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A visit to the home page of this forum will show an article entitled (Big eyes, seeing is believing). Its an older article thats been there for quite awhile now. In PA where i hunt and spend a good portion of my time, virtually all long range hunting is done from fixed locations using tripod mounted large binnoculars. The vast majority of hunters, myself included use twin spotting scopes in machined adjustable brackets. After reading that article about 5 years ago i decided to order a pair of the 15x58 Minox that had been used in the article. They have since been discontinued and replaced with a 15x56. I have quite a few friends with large glasses including 2 having the 15x56 leica and 15x56 swarovskis. We did our own side by side test with all alligned on the same objects at the same time. Distances ran from about 400 on out to about 800 yds. All who looked thought the Leica was slightly brighter than the other 2 but the defination was no better. 3 out of 4 thought it was pretty much a toss up over which was better for the use we were testing for. The Swaro owner insisted his were just a tad better. But even he admitted he wouldnt have spent the difference after seeing the test we did.
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Why 15s and not a spotter?
What Kent said ... you will find twice the game with half the fatigue using the 15s. And Swaros are not for everyone.
You haven't lived until you've glassed the same bowl at 850 yards for two hours, only to have a buck move his ears and reveal himself. It's just amazing. I can't imagine a tougher big game animal to glass in NA than the Coues buck. Like another friend said, it's like looking for cotton balls on a snowbank.
I do not entertain hypotheticals. The world itself is vexing enough. -- Col. Stonehill
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I do not entertain hypotheticals. The world itself is vexing enough. -- Col. Stonehill
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That country looks tough to hunt... damn I like it.
Bet as you drive down the highway in country you'll never hunt, you notice high spots you could glass from.
Kent
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I had a big Celestron 16x70 IF porro for review. One barrel was a little "off" and it was a bit picky to get both focused the same on the same spot. What I concluded was that the 16x with the binocular was at least as useful as 25x on a good 80 mm spotter. Others may be different, but I don't care for the strain on one eyed glassing. DOF pretty well sucks on higher magnifications, so the binocular vision is worth its weight in gold as far as I'm concerned.
Sent the bad unit back to Celestron and never heard back. It is freaking HUGE, but has good potential.
Another thing I am inclined to believe is big eye satisfaction is more related to how well the unit focuses for you rather than who made the unit. Proper focus in a shallow field is pretty valuable.
Last edited by SteveC99; 07/14/15.
Steve
Theodore Roosevelt: "Do what you can where you are with what you have"
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What I concluded was that the 16x with the binocular was at least as useful as 25x on a good 80 mm spotter True story. Look through a pair of 30x or 40x Kowa or Doctors and you'll never want to look through a spotter again but lugging them up the hill sucks
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fwiw...the past models of the Swaro 15x56 had noticeable chromatic aberration for a premium bino, which the stargazers & birders pointed out via net reviews--they must have some pull...
The new HD version of the 15x56 is revamped and remedies that. Mine, now ours, purchased for use in CO, gets more play than I thought it would.
I like the focus and can use them handheld for short periods of time--judging whitetails quicklike in fields or looking at birds in the yard. The other 15s I have looked through are more difficult to do that with--and maybe that's just me or maybe it's part of the revamp Swaro did. My wife, who yearly teaches an astronomy course, had her hands glued to them recently instead of the Swaro 7x42 porros. She was using them handheld looking at the moon during the last full, but they really shine on a tripod for that.
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I have two or three issues with buying a 15x
1. I am a tightasss. I will have to justify spending $2200 on the SLC HD's, or around $1000 on the Meopta HD's or something comparable. 2. It will have limited use, as I do not have the luxury of hunting as much as Drum, or some others. It would primarily be a mule deer glass, in which we only have a 9 day season, but could do some serious scouting with it.
Well, turns out there are only 2 big issues......
It is irrelevant what you think. What matters is the TRUTH.
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now that my wife is using them, I feel no guilt...:)
glassing w/Drum once did it to me. Was actually thinking 12x50, but snagged one cheap(er). 12x strikes me as more multi-use, but the EP doesn't really contribute to that argument.
too bad Kowa doesn't make a 15x
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Someone listed the big docters on CWT for like 4000.00 not to long back, probably still for sale. I'd love to buy these Zeiss but they are way more than I can afford... and that's with not being able to find a comparable to judge the price. Then at about 40 lbs with tripod, I'd be afraid to pack them 10 ft without dropping 'em. 25X or 45X eye pieces. I'm guessing they're worth 7 grand plus.
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So if the type area you hunt will benefit from 15s, can you stick with it until you are proficient. That truly is the hardest part. Of the guys I grew up hunting with and still hunt with, I'm the only glasser.
I'm hesitant to tell folks, buy a 15, when I know most won't follow through because it doesn't fit their personality.
Kent What I concluded was that the 16x with the binocular was at least as useful as 25x on a good 80 mm spotter. Others may be different, but I don't care for the strain on one eyed glassing. DOF pretty well sucks on higher magnifications, so the binocular vision is worth its weight in gold as far as I'm concerned.
Good info guys. Thanks. J
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Someone listed the big docters on CWT for like 4000.00 not to long back, probably still for sale. I'd love to buy these Zeiss but they are way more than I can afford... and that's with not being able to find a comparable to judge the price. Then at about 40 lbs with tripod, I'd be afraid to pack them 10 ft without dropping 'em. 25X or 45X eye pieces. I'm guessing they're worth 7 grand plus. Those arent Zeiss, their Oberwerks made in China with lots of Zeiss features. They can be bought for about $1800. I also have a set of those and like them very much. The downside is the size unless you are close the the vehicle you haul them with. But if you can use something that large they are extremly nice to use for long sessions of glassing. It amazes me that the twin spotter setups havent become more popular with western hunters. Theve been being used in the east, most notably PA for more than 50 years. Bausch&Lomb in the days of the very popular Balscope spotter offered them in a twin setup as a cataloug item in the sixtys. Quite a few of them are still in use here in N C PA.
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they sure make some interesting stuff anybody try the bins? Oberwerk
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Someone listed the big docters on CWT for like 4000.00 not to long back, probably still for sale. I'd love to buy these Zeiss but they are way more than I can afford... and that's with not being able to find a comparable to judge the price. Then at about 40 lbs with tripod, I'd be afraid to pack them 10 ft without dropping 'em. 25X or 45X eye pieces. I'm guessing they're worth 7 grand plus. Those arent Zeiss, their Oberwerks made in China with lots of Zeiss features. They can be bought for about $1800. I also have a set of those and like them very much. The downside is the size unless you are close the the vehicle you haul them with. But if you can use something that large they are extremly nice to use for long sessions of glassing. It amazes me that the twin spotter setups havent become more popular with western hunters. Theve been being used in the east, most notably PA for more than 50 years. Bausch&Lomb in the days of the very popular Balscope spotter offered them in a twin setup as a cataloug item in the sixtys. Quite a few of them are still in use here in N C PA. Nope, these are the original Zeiss Oberwerks copied, doubt if there are many in the US or anywhere else. Kent
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Someone listed the big docters on CWT for like 4000.00 not to long back, probably still for sale. I'd love to buy these Zeiss but they are way more than I can afford... and that's with not being able to find a comparable to judge the price. Then at about 40 lbs with tripod, I'd be afraid to pack them 10 ft without dropping 'em. 25X or 45X eye pieces. I'm guessing they're worth 7 grand plus. Those arent Zeiss, their Oberwerks made in China with lots of Zeiss features. They can be bought for about $1800. I also have a set of those and like them very much. The downside is the size unless you are close the the vehicle you haul them with. But if you can use something that large they are extremly nice to use for long sessions of glassing. It amazes me that the twin spotter setups havent become more popular with western hunters. Theve been being used in the east, most notably PA for more than 50 years. Bausch&Lomb in the days of the very popular Balscope spotter offered them in a twin setup as a cataloug item in the sixtys. Quite a few of them are still in use here in N C PA. Nope, these are the original Zeiss Oberwerks copied, doubt if there are many in the US or anywhere else. Kent Yep, I've seen them (and looked through them) several times--they're Zeiss.
Last edited by mudhen; 07/15/15.
Ben
Some days it takes most of the day for me to do practically nothing...
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It really is hard to describe Coues hunting to those who haven't had the pleasure. Glassing, and correct glassing at that, is a major part.
Can't wait until my 2 friend's Dec. Wt tag. It will be a blast.
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I know it's been discussed a bit, but does anybody have any experience with the Meopta 15 HD's? Do they have a 1/4-20 socket for tripod mounting like the Swaro's and Vortex's do. I'm about ready to pull the trigger on these over the SLC neu's but there isn't much info out there on them. The ergo's look very similar to what the Swaro's are.
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This morning there are 3 Swaro 15X56 for sale in Coueswhitetail.com classifieds for 1400 to 1450 and 1 HD model for just over 2000.
The HD has really brought down the price of used nonHD at least for a time period.
Kent
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fwiw...if you are shopping
I had these down for part numbers when I was shopping for one--each a "generation":
58091 58191 58192
IIRC: The 58192 is current and would think the 58091 would/should be discounted next to the 58191. The 58191 is the NEU version.
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KRP Just how good are the Oberwerk Chinese copies 15x70 or so of the Zeiss glass ?
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