Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Swaro WOW -- Fujinon Opinions?

My introduction to open-country hunting continues to amaze me. This past weekend I spent some time with a fellow and his 15x58 (or 60) Swaros with an excellent tripod setup. I was blown away by the image rendered. The deerless hills came to life. Of course, he had $2k invested in this kit.

Some folks around here use the Fujinon 15x binoc available at Eagle Optics for about $630.

I also got to compare my 8 x 42 Pentaxs to his Leica 10 x 32s (or 42s, I forget). Again, WOW. I well understand what you get for the extra $.

Should I expect about the same quality diference between the Fujinons and the Swaros as I see between the Pentaxs and the Leicas?

Also, anyone ever try the 2.5x adapters for binos?

Merry Christmas!

The 2.5X adapters don't work very well. You wind up with a very small exit pupil and much reduced image quality.
I don't know how good the Funjinon optics are.
The best deal in real quality 10X binos right now are the Nikon Premiers and the Pentax SP's. I'd get nothing smaller than a 50mm model. They are as good as or better than the equivalent Leicas say some like Mule Deer. E

Talus, That is basically what I hear when someone looks through my Leicas. The Swaro spotting scope is even better. There is an intake of air, a slight pause and then "Oh my God!". Looking through really good glass is almost an orgasmic experience for those who havn't tried it. Good luck in your quest. LOTS of good stuff out there. TM

Can't speak for fujinon binos, but I have a Fujinon 20-60X80mm spotting scope that I think pretty highly of. It's too big to pack around hunting, but for the range, and scoping from the pickup, it's great........

Tom

TM, you didn't answer my question. How do you get a $2K Swarogasm without spending the $2K <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Talus, Actually, I think I paid a little less the 1200 through SWFA. Still a LOT of money but as I thought at the time, I doubt I will ever look back and say, damn, wish I had bought the cheaper one!

The reason I did spend even that much is that I had found an airplane part, left over from when I gave my plane to Wings of Hope. Called and they had just bought one so did not really need it. Sold it on the Cessna site for 1200 and when I saw the Swaro pricing was basically the same as the "found" money, I decided to go for it. And although I still think a cheaper modely would work just fine for me, I have yet to look through this glass and wish for a cheaper model. (grin) TM

Talus, The T-Man is right. Do your research, do your comparisons, shop around (do not pay retail!), and if you need to spend $1300 to get what you want, DO IT! You will not regret it.
My current "looking long/looking in the dark" binocular is a Swarovski 10x50 SLC. I use this glass around sixty days a year. Every single time that I look through it, I am impressed. Three years after the fact and I'm still extremely pleased with my purchase. By the way, I got them from SWFA. RS

Hey Talus,
I'm curious if those big binocular on tripod setups are still the rage there in Arizona. I hunted Coues deer down that way years back and met several folks with that setup, mostly huge Docter Optic or Zeiss glass. I remember having quite the debate with a fellow trying to convince me that the setup makes sense, but I didn't (and still don't) see how hauling six or seven pounds of top heavy optics/tripod in a power too high and narrow for general spotting and too low for long range trophy assessment in addition to rifle, pack etc. is better than a pair of top qualty 8x or 10x binos around the neck with a compact spotter in the pack.

Now truthfully I've never gone afield with one of these setups so I could be missing out on the best thing since sliced bread. Sounds like you're studying the options and seem to like the big bino/tripod setup so would you mind sharing your thoughts? Thanks

Journeyman, you're reading my mental mail (which could be hazardous in the extreme!).

Basically I am discovering for myself just why pro hunters out here use spotting scopes. You can either walk your legs off or glass for a couple of miles, which could be half a day's walking.

What I am really thinking about is why the big bino's versus the spotting scope? Given, top glass requires a certain price both in weight and money.

The 15x binos are very friendly on the eyes and have quite a bit more field of view, of course. Why do many prefer them over spotting scopes? they provide a different compromise of field of view vs. magnification. And I believe they'd be easier to use for hours because you're using both eyes.

What just floored me was to see the hills that I had been looking at for months suddenly sprout deer in front of these Swaros. Those dang things felt better to my eyes than no optics at all! Really, to use another metaphor, they were like cool water on a hot day. Refreshing. And I can't find them for less than about $1700 (SWFA).

Pls. note -- I have an ok walking glass in 8 x 42. I'm not interested in 10x. I need a pure glassing setup least 15x. There seems to be a big gulf between high end binoc magnification and low range spotting scope magnification.

To add to my coveting problem, the guy with the Swaros had one of those $80 hand grip tripod attachments, which worked great.

Just what I needed, another item on my 'must have' list!

Woe is me!! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Oh yeah, TM, thanks for the tip on finding extra cash. Unfortunately, I don't have any spare airplane parts collecting dust in the hanger! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Has anyone out there tried the Fujis??

Journeyman, to answer your question, yes, there are a lot of big bino/tripod setups, which is exactly what gave me my Swarogasm.