View Full Version : Binoculars
Looking at buying a quality pair of binoculars. Not looking to spend more than $5-600. Maybe slightly more if it gets me a jump in quality. They would be a do-all pair; use at the range, looky-looing while hiking, spotting game, checking out the hot neighbor while she sunbathes. Any help, suggestions, comments appreciated.
Got some Nikon Monarch 10x42 back in November. I love them. Plus I am rough on stuff, so the fog / waterproof was mandatory. Only in the $300 range.
Use them at the range and nature watching. Just great.
edit - mine are 10x42 not 10x50
BravoWhiskey
02-02-11, 12:12
First is size. What I have found to be a best Do all Bino is a a 10x42 pair. Enough magnification and light gathering without to much weight for hiking or holding. If you were using them on the move ,like on a boat or from a car you would want less mag (8x42) if the platform was not steady to minimize the bounce. Large boat than you can go for more Mag and objective . I like my Nikons but have since discovered Vortex and price point to price point I like them better. They have a new line out this year called "Talon HD" The ergos are great with an open hinge section for easy grip and they will have the High Density objective glass which is great. They are offered in 8x42 or 10x42..They should sell on the street in the$450 /$500 .
Next step up would be the Viper line which you could still do @ the top of your price range. Both of these are argon filled and come with an unlimmited lifetime warrany.
Found some Vortex Vipers 8X42 for $450. Great reviews. Thinking hard about them.
BravoWhiskey
02-02-11, 20:38
Make sure they are the Viper HD's. The Viper with out the HD is a great pair as well but you might want to chack out the new Talon w/ the HD glass or the new Viper w/ the HD glass. Last years item had XD glass for the objective. The HD is one step up. The Vipers have a great locking Diopter ring and real nice eye relief cups and are a tad smaller & lighter than the Talon counterpart.
Everything you ever wanted to know about binos (specs not brands)...
http://www.bestbinocularsreviews.com/glossary-binoculars.php
More than I needed to know anyway.
Buds has some great prices on some of the Bruntons. Not fancy at all but I'm happy with my 8x42 (large exit pupil) pair for what I need. I got these for about $80 w/free shipping from Buds...
http://www.katerno.com/detail.php?s=189034
-That's the next cheapest place I've seen them (at $170).
They seem to be out of the 8X42. These 10x56s are $200-$300 everywhere else I've looked ($99 at Buds)...
http://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog/product_info.php/products_id/411538269
Not in your price range but I think they're a great "value/budget" choice for others in the market for such a thing. At least at the Buds price.
About six months ago I scored a pair of NIB 10X50 Steiner Military/Marine binos on Ebay for $250 delivered on what is normally a $500 pair of binos. You might take a look over there.
BravoWhiskey
02-02-11, 23:28
Everything you ever wanted to know about binos (specs not brands)...
http://www.bestbinocularsreviews.com/glossary-binoculars.php
More than I needed to know anyway.
Buds has some great prices on some of the Bruntons. Not fancy at all but I'm happy with my 8x42 (large exit pupil) pair for what I need. I got these for about $80 w/free shipping from Buds...
http://www.katerno.com/detail.php?s=189034
-That's the next cheapest place I've seen them (at $170).
They seem to be out of the 8X42. These 10x56s are $200-$300 everywhere else I've looked ($99 at Buds)...
http://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog/product_info.php/products_id/411538269
Not in your price range but I think they're a great "value/budget" choice for others in the market for such a thing. At least at the Buds price.
Your First link is good basic info and should enlighten most folks that optics are like cars ,steak knifes and cabinets, you get what you pay for. In this day and age your entry level decent bino is approaching $275, most everything else is blue light special. For Bino's priced over $1k, only the discerning user with wants or needs will realize the difference between a pair of $1200 or $2500 binos.
The Meat and Potatoes fall between binos in the $300 /$1000 price point. If a person looks for bino options and is willing, looking for a certain level of quaility , I would not send them to K mart . I would buy .22LR @ K mart but not my glass.
BravoWhiskey
02-02-11, 23:39
About six months ago I scored a pair of NIB 10X50 Steiner Military/Marine binos on Ebay for $250 delivered on what is normally a $500 pair of binos. You might take a look over there.
Steiner USA is/has been made by Burris which has /will shut donw the German set up plant in Jersey. The old german made Steiner's were once the bence mark but the current steiners are nothing like the originals. Hope you got a pair from the original plant.
I don't want to be the wet diaper here but most companys have done the same thing. The best stuff will be coming from the smaller companys who are the most dedicated.
Steiner USA is/has been made by Burris which has /will shut donw the German set up plant in Jersey. The old german made Steiner's were once the bence mark but the current steiners are nothing like the originals. Hope you got a pair from the original plant.
I don't want to be the wet diaper here but most companys have done the same thing. The best stuff will be coming from the smaller companys who are the most dedicated.
I have been nothing but pleased with them.
BravoWhiskey
02-02-11, 23:59
I have been nothing but pleased with them.
Good to hear you have propper Steiners. My first set was about 30 years ago and they cost more than the VHF & Flasher fish finder.
Your First link is good basic info and should enlighten most folks that optics are like cars ,steak knifes and cabinets, you get what you pay for. In this day and age your entry level decent bino is approaching $275, most everything else is blue light special. For Bino's priced over $1k, only the discerning user with wants or needs will realize the difference between a pair of $1200 or $2500 binos.
The Meat and Potatoes fall between binos in the $300 /$1000 price point. If a person looks for bino options and is willing, looking for a certain level of quaility , I would not send them to K mart . I would buy .22LR @ K mart but not my glass.
So what's your opinion on the higher end Bruntons? Are they the bluelight special you speak of?
I'm under no illusions about them being "as good as ____". I'm aware that many Brunton products aren't highly regarded (including by myself).
But they typically sell well into the $200s at most places.
The specs look much like the $300+ binos I looked at...Full multi-coated lenses, Bak4 prism, Nitrogen filled, etc,etc.
They look and feel solid and well made.
I don't claim to have a particularly discerning eye. But I have owned/used Trijicon, Leupold, Aimpoint and many similarly priced optics up to $1000+... The glass in the Bruntons doesn't appear to be noticably inferior to my eye.
They do everything I've asked and I have no plans to upgrade at this point. I am curious to how they stack up as an entry level bino however.
BravoWhiskey
02-05-11, 22:41
Jerm,
1st, If I sounded as if I was "Dissin" your suggestions that was not my intent. Brunton has a full price point line like many others with some great glass and some very average glass as well.
My Reply was more towards the sales I see all over the internet. Every manufacture blows out their discontinued lines, out of date, old tech, and or failed product. Sometimes a great value can be had but sometimes you are just getting the stuff that a company doesn't want to eat.
You can have similair/same specs without the same preformance.
I have found Load E rated tires from several brands to preform /last far different from other brands just as I have had soon to be new clients that were very dissapointed with the glass they were using that was specified as good or better than what I turned them on to.
Jerm,
1st, If I sounded as if I was "Dissin" your suggestions that was not my intent.
I wasn't sure...
Though, even if you were I wasn't offended. ;)
As mentioned, I wasn't under any illusions about how my Bruntons stack up to Swarzoski (or even some of the "entry level" binos). It's just not an item that I was too worried about getting the best of.
I like to think I got a good deal for what they are... Whatever that may be in the grand scheme of things. But that's about it.
I have used several different pairs of Steiners over the years and I have nothing but great things to say about them.
German Steiner Military & Marines if you can find a pair. They'll last you a lifetime and the optics are outstanding.
misanthropist
02-20-11, 19:32
I am not an expert on binoculars, but I will say this: personally I find it very hard to stabilize any binoculars much past 8x. 10x for me is too much for lengthy use and I know that people in the birding scene generally go with 7x or 8x.
Further to that, I think it is worth considering what you are really after in terms of usage. Do you need low light performance, for example? If so, the relationship of the objective to the magnification is worth considering. 7x50s, for instance, will give you maximum light gathering capacity.
Also, how old are you? People seem to lose their ability to get their pupils wide open as they age, so having a 7mm pupil on the binos might not benefit you as much as a 20 year old, say.
My personal favourite binoculars are a pair of Nikon Monarch ATBs in 8.5x56. They are about as much magnification as I can stand for long usage (and I am a steady guy - I think LOTS of people are better off with less magnification unless offhand usage is never going to happen) and they have monster objectives for dawn/dusk performance. The glass is pretty good and I think you have to step up in to the $1200+ range to get perceptibly better.
The real binocular experts IMO are the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology... they do a big bino shootout every few years and I haven't looked to see if there is a recent one but they did a great comprehensive one in about 2005-2006.
Anyway if they have current recommendations they are probably worth considering, and in general for information on binoculars that is my most trusted source - at least regarding the optics. I don't imagine they do a lot of brutal field testing to determine just how rugged the equipment is.
.
You can get a good deal on used binos. I’ve bought a lot of used binoculars at Pawn Shops and gun shows and here are the things you need to look out for:
- Without moving the binocular, focus one eye at a particular spot a far as practical. Now with focus the other eye and determine that each side are looking at the same point. I generally, get something is the bottom left of one side and then see if that image is in the bottom left of the right side. If they are not very close, the binos are sprung and each side is looking at a different place. This will give you a eye ache and head ache in a short while.
- Do a proper individual left/right focus at a far object. Then, look at something about a ¼ the distance and see if both eye pieces stay in focus together. If not, each side is not in synch with each other. And you will have to continually be doing an individual focus for range or get a mga eye ache.
- Hold the binos at arms length. Look at the Exit Pupils and see if they are round, oblong, elliptical, polyagonal, etc. The Exit Pupils should be round or at least very close to round. If not, the lenses are out of alignment internally.
- Looks for scratches on the eye pieces and the objectives.
- Slowly adjust the focus with the binos next to your ear and listen for grit or stickiness. Feel for smooth operation from one extreme to the other.
- Look for wear and tear. You don’t want a wore out pair although the tests above will generally find worn out binos.
- Generally, European and Japanese are the best. Tons of Philippine and Chinese made ones on the market, those can be OK if you get them cheap enough but try and get the Euros and Jap made one.
- 10X is about the max a person can hold steady. But the average person will be much happier in the long run with a pair that are light small and only around 7X35 or 8X32. Personally, my favorite pair is an Olympus 8X25 WP Magellan for about $200. I have a lot more expensive ones but they are not as small and convenient as the Magellan. A light pair that you will carry is a whole lot better than a "better" heavier pair that are to cumbersome to carry.
Oh yah…know the prices and different models. There are a ton of models and the prices fluctuate a lot.
That’s about it. I have literally bought dozens of binos after passing them through these tests and have come up with some outstanding deals.
Hope this helps.
.
Magic_Salad0892
02-22-11, 12:34
I say you should get Leica.
Monoculars are a good lightweight alternative to binoculars, IMO.
Vortex always seems to come up as the best cost to performance comparisons I see. It doesn't seem to matter which price point you come in at they tend to win those comparisons.
I ended up snagging a Nikon Monarch 8x42 on ebay for ~$180 though. It was a big step up from the $30 Meade binocular I had. I am very happy with my purchase for the price.
+1 for ucrt's comment. I've owned a lot of binoculars from inexpensive to top of the line and from 6x to 10X. My all time favorites are compact 8x20 Leica. Lots available on Ebay for a reasonable price. Unlike 7x50s or 10x42s these are binoculars you don't mind carrying or stuffing in your glovebox. Of course if you're going to stick them on a bookshelf then the larger binos are great.
I picked up an older pair of Steiner Military- Marine 6x30 with the range finder in excellent condition on ebay. I have found these to be a good all- around set of binocs.
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