I have a set of tracts that are the most expensive bino's I've ever owned. I'm sure I can get by with them, but if I wanted to upgrade within the neighborhood of $1K, what are my best options? I watched the youtube of backwoods pursuit review. Wondering if there review is really unbiased with several people collaborating as they say? They rank Zeiss Conquests highest in their category. What say y'all? Thanks.

I have the Meopta Meopro air in 10x42 , might take a look at them

I’d look real hard at the kowa genesis line.

At your price range there will be very little, if any real difference. In my experience there is far less variation between the optics in that level than people tend to think there is. The very top level are a little better, but even then the difference is not what many expect to find. Ergonomics may well be a different matter. Binoculars are sort of like a good rifle in that when we quickly mount the rifle, a good one fits and the image is right there, no fuss, muss, or bother. Same deal with binoculars. When you put them to your eyes, they need to fit your hands, face, and eyes. I tend to think that a lot of brand likes or dislikes tend to be that they got a glass that fit right or didn't, I'd go fit first , then look for acceptable optics. Best glass in the world is not worth a whole lot if they don't fit.

You won’t see much difference in the 1k range. I’ve looked through most of em and there just isn’t any discernible difference to my eyes. Just picked up new EL’s in 10x42 and the biggest difference for me is greater detail at first/last light. Hell, I’m probably getting greater detail for an extra 15 mins, but that matters to me, so the $ spent is justified

I had my Tract Toric UHD's in Namibia for 9 days, and my buddy has his Zeiss Conquest HD's that his son was using. The Toric's were ever bit as good as the Zeiss, and IMO better. Most everyone in camp agreed. The Conquest focus mechanism is way too fast for my liking, but the birdwatcher dude's love 'em.

Thanks guys. I appreciate the feedback. The kowa and meopta are two I had at the top of the list. But without being able to look at them and compare, I think I'll just hang with the tracts for now. I guess human nature is to never be satisfied....

The ergonomics of the tracts are great for me. Another reason to keep on keeping on.

Thanks JG. I know you are a meopta fan, so your endorsement means a lot. I have a set of kowa bd II from work and they have a very touchy focus that is too sensitive for me, so if the zeiss is like that I'll pass.

Richshaw,

I still have the Toric 10x42's I bought from you and a pair of 8x42 Torics. I like the 8's considerably more.

I've just gone through 13 pairs to upgrade from the Torics and without getting into all the details I had a pair of Conqeuest HD's 8x42 next to the Torics for comparison and hard passed on upgrading from the Torics.

I did however, easily settle on a pair of Zeiss SFL 8x40's to replace the Torics and couldn't be happier. So much so that I've also purchased a pair of SFL's in 10x40.

My 13 bino comparison included all of the Big 3 plus Maven, Kowa and Vortex many of which have been resold on this forum as well as others.

IMO, the Zeiss SFL is best deal going in terms of optic quality, size/weight and user friendlyness. Lots of folks told me how bad Zeiss eye cups are but honestly, I can't see the problem.

Good luck and hope this helps and don't forget that "you get what you pay for in advice and optics!"

BBQ

What’s street price on the sfl tbbq?

I forgot to mention that I kept a pair of Maven B1.2 10x42's at the end as these are superb optics to my eyes. I'd have stopped with them had the SFL's not been smaller and lighter. Optically, they are a definite upgrade to my Torics and extremely close to the SFL's.

$1000 -$1100 pretty easily if you don't mind lightly used.

This has also been my experience, with a bunch of binoculars in that price range.

Also have found that a lot of "perceived" optical quality is due to price-tag opinions. Found this out years ago after covering the name of binoculars and having lots of people look through 'em.

Kowa Genesis 10.5x44. Very very nice glass for 1k.

If your spending more and upgrading from Tract binos your at the point of diminishing returns. The Swaro or Leica or Nikon ultra series might be slightly better but 3k+ for binos is criminal and they simply don't perform that much better nor have that much higher build quality. The 5% gain might cost $2k .

Following…

I’d upgrade if there was clear advantage to what i have..

NON hd cabelas euros ( meopta ) amd 15 year old ( or more ) kahles.

I’ve used the meopta hd 8x32 for several years as my truck binos. Recently picked up the kowa genesis 8x33 from tbbq here after hearing so many good thing; they do not disappoint. Clear advantage to my eyes over the meopta for sure. They hang with my ultravids.

I use my Kowa 8x33 more than any other bino I have. Simply put, they just work for me. Best $650 I’ve spent

I have converted to a "kowa guy". Incredible value and glass quality that work for my eyes. I would suggest checking their dealer locator and if there is on close, go look through some.

I am not impressed with Zeiss Conquest HD's. I used them on one hunt and down the road they went. They are not FL's Or SF's



Where are you getting your numbers from ? What are you comparing?

If you have a shop near by with a decent selection, bring your tracts down and compare SxS.

I did when I ordered a 10x Toric. I was set to return them and go another direction if something else really stood out. It’s been probably 5 or 6 years, but at the time they were just as good optically as anything else in the case. Better than most.
Some of which cost 3x or 4x what I paid for the Toric.

I liked others better ergonomically. But only marginally. In the end I stuck with the Toric and have been happy.

Go compare and see what stands out to you.

Top shelf binos are entering in 2500 to 3k range. I've had and still have some alpha glass such as Swaro and Leica ultravid. It's difficult to justify the price when 1k to 1.5k get one some excellent optics. Same with a lot of rifle scopes. There's points of diminishing returns and lot of it is up to the individual 's eyesight as well.

I have been really happy with my Tract Torics

Anyone compare the torics to the kowa genesis?

Yes. I prefer the Genesis, by a lot.

A good bit more $ too.

Very true. Tracts are still good binoculars. I had no problem spotting aoudad out to 1500-2k yards. And aoudad are difficult to spot.

Thanks. I’m loving my kowas but haven’t tried the torics. Appreciate it. For the extra few hundred it sounds like they are well worth it.

I'm gonna have to try the kowas I guess. Their dealer locator isn't much help. Would like to have had some to look at. But I see Doug has them on sale.....

Over the past few years I purchased new Swarovski, Zeiss, Leica all were excellent but by far my favorite have been the used Swarovski SLC’s I purchased used for around $1200!

Keep your eyes open for a like new set and I think you will agree.

Hunting glass doesn't get any better than an SLC HD.