Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Best 8x42 <$300?

In the process of upgrading my binoculars right now. For my "big" binocs I'm getting close to pulling the trigger on Meopta Meostar 12x50's. Given their cost, I won't have too much $ leftover but I'd also like to upgrade from my 12-year old Vortex Diamondback 8x42's. What do you guys think is the best bang for the buck 8x42 with a $300 price limit?

Thanks in advance.

Perfect timing. We just put the Athlon Cronus 10x42 ED on sale for $319.99, reduced from $499.99

Designed for serious glassing, with exceptional edge to edge clarity, sharp detail enhancement, ultra-clear brightness and true color representation. Whether you are on your annual hunt for whitetails on the family farm in Alabama, or filling your tag on an once in a lifetime Montana Big Horn, don’t leave anything to chance. We designed these binoculars with our revolutionary E2ES lens system that gives you a flat field of view. We included Extra-Low Dispersion Glass that results in a clearer and sharper image. Our state of the art ESP (Enhance Spectral Prism) dielectric coating reflects 99% of the light through the prism assembly. We use a Magnesium chassis to reduce weight while keeping the chassis rugged to withstand the scrapes and bumps of constant use.

E2ES System- Edge 2 Edge Sharpness system: E2ES System is a field flattening system that produces sharper, clearer images all the way from one lens edge to the other

ED Glass- High definition glass: ED glass gives you an image with little or no chromatic fringe so the final result brings a clearer and sharper image to your eyes

ESP Dielectric Coating- Enhanced Spectral Prism Dielectric Coating: ESP Dielectric Coating is a multi layer prism coating that reflects over 99% of the light to your eyes bringing you a clear, bright image that displays accurate color reproduction.

Lightweight Magnesium Chassis: Magnesium chassis give you the strength of a metal chassis while reducing the weight as much as 35%

XPL Coating- Xtra Protective Layer coating: XPL Coating gives you an extra protection on the exterior lenses from dirt, oil and scratches

Phase Corrected prisms: Phase corrected prisms produce images that have better contrast, a higher resolution and better color reproduction

BaK4 prisms: Bak-4 glass prisms reflect more light to your eyes which will give you brighter and sharper image.

Advanced FMC: Advanced Fully Multi-Coated lenses gives you better light transmission to bring optimum brightness and true color across the entire light spectrum.

Locking Diopter: Locking Diopter keeps the diopter adjustment knob from accidentally moving from the optimal setting

Long Eye Relief: Long eye relief can be particularly important for eyeglass wearers because longer eye relief allows them to still see the entire field of view.

Close Focus: Close focus is important for those who are nature observers and especially important if you are going to watch butterflies or insects

Twist Up Eyecups: Twist up eyecups with intermediate stops allow you to set the eyecups to the ideal eye relief for you eyes

Waterproof: Waterproof to protects the binocular in the harshest weather conditions or if accidentally submerged underwater

Argon Purged: Argon purging gives you better waterproofing and thermal stability

Power 10X
Objective Lens Diameter 42 mm
Eye Relief 19.3 mm
Field Of View Angular 6.5°
Field Of View FT @1000 YARDS 338 ft
Field Of View M @1000 METERS 113 m
Close Focus 2 m /6.5 ft
Interpupillary Distance 56 mm-73 mm
Weight 33 oz

I might look at Celestron Granite ED - 8x42 - right at that price.

Meopta Optika

those look like they have come down a bit- but yep - a definite contender.

Doug -

What's the comparison look like between the Meopta Optika and the Athlon Cronus?

Price is close, how about warranty, sharpness and durability?

The Cronus compares more to the Meopro. It is superior to the Optika and has a lifetime no fault warranty. It's a steal at $319.99 which is why we jumped on them