I am one of the lucky ones to draw an AZ bull elk tag this year and I am in need of some decent binoculars. As the economy sucks and diesel keeps going up I have less to spend on a new pair of eyes. I am leaning toward 10x42 for size and weight. I do not want to carry a tripod with 15x glass. So give me your opinion on whats good, whats bad, and what you use in this price point. I realize a $2000. pair of swarovskis is likely a once in a lifetime purchase but that just isn't going to happen this year. Thanks in advance for your responce.

I have a cheap pair of Zen-ray 10x42's for $215, not bad at all for the price. They're not high end optics, but lifetime guaranted, my opinion is you cant go wrong. Good luck on the elk!

Minox BD 10x44 BP porro on closeout from cameralandny.com

If you are willing to go china made

Zen Ray ED binos
Theron wapiti ED

My last choice would be something like the new Nikon Monarch with diaelectric prism coatings.

Also look for a Minox BD 10x42 BR roof.

May I suggest the Minox BV 10x42 BR on sale for just $179.99.

The best binoculars for less than 300 dollars is without a doubt the Minox porro that was mentioned and if a roof prism is desired the Olympus Magellan EXWP I 10x42. I own both of these and the Olympus pair can hold it's own with binoculars costing 1000 dollars easily. This is not hyperbole, but the literal truth. They are made in Japan, fully multi-coated, phase corrected, water proof and built like a tank. An objective review of the Olympus along with objective ratings against other binoculars, as well as the Minox can be found at www.allbinos.com. The specific review of the Olympus is at www.allbinos.com/107-binoculars_review-Olympus_10x42_EXWP_I.html and the Minox at www.allbinos.com/166-binoculars_review-Minox_BD_8x44_BP.html. Actually, the review is of the 8x44, but should give you some idea of what the 10x42 will offer. Both are excellent choices and excellent values. By the way, the Minox is made in Japan also.

For me it comes down to the 7-15X35 Nikon. I use them on 7X most of the time. But when I really want to check something I get on rest and turn it up.

I paid $165

Go up to $350 and buy these :

http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/5145273/1

Call Doug and talk to him or Neil.

I own the Minox 10X44BP and 8X44BP Porro models and sent down the road other "alpha" binoculars I owned after stackin' 'em and lookin' close and far.

I gave a pal one of the Minox 8X44 BP's from Doug and he is over the moon. A retired camera-optics shop manager - so, hard to please but knowledgeable about optics.

Doug will treat you right. If you are not interested in the Porro models the roof that Doug suggests is great, too.

I have some of those BV's doug talked about. I think they are a decent unit. however I think the nikon monarch ATB's are better. I think they are discontinued. you might have to go ebay for them. but for $300 I don't know of anything better.

nowadays there is actually getting to be some decent units below $150, the leupold yosemites, and redfield rebels come to mind.

A used pair of Pentax DCF-WP are up there IMO and the Leupold Yosemites under $100.

The field of view on the Minox is too narrow when comparing to other comparable binocs, which is why I could never warm up to them. The Zen Ray ED2 is super good.

I own a pair of 10x 40 Leopold Casecades and I like them.

+1

Great glass you can look through all day long.

Congrats on the tag BTW....

Pentax WP

I have a pair of Bushnell Infinity 10.5x45 and love them,Very clear and very good in dim light.
I bought more than one pair and am keeping a pair and selling another pair New unopened in the box ,just listed in the classifieds.

Best pair under $200?

Redfield Rebel 10X42
A very nice piece of glass for $150 bucks.

Best pair for around $200 is the Zen-Ray ZRS HD. A little bit more money, there are some ZEN ED 8x43 for $250, which is an amazing deal.

I am new to this forum and do want to step lightly.I have all high end optics mainly zeiss some others. my fried bought a pair of vortex that really impressed me.usually you get what you pay for but some of these new imports are really good.
Vortexoptics.com

I agree with DOLPHIN the OLYMPUS EXWP are hard to beat for the money, I am really happy with my pair

Other than the already mentioned ZRS, you might consider looking at the Bushnell Legend Ultra HD. You get ED glass with these which other less than $300 binoculars do not have. The view is very good.

Avoid Chicom optics.

I have to agree with Hawker - I just picked up a pair of Zen Ray ED 8x43 and have been completely impressed.

I looked a lot of models under $400 some were close, but for my eyes and needs, the Zens were perfect and Camera Land had them on a great sale.

Please enlighten us...

Plus you get the Rainguard HD coatings. No sure if any of the others mentioned have any weather resistant "hydrophobic" type coatings. One of the reasons I like Bushnell's Elite line of bino's, riflescopes and spotters is that feature.

You will hear negative things about the Minox porro's lack of FOV but its only noticable if you are stacking it next to a premium roof. The image sharpness and brightness in the sweet spot of these porro's are as good as any bino I have looked through-the smaller FOV is a no brainer compromise IMO. The 10x minox is my back up 10x glass to my Zeiss FL.

A couple more binos to keep a look out for in your price range.

The new Bushnell Elite ED is great, I have seen deals on them. ED glass, diaelectric prism coatings. Bright and sharp, flat field quality Japan bino. I had a pair of these and a pair of the Original $1000 elites and had a hard time deciding which to keep. This bino is like a new diaelectric nikon monarch with the addition of ED objectives.

Used or new Vortex Viper

A used original Bushnell Elite (split bridge EL styling).


IMO the Pentax DCF WP and SP have been outclassed by other binos in the same price range in the area of brightness. They are not as bright as more recent designs.

I was not impressed with the Bushnell china made Legend ultra HD, wide fov but lots of distortion and small sweet spot. I was also not impressed with the discontinued bushnell elite E2.

Timberbuck,

I disagree. I think some folks are bothered much more than others by narrow FOV. I once owned a pair of 9x63 porros with a 5� TFOV (same as the Minox porros) which gave a miserly 263' field. I felt like I was looking through a straw. So for me, a decent FOV is a critical factor in choosing bins.

As for the older Pentax WP series, many have opined that their sharpness bests the newer Pentax SP and even ED aspheric lens design series. Seems the slight improvement in edge flatness has been obtained by trading off a bit of field sharpness. As for brightness, certainly the latest and greatest lens coatings have improved things but if forced to choose between a smidgeon of additional brightness over better sharpness (and inherent resolution), I'll take the later every time.

-=[Bob]=-

Bins: Swaro 7x42B SLC 8�; ZenRay ED2 7x36 9.1�; Minox BD 6.5x32IF 8�; Leupold 9x35IF Gold Ring 7.3� / 8x30 Yosemite 7.5�; Pentax 8x32 DCF-WP 7.5� / 9x21 UCF 6.3�; ZOMC-Kronos BPWC2 6x30 12.5�; Binolux 7x35s 11� & 10.5�

I've sent my hardly used Cascades in twice for messed up eyepieces.

I used the heck out of a pair of nikon ATBs in Astan. Tough little binos and not the worst glass.

Those original Bushnell Elites (split or open bridge hinge) were excellent bino's IMO. Those were made in Japan and besides having excellent glass, they were also very durable. A couple of forum members here (I think JG-Raider is one of them) had them and liked them from what I can recall.

Another + for Minox 10X44BP a great deal from Cameraland.

Do you like to support the Chinese a communist country and an enemy? Do you like American jobs going overseas? I feel like an idiot trying to explain this to someone who is suppose to be a conservative supporter of guns and gun rights. The concepts are relatively simple and there is always an alternative to cheap Chicom products with respect to optics. The ones I mentioed have objective assessments done that provide a source of comparison for reference, instead of the usual subjective assessment and associated, "I think these are the best..." comment.

Dolphin:
I guess it is time to get educated. Did you know that most every
binocular in the market today, under the $500.00 price point,
is made in China? There are a few mentioned above you may find otherwise, but that is now the norm.
The original poster has requested the under $300. types, so that is how it goes.
I don't like it any better than you do, but that is the way it
goes.

Got both the 8x42 Zens and 10x36 Bushnell Legend Ultras and IMHO both are outstanding for the price. If I was planning an elk hunt I'd take the ultras because of their size but Zen Ray does make a smaller 10x36 that I'm sure would be awesome too.

The beauty is there is no need to compromise with modern designs. They are both brighter and as sharp or sharper.

A perfect example is the new elite ED .

another vote on ZRS HD. The clarity is right there with any of those sub $800 binoculars. I remembered a couple of years ago, Nikon EDG was one of the few that offered dielectric glass coating at more than $1500 tag. At $200, the ZRS with dielectric coating is really hard to beat.

I guess it is time for you to get educated. That may be the case only because the market is flooded with cheap Chicom crap optics. As I said, you can always find better quality made in Japan or even made in Germany optics if you are willing to look around. The two I mentioned are prime examples and in addition are excellent examples of two that are less than 300 dollars. If we keep buying Chinese, they will keep selling Chinese.

Hi Dolphin, Thanks for the links on these binoculars. I didn't see a Japan sticker on the Minox but the Olympus does have one. I think you will find Farmboy 1 is on our side. My brother has a Nikon 8x42 Monarch that has a Japan sticker on it and a friend from work bought a Nikon 10x42 Monarch that had made in china sticker on it. It is really hard to tell where any of these are made "even" if they have the sticker.
My brother dropped his Monarch from his treestand 30 ft. up and is still using it. It had to hit something soft of course, messed up the one eyecup a little but still worked.

my leupold and good bushnell are as sharp as my high end zeiss.

Does steiner have anything in his price range? German glass right.

Yes they do, Cabelas is a good place to look for ideas. They have several steiner and other brands that will serve his needs. I ended up buying Steiner, I couldn't quite muster the cash for zeiss or swarovski. I am happy with mine so far, there is definately an edge over my old Leupold binocs. Of course the leupolds were $200 glass, they held up for over 5 years and I was able to pass them on.

Another vote for Zen-Ray.

Thanks, I realize he is, I guess I am just a little sensitive about the issue. I am fairly knowledgeable regarding optics and am one of those guys who will search until he finds what is just right and at a deal before he buys. Avoiding Chicom optics, most of which is crap, some like the Zen Rays are the exception, but are produced and reproduced in the same factory and sold under other company names such as the Hawke Frontier ED, are flooding the market and hard to avoid in the low to medium end of the market. The Minox 10x44 porro prism model that I own says made in Japan on it, and inexpensive BV I own says made in Germany and a spotter the 62ED says made in Germany while the 40x eyepiece says made in Japan. The www.allbinos.com website I mentioned is pretty good at saying where a particular binocular was made despite where the company is based. You can always e-mail the company and ask them as I have done on many occasions to find out where specific products are manufactured. The made in "sticker" should at least with reasonably good certainty indicate where the particular optic was assembled which is important as quality control in addition to all of the other reasons for not buying products made in China is poor in general.

Thanks for your reply! My brother's Monarch is a sharp light wt. binocular. The fellow at work that had the 10x42 Monarch with the china sticker on it wasn't as good, I really didn't have time to check it out much it was very early in the morning and I was supposed to be working . I noticed looking at the night sky there was a definite circle around the middle sweet spot that was darker, I have never seen that in a binocular before. I never told that fellow what I saw, he seemed to like the binocular.

I should probably just stay out of this as the China thing gets chased around the fire here every time the inexpensive optics subject comes up. Don't mistake me, I don't like it (Made in China)any more than anybody else. Farmboy1 said a simple truth. In today's optics, almost anything $500 or less is at high probability (or near certainty) of being Chinese. I will add another one. Just because the label says "Made in Japan" does not mean much, if anything. John Barsness had a post the other day somewhere here when this subject was on the front burner that said sort of the same thing, but he added the observation that some companies even lie about the origin. Pay attention, he knows what he is talking about. Just because the label of the Olympus Magellan says "Made in Japan" does not mean much. It may be the truth. It may not be. For the price, I for one would be more surprised than not to find it really was "Made in Japan". I really don't know, but you need more information than the label on the binocular and the name of a Japanese company as proof. I have some idea of some stuff that people think is Japanese that is not. I can't prove that, so that's all I'll say. Fact is that ALL of the Japanese optics companies have major presence in China, most owning their own facilities there. Nikon and the entire Monarch line is a prime example. Monarchs are Chinese made. There is even a large German company with a very large optical facility in China as well.

It would maybe be a good deal to know what is really made where and how much of what is made where. However, you have to be more closely related to Sherlock Holmes than I am to figure that convoluted business out. I tend to evaluate the optic and in my opinion, folks here are smart enough to figure out for themselves what they want to do with Chinese manufacture. I sort of think bitching about Chinese optics is like taking aspirin for a headache and doing nothing about why you have the headache in the first place. Made in China is not the problem. The problem is WHY it is made in China.

The argument is also sort of lost out of the gate when the main argument comes down to "cheap Chicom crap". Sure a lot of it is, just look at Barska, BSA, et. al. But anybody who has looked a a $130 Zen Ray Vista knows he is not looking at crap, at least form an object quality point. From a political and cultural perspective, yes, but keep the argument there, because the root of the problem is political.

FWIW, the Olympus Magellan 10x42 EXWP 1 is Made in Japan.

Their high-index BaK-4 prisms and fully multi-coated lenses deliver crisp, clear images while waterproof, fogproof and dirtproof features help to ensure a great viewing experience under a variety of weather-related conditions. Additionally, long-eye relief capability and the binoculars� twist up/down eyecups make them more comfortable to use over extended periods of time.

Features:
*High-index BaK-4 prisms for bright, crisp images
*Fully multi-coated lenses
*Hermetically sealed and Nitrogen-filled for waterproof, fogproof and dirtproof performance
*Phase and UV coating
*Long Eye-Relief with Twist Up/Down Eyecups
*Large center-focus knob for fast, easy focusing
*Built-in dioptic correction adjusts to individual eyesight
*Internal focusing system

For what it is worth, all of what you said is quite redundant. What it amounts to is a big conspiracy on the part of all optics companies to label some of their optics as made in Japan and others made in China, which ever they think would do the best from the labeling based on their performance. I have dealt with optics in form or another for quite sometime and am fully aware of all you have stated. I evaluate every optic I look at regardless of country of origin, but in the end do not prefer to purchase Chicom products. There is a standard and reputable companies like Olympus and Nikon are not going to risk their reputations and money by intentionally mislabeling their products country of origin with respect to where they were manufactured. I have owned other Olympus binos where they stated they were made in China as well as several digital SLRs. In cased you missed it, I also posted a website where objective testing was performed so that the original poster and others can view and compare the performance of the Olympus and Minox with other binoculars. While I am confident that the Zen Ray product is good based on the recommendations and reviews, while I have never looked through any, I always like to have objective data to look at when recommending products to others in order to validate my recommendation and the fact that it is not only "good to my eyes." Chicom products are well known to suffer from poor quality control issues regardless of the price of the item. And while all Japanese optics manufactures have ties in China, so do all American optics companies, power equipment makers and so on. That does not mean we have to buy their Chicom made products. I try to buy Taiwanese made power and bench tools. So it is up to each individual to buy Chicom optics and I will say crap if they wish and support a country that wants to take us over economically.

Thanks Doug for the validation. These are some of the finest binoculars I have ever used regardless of the price. I cannot believe that more hunters have not found them "yet." www.allbinos.com objective rating system scores them very high and while they are ranked in a different magnification category than some expensive European brands, scored very close. By the way Doug has these for:

Olympus Magellan 10x42 EXWP 1
Price: $249.99

How much do they ( Olympus Magellan 10x42 EXWP 1 ) weigh ?

The 10 weighs 23.3 oz. with 15mm ER, 6� angle of view and the 8 weighs 22.9 oz. with 19mm ER, 6.3� angle of view. The 8 is not a wide field of view binocular

However, it should be noted that while the Olympus 8x42 has a FOV of 360.7 feet at 1000 yards compared to the Swarovski EL 8.5x42 of 390 feet which is only slightly less, the Olympus 10x42 EXWP1 binoculars exceed by a slight margin the FOV of the Swarovski El 10x42 binoculars (344.3 feet at 1000 yards for the Olympus versus 330 for the Swavorski.) So all in all the Olympus binoculars are in good company even considering that the Swarovski has a magnification of 8.5x versus 8x for the Olympus. Overall, at 1000 yards the FOVs are only slightly different for the two sets of binoculars.

Because it has "Olympus" on it would be my guess. Not exactly a name synonymous with hunting IMO. Is there any track record of durability or performance with hunters? The Burris Signature Select is fantastic, but I've never seen one being used in the field either.

I would really like to know how the Olympus 10x42 EXWP1 compares optically to a Zen-Ray 10x43 ED. They're similarly priced.

Anybody?

I'm redundant? Dolphin, either you have no idea what that means or you think that is one of those things that does not apply to you. Do you have any idea of how much you have used cheap Chicom crap here? You are a broken record, repeating the same basic post over and over. You can't get past that and have the temerity to tell us how you objectively evaluate glass. I think you have zero ability to objectively evaluate anything that you know up front is Chinese, that just ain't happening as far as I can see. In the optics evaluation arena, your blinders are getting in your way.

The Allbinos site is not news to anybody who has an optics hobby. There are some technical dificulties there that have been hashed out in other optics forums, which if you were there, you'd know about too. There is a reason why it is not more widely quoted, although it can indeed be a useful reference.

Since I stand accused of redundancy, let me repeat myself, I do not like "Made in China" any more than you do. There, I will now cease being redundant and stop repeating myself.

Very true, Olympus is not a brand normally sold at sporting goods stores or big internet gun related web stores and therefore the average hunter is not going to think to look for a pair. As far a durability, they should be just a durable as any other roof prism binocular as they are a very well constructed instrument with a solid feel that exudes precision as was found by the www.allbinos.com team and I see no reason that Olympus would build them to be a delicate piece. I searched them out because of my association with their photographic equipment dating back to the OM series of SLR cameras. I took a chance and I bought them sight unseen and got lucky. I have used them bear hunting many times on the coast of NC to include in the pouring rain and they have not failed me yet.

I don't like the idea of my purchases supporting a country who views us as their enemy either. Since my career is in manufacturing, I especially don't like the wholesale outsourcing of our manufacturing and the associated gradual loss of domestic manufacturing know-how that goes with it.

However, I don't think it's possible to totally avoid buying Chinese made stuff. I can tell you first-hand that the "made in ______" labels don't mean a whole lot. Quite often, they only mean final assembly occurred in the stated country, and has no bearing on the origin of parts content.

I would bet any amount of money that the glass in a high % of the "made in Japan" optics comes from suppliers in China. If you really break it down to include small parts like fasteners, o-rings, springs, I'm almost certain the majority of that stuff comes from China as well. Then, you have the accessories that come with the optics -- cases, neck straps, lens covers, etc. The majority of those items are, in fact, made in China.

There are very few optics companies who make everything in-house, and all of those are in Germany and Austria. Even the German and Austrian optics companies outsource some components of their products (if not entire product lines), and some of those outsourced parts undoubtedly come from China.

Bottom line... it might make you feel better to buy products that don't have a "made in China" label, but that doesn't mean your purchase isn't still directly supporting Chinese companies.

Dude:

So then what is your recommendation for an optic for under
$300.

Wow.... thats about all I can say....wow....

Zen Ray ED 8X43...not the newer ED2, which exceeds the $300 limit.

Or, I'd get a used Zen ED2 8X43.

You might also be able to find a used or demo Swift Audubon 8.5X44 for $300.

I'm sure there are probably some decent porro prism binos for $300 or less. But I'm not a fan of the porro form factor, so I'm not up on current porro models and can't make a recommendation there.

Rifledude you are entirely correct that a lot of components that go into the manufacturing of an optic are sourced from China and unfortunately that is unavoidable. Very small pieces that are made in high volumes can be made at very low costs and when purchasing very from these makers cost saving can be made. I do not like that part either. But, at least when an optic is assembled in Japan or the USA I can be assured that a large percentage of the cost of the product is not going to a Communist country and that quality control issues are not at the usual low level, on average, found in China. I know a previous poster as mentioned my redundancy on this issue, but at some point someone has to take a stand and like I said, until we make a concerted effort to avoid as many Chinese made/assembled products as possible, then they will continue to grow and erode our economy and that of other non-communist nations and further erode our chance to produce quality optical products on a level playing field.

I bought my dad these for fathers day.

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Shooting/Optics/Binoculars|/pc/104792580/c/104752080/sc/104217480/Redfield174-Rebel8482-Binoculars/720962.uts?destination=%2Fcatalog%2Fbrowse%2Fshooting-optics-binoculars%2F_%2FN-1100245%2FNs-CATEGORY_SEQ_104217480%3FWTz_l%3DSBC%253BMMcat104792580%253Bcat104752080&WTz_l=SBC%3BMMcat104792580%3Bcat104752080%3Bcat104217480

I've been VERY impressed with them The glass is very clear. I'm actually going to get some for myself. $150 and they are worth every penny.

I was research a pair of Leupold Pinnacle binoculars, then came across the Zen-ray ZRS model. How is ZRS HD? I am mainly looking for clarity at 100-150 yards

Was fortunate enough to spend and entire week with almost the complete Zen-Ray line, at the end of the week about all I could say was "WOW" very impressive

more please! I am planning to spend up to $250 on binoculars. Would like to know if the ZRS HD is really as good as everyone said.

I ended up with a pair of Leupold cascades and I am very pleased with them. They were actually a gift but just the same they are a nice glass with great light gathering in an 8x42. Thanks for all the suggestions.

A great binocular on the used market are the older Nikon/Nippon Kogakus from the mid-late 60s. These are old style porro prisms, no armor, but are light and typically very sharp. I have a couple pairs of 8x30s and a 9x35, all three excellent, have traveled many miles afoot with them around my neck.

For comparison, my standby binoc is a 10x40 Swarovski I bought new in 1983 in Austria - these are very close to the old Nikons, and I have yet to look through glass better than my old Swaros. All of the Nikons of which I speak here cost less than $150, one less than $100, on Ebay several years ago. Prowl Ebay for these, they are worth the trouble. Yeah, you probably can't take them scuba diving, and non-armored porros today are like wearing bell bottom pants. But if you want good glass cheap that will last, look through a pair.