Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Binocular purchase help

I have a pair of Steiner Bighorn, 9x, I picked up back in the 80's I believe, and have been satisfied with them. I am sure coatings have improved, and I need a pair for my son. We use them for deer hunting, distances up to 400 yards, longer or for better definition we have spotting scopes.

Looking for something under $500, if that is reasonable. Looking at the reviews I see more "bird watchers" use these, or at least are willing to give their opinion. Hoping for hunting experiences, not that bird watchers aren't glass snobs, lol.

Thank you

Allen

I'm not up to speed with the current coatings and binos at your price-point, but don't discount the bird watchers reviews, they tend to be more enlightened than most hunters when it comes to optics.

There are a few on this forum that can make an intelligent suggestion; I've read their posts on other forums.

If you don't get a satisfactory reply here shortly, take your question to opticstalk.com or birdforum.net. BTW, there are plenty of hunters well hidden on birdforum. :-)

If you don't want to spend tons you could go with Bushnell Legend HDs. They're about $100 with the current rebate. They're pretty good glass IMO. Also the Leopold Yosemite binos are pretty good in the bang for buck category.

I highly recommend you do a search for Meopta Meopros. Because of the advent of the new Meopro HD, the Meopros can be found for around $400. They are absolutely excellent binoculars for that money. Their warranty may be matched; but, it is unsurpassed.

The Meopta Meopro is a good call.Zen ray makes some good glass I hear, but I can't vouch for it.

The pentax dcf sp is the best budget glass made IMHO. $1000 view for less than half that. Their EDs are even better, but aren't worth the extra cash layout over the sp series.

I'm pretty happy with my Leupold Mohave BX3 8x32's...

The Zen-Ray I have compare very favorably to my Swaro and Leica.

Under $500 the Weaver Grand Slam 8.5x45s are really hard to beat.

I respect your loyalty toward Weaver optics. If they work for you, keep using them...Kinda like CZ rifles...

I don't know your budget. I see $500 but I think that if you do some serious shopping you might want to increase that to the sweet spot where binoculars are 98% as good as the top of the line from the big 4. (Zeiss, Swaro, Leica and Nikon)

However, there have been some good suggestions.

Vortex Vipers with HD glass are good for the money.

Nikon Monarch 7 10X42s are also very good for the money.
Both companies have slowly worked to get better every year.

Last year I tested a pair of zeiss conquest HD 10X42 against a pair of 10X42 HD Vortex Razors and the Zeiss won. This year I did the same test and the Vortex were better but they also cost more.

Leica Trinovids HD are very good binoculars and people don't talk about them to often.

Swaro SLC HDs are also very good.

I have less experience with Meopta but believe that they are probably very good.

Swaros often have extremely good eye relief so if you wear glasses you might like that feature.

You have to look at what feature you want and then you should call Doug and see what he can do for you.

The Sample List SWFA is also good. However, I think Doug and Neil make it a personal mission to satisfy their customers.

Best of luck.
Picking binoculars is much like picking your date for the prom or getting serious in a relationship. Don't rush in our you will be sorry.

Sincerely,
Thomas

id get the meopta meopro. i have the 6.5x32 and theyre hard to beat

I would recommend looking through the Meopta Meopros before you drop the coin. The set I looked through was really ordinary in comparison to a lot of the other stuff out there for the same or less money. That�s as nice of a description of the Meopros as I can bring myself to make.

Meostars are a different story - really nice. I would either save up a bit more coin and go with Meostars, or look at different offerings in the $500 price range. I�ve been impressed with the Minox binos I�ve looked through, for instance.

This above is very good advice because I have had the exact same experience he mentions for every brand mentioned here.



And, this above, was exactly the opposite of my experience.

Try before you buy.

Thank you very much.

I'll see if I can find these to handle and give them a try.

Allen

I actually bought mine because I got a SCREAMING deal on them($199 NIB about half price)...I read JB's article on best buys in binoculars and they made the list there too... Best Buys in Binoculars

In that price range there are a bunch of darn good choices. I looked at about everything at Cabelas last year picked the ZeissTerra's that we're better to my eyes than everything up to the Meostar and Conquest. The amount of information out there is pretty daunting - eyes are different enough that side by side comparison is the best method. I was looking for used alpha glass for about $700 and found that to be tough to find in my area. The Zen Ray, vanguard, Pentax, Vortex, and other ED glass is very clear and a lot of bang for the buck - I haven't looked through the newest Leupold or weavers but if you can compare them before you buy it would likely be worthwhile.

Like an earlier post indicated the birding sites have some of the best information. The difference between your old Steiners and the newest glass in your price range may surprise you. My old Pentax DCF's were great for 10 years but the Terra's that cost less new than those old Pentax were much sharper. All that binocular shopping can be hazardous - I ended up finding a deal on some new Swarovski 10x42 SLCs and now my son in law has the Terra's.

A great answer.

Just bought the viper HD 10x42 and love them

I was looking for a set of $500 binos last year as I'd been using some cheap Nikon Action 10x50s for many years and wanted something a bit more compact such as 10x40s. The shock to me was that several I tried didn't even come close to the clarity or brightness of what I already had in the cheap Nikons. I tried Minox BL German 10x42s, Nikon Monarch 3 10x42s, Vortex Viper HD 10x42, and Zen Ray ED2 10x43s. I tried them out behind my house in bright light and as light faded in the eve, mostly looking at pine cones and leaves on trees from 200-350yds. My Nikon 10x50s were better than the Minox, Monarch, and Vortex, but the Zen Ray ED2s blew them all away hands down. I could resolve far more detail with the ZRs. I bought a set of the ZR ED3s after the comparison.

My bud that loaned me his ED2s for the test had told me that he thought they were comparable to Swaro and Leica. I thought that was a bit far fetched, but I was very impressed at how much better they were than the others for my little test.

I upgraded to Zen Ray 8x ED3's last year. Spectacular glass for the money. I bought the opened box specials for much less than $500.

I can see deer at dusk and dawn at 250 yards that I can't pick up in my Bushnell 4200 with a 50 mm obj.

Dan