Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics 7X35 compared to 8X40 binos

You optics snobs don't need to read this because an optics ignoramus compared a couple of low cost binoculars in the following post. I know I am an ignoramus because the moderator of optics.com called me the village idiot. After all he has a degree in optical engineering and I didn't even get a GED until I was fifty-one years old!


Recently I became interested in a binocular that will show me about the same detail as my roof prism Bushnell Legend Ultra HD ED2 8X40 (426 feet field of view $160 with rebate) and have a much larger field of view. Today, December 27, 2012, the porroprism Nikon Action Extreme ATB 7X35 waterproof/fogproof binoculars (487feet field of view $125) arrived. The weather is totally overcast at 3PM. John, my son-in-law opened the package and started looking through them. �These are nice!� he exclaimed emphasizing �nice�.

I laid out a couple sand bags on the edge of the porch but he was not interested. He continued to hold them in his hand. �I can read �Can you read� on the pump house. The field of view is huge,� he continued. The pump house is 127 yards away.

I put the roof prism Bushnells on the sandbag and focused them. I could read the second line and sorta make out some letters in the third line. Finally John handed me the Nikons and I gave him the Bushnells. I put them on the sandbag and adjusted them with the right side blocked. Then I adjusted the diopter for the right eye and adjusted the binocular to its best adjustment for my eyes. Definitely these are better than the Zen-Ray 7X36 I purchased and returned last month. Those allowed me to read only the first line. I couldn�t tell any difference when looking into the woods beyond the pump house with them and the Bushnells. Same thing with the Nikons. The Zen-Rays certainly weren�t good enough to relegate the Bushnells to backup status. The Nikons, although only 7X, allowed me to read the second line. So I get some bins for 1/3 the cost that are maybe 10% better than the Zen-Rays.

I guess at this time I should add what my gunsmith says, �A sample of one tells you nothing.� Never the less, we average income shoppers can�t afford to purchase three or four samples of the same item and use the best one. Maybe this set was the best of a production run, maybe the Zen-Rays were the worst of a run. We can�t know. What we can know is if you see me in the woods next year you will see the Nikons on my chest. I will take the wonderful Bushnells from the bino harness and install these Nikons

Sunset is at 4:47 today. I went back out and laid them on the sandbags at 4:40. With the Nikons I could barely make out the fork of the antlers on the fence 131 yards away. At 4:44, if I didn�t know they were antlers, I could not at make them out. Back and forth every minute between them and the Bushnells proved again what I have stated many times here: "Larger exit pupil helps in low light" is an internet optical myth. The Bushnell allowed me to see the fork until 4:54. That�s an extra fourteen minutes. Finally at 4:59 I could not tell the antlers were there. For those who don�t know exit pupil is the objective diameter divided by the magnification power. Both have an exit pupil of 5mm.

Edited to correct the objective on the Bushnells

Congratulations on getting a good pair of binoculars at a good price. It's nice to be happy without spending a fortune. So, do you have a good spotting scope?

When I need to take a closer look at something my binos have showed me I can turn up the scope. It is quite clear from 5X all the way through 25X. Where I hunt I don't think I would use one. Maybe next year.

Interesting. I think 7x35 are the perfect hunting and wish more of them were available. I recommended those same Nikons to a friend for his son who loves them. That same friend is the owner of my prior pair of Leupold Wind River 8x42 Pinnacles (roofs). I gave them to him after buying 8x42 porro Bushnell Legends that continue to impress anyone who is strong enough to lift them. I paid about $350 for the Pinnacles and about $120 for the Bushnell and I will not be trading back. The porros are easier on the eyes and definitely brighter.

Last weekend I was at the gun range and picked up a pair of $400+ Vortex roofs in 10x42's. I was just not impressed. I was thinking perhaps porros still just have it over roofs- apples 2 apples. Further indications of this are the popularity of the little Yosemites -which I have owned and liked very much. I am sure roofs view-to-dollar ratio have improved in leaps recently as evidenced by your testing.

One thing about exit pupil. Your subject line says 8x40 but your text says 8x42. An 8x42 will have a larger exit pupil than a 7x35- but be that as it may 5mm may be all the exit pupil you can use at your age ( whatever age that is). I think if you dropped down to an exit pupil of say 4 or less you would certainly notice a difference and not think it such a myth- don't you?

I have been using the Action Extreme 7x35s for about a year now. They live in my patrol car, and have served me very well. Their only downfall is that now, after seeing how good they are, I want a real good set of binos.

I have a pair of the Action III 7x35, at least two series before yours. I've never found the image giving up much to anything under $500. And they are the easiest to use bino ever. They work really well for newbs who don't know how to really run a bino.