 models
So, what are the differences among these lines? Let’s start at the low end and see what the Athlon Optics Neos binoculars have to offer.
Athlon Optics Neos Binoculars
Neos binos come in two magnification types: 8×42 and 10×42. (Note that all lines except the Cronus have these two most common varieties.) Both models have the following features.
- HD glass
- Fully multi-coated lenses
- Composite chassis
- Nitrogen purged tubes
- Waterproof (as are all Athlon Optics binoculars)
As you would expect, where these models differ (and this will be true of each line) from each other is in some of the specifications. Besides the difference in magnification power – 8x versus 10x – you’ll find these differences.
| Model | Neos 8×42 | Neos 10×42 |
| FOV* | 367 | 309 |
| Eye relief (mm) | 17 | 14.1 |
*Field of view in feet at 1000 yards
In all other aspects, these models are identical. They have a close focus of 13.1 feet, interpupillary distance ranging from 56 to 72 millimeters, dimensions of 5.9 inches long by 4.9 inches wide, and weight of 21 ounces.
Athlon Optics recommends the Neos binoculars for hunting and general use.
Athlon Optics Talos Binoculars
Moving one step up the line gives you just one more feature. Instead of fully multi-coated lenses, you get lenses with advanced fully multi-coated…uh, coatings. Athlon doesn’t explicitly state what the difference is other than to say, “Advanced Fully Multi-Coated lenses provide better light transmission with optimum brightness and true color across the entire spectrum.”
So it sounds like a good thing. You’ll have to judge whether the small price increase over the Neos binoculars is worth it.
Specifications for the two Talos models are slightly, but perhaps not significantly, different from the Neos.
| Model | Talos 8×42 | Talos 10×42 |
| FOV | 371 | 319 |
| Eye relief | 17.9 | 16.1 |
The dimensions of both of the Talos models are 5.7 by 5 inches. They each weigh 20.8 ounces. (Thus, just one picture above.) Like the Neos, they have a close focus distance of 13.1 feet, but the interpupillary distance ranges from 56 to 76 millimeters.
Athlon suggests hunting and general use for the Talos as well.
Athlon Optics Argos Binoculars
Next we come to the biggest step up the ladder from one Athlon line to the next. With the Argos binoculars, you get the advanced multi-coating of the Talos, plus ESP dielectric coating on the prisms inside the tubes, phase corrected prisms, a magnesium alloy chassis, XPL coating on the exterior of the lenses, and argon purged tubes.
What does all that mean? Here’s what Athlon says and what I’ve been able to discover.
According to Athlon, ESP (which seems to mean electrostatic precipitator) dielectric coating is “a multi-layer prism coating that reflects over 99% of the light to your eyes thus bringing you a clear, bright image that displays accurate color reproduction.” Sounds good.
Phase correction involves a “special coating on prisms that produces images with better contrast, a higher resolution and better color reproduction.” Also good.
XPL coating gives “extra protection on the exterior lenses to prevent the scope from enduring dirt, oil, and potential scratches.” My best guess on “XPL” is “eXtra Protective Layer”.
Athlon recommends the 8×42 and 10×42 models for general use, hunting, and also birding.
In addition, the Argos has a kind of sub-line in which you can get 8×42 and 10×42 models with UHD – Ultra High Definition lenses. (All Midas and Cronus models have UHD too.) It’s hard to find what the technical difference between HD and UHD is, but it’s fairly obvious that UHD should be better.
As far as specifications, the Argos HD 8×42 and 10×42 are virtually identical (not exactly, but close enough) to the Talos models. And the Argos HD and UHD 8×42 and 10×42 models are identical, except for chassis color. With the UHD upgrade, Athlon also recommends those models for bird watching.
The Argos HD line includes larger 10×50 and 12×50 models. The specs for these are, of course, significantly different from their smaller brethren.
| Model | Argos 10×50 | Argos 12×50 |
| FOV | 304 | 257 |
| Eye relief | 17 | 18 |
| Close focus* | 13 | 13 |
*Close focus is 13 feet for all Argos models.
Both of these measure 6.8 by 5.6 inches and weigh a hefty 31.5 ounces. Athlon suggests using the 12×50 model for hunting and long range target shooting. You might need a tripod for this big bad boy.
HD 10×50
HD 12×50
Athlon Optics Midas G2 Binoculars
All of these binoculars (except the Cronus rangefinder) are technically G2, which I take to mean 2nd generation. I only mention G2 in connection with the Midas line to differentiate it from those in my earlier Athlon review.
The Midas 8×42 and 10×42 have identical features compared to their Argos counterparts. The differences are in some of the specifications.
The Midas 42s have a wider FOV than the Argos models. For the 8×42, it’s 426 feet (55 feet more than the Argos). For the 10×42, it’s 341 feet (22 feet more).
The eye relief is just a tiny bit shorter for the Midas binos, but the close focus is much better. It’s 6.5 feet for the 8×42 and 8.2 feet for the 10×42.
The interpupillary distance and the dimensions aren’t exactly the same, but they’re very, very close. Since they’re a tiny bit smaller than the Argos models, they’re also lighter by 2.2 ounces. Both models weigh 23.3 ounces.
So it really comes down to FOV and close focus as to whether or not you’ll want to shell out more for a Midas 8×42 or 10×42 (both UHD) or stick with the same types in an Argos UHD.
The Midas line also has 10×50 and 12×50 models, just like the Argos line. However, here the differences are more pronounced because the Midas models have UHD lenses, whereas the Argos are only HD.
| Model | Midas 10×50 | Midas 12×50 |
| FOV | 341 | 281 |
| Eye relief | 16.9 | 15 |
| Close focus | 9.8 | 11.5 |
The interpupillary distance goes from 59 to 74 millimeters for each, and the dimensions are 6.7 by 5.4 inches. Each weighs a full 2 pounds.
Somewhat curiously, Athlon doesn’t recommend using the 12×50 set for anything other than general use, but the 10×50 pair is good for hunting, bird watching, and general use. Here again you may want to get a tripod to keep these large binos steady enough to use.
The final member of the Midas line is the tiny 10×25 model. It has a decent FOV (285 feet) and eye relief (15.5mm) as well as the best close focus (5.2 feet) as you should expect.
Measuring 4.3 by 4.1 inches and weighing just 8.3 ounces, you sometimes might not remember it’s hanging around your neck.
Athlon says to use these for general purposes, hunting, and long distance target shooting, though I would question that last choice.
Athlon Optics Cronus Binoculars
The Cronus binos come in two flavors (not counting the rangefinder) – the common 10×42 and the monster 15×56.
With the Cronus models you get their E2ES – Edge to Edge System – which Athlon describes as follows. “The edge to edge field flattening system removes distortion on the outermost edge of the field of view, producing sharper and clearer images from one edge of the lens to the other.”
Since a lens is circular, this description is a little sketchy, but I understand (as I’m sure you do to) what they mean. If what you see around the edge of your lenses is important to you, then a Cronus might be worth your hard-earned dollars. If not, a Midas or Argos will probably work just fine.
| Model | Cronus 10×42 | Cronus 15×56 |
| FOV | 338 | 235 |
| Eye relief | 19.3 | 18.5 |
| Close focus | 6.6 | 13.1 |
| Interpupillary distance (mm) | 56-73 | 59-74 |
| Dimensions (in.) | 6.3 x 5.1 | 8.7 x 6.2 |
| Weight (oz.) | 27.8 | 45.2 |
The Cronus 10×42 binoculars are good for hunting, birding, and general use. However, the Cronus 15×56 set is definitely a special purpose item – anything but general use. In fact, you’ll definitely need a tripod for them considering their size and weight.
Finally, we’ll tackle the Cronus UHD 10×50 Laser Rangefinder. If you need a range finding device for hunting, target shooting, or other special purpose, this set of binos is worth your consideration. That said, it doesn’t have many ratings (as of this writing) at Amazon, and I have not had a pair in hand to compare with any other similar device, so take that into consideration.
In most feature and specification respects, these are similar to the Midas 10×50 binoculars. The main difference you’ll find, besides the built-in rangefinder, is the weight (2 pounds, 6 ounces), which is obviously due to that same rangefinder.
I’m not going to go into all the details of using the rangefinder. It has all the basic operations you’d expect in such a gadget. The main point here would be this: How does it compare to similar devices? And as I said, I haven’t had the opportunity to do that first hand. You can find other rangefinder reviews here.
Most other manufacturers have a similarly wide range of binocular products. Compare these to those and note the price differences. In many cases, I think you’ll prefer the offering from Athlon Optics.
