What's your pick on the best 8x42(ish) bino in the $2-300 range. I hear lots of good reviews for the Zen Rays, Vortex has some nice binos in that range as well as Bushnell and Nikon. Where's the very best bang for the buck in this range? Thanks.

Zen ED2 from doug at $275 right now is hard to beat.

Hard not to like those.

If this gentleman still has these, you'd be extremely hard pressed to do better at this price;

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbth..._FS_Promaster_Infinity_EL_X_#Post6059230

I'll agree with this. My main pair of hunting binos are swarovski 10x42 SLC's. When doug knocked the zen ray ED2 8x43's down to $275 I ordered a pair to keep in my truck because I don't want to leave my swarovski's there, too much chance of them being stolen and I don't want to pay the $1600 for a new pair. The zen ray's are outstanding for the money spent, they'll fully hang with my swarovski's in low light, I took both pairs hunting and compared them as it got dark. The only place where I see any real difference between the zen rays and swarovskis are at the edges of the field of view, the zen rays give slightly more distortion at the edges than the swarovski's, but still better than 99% of the binos out there. I let a couple of other guys at my camp use the zen rays hunting and they agree with me, they're "almost" as good as the swarovski's optically. Several guys in my camp that didn't want to spend the money for alpha binos have been using nikons, all agreed that the zen rays were a lot better than their nikons.

Doug had those promasters for $250 a while back. Don't know if that deal is still on or not.

Check this chart out from birdwatching.com. (http://www.birdwatching.com/optics/2011midpricebins/chart_2011.html) They review a who bunch of mid-price 8x42 binoculars. They seem to think the Vanguard Endeavor ED is the best of the bunch. I'm not sure how true it is but I got an Vanguard Endeavor ED 10x42 and it is pretty good for the money. The are around $320-$350 and they also have a $50 rebate going on right now to 6/2012. I got mine for $217 from Amazon warehouse deals in like new condition (basically brand new) for $217. For $167 after the $50 rebate it was a pretty decent deal.:) The Zen Ray ED2 8x43 seems to get favorable reviews from a lot of folks from various forums too. The $279 price is pretty good.

Doug has Zen-Ray ZRS HD 8x42 for 8x42. That's one of the best binos that I have seen in that range. But at $275, those ED2 are the steal for the money

I've been extremly impressed by the Minox 10x42's I bought from Doug a while back. They have a 8x42 as well.

Doug has these for $149 for campfire members, can't think of a better deal for the optics you get
http://www.cameralandny.com/optics/minox.pl?page=62038

Here is the 8x42 for a little more money
http://www.cameralandny.com/optics/minox.pl?page=62179

Thanks guys, keep the review comming.

OP, Like you, I was also in search for a 8x42 binoculars $150-300 recently too. I went through a couple of them and finally settle on the Vanguard Endeavor ED 8x42 (I mistyped the model in my previous post). I purchase all these online to try them out. In the end I returned all of them and sold one off on ebay, and finally kept the Endeavor ED. The Endeavor is not perfect. A perfect 8x42 binoculars for me would have edge to edge sharpness and 100% CA controlled. Here are the brief impressions of the 8x42 binoculars I that bought and tried:

Bushnell Legend Ultra HD 8x42

Pros: Extra wide FOV at 426', image is really sharp within sweet spot, cheapest readily available binocular with ED glass.

View is really sharp to ~55-65%, from 65% to 85% it is usable but apparently less sharp. 90% onward it is really blurry. Chromatic aberration is well control to up ~65% and less control onwards but still really good except for the out 10% of the outer edge. The relief of this binocular could be problematic for certain people. You have to place the binocular a few mm away from your eyes or else you get black outs. The overall build quality seems to not be as rugged as others.

Kruger Caldera 8x42

Pros: Huge FOV at 438', open bridge design, image sharp within sweet spot but slightly less sharp compared the Endeavor ED and Ultra HD, great overall build quality,

View is sharp at ~70-75%, from 75% to 90% it is usable but apparently less sharp. 90% onward it is somewhat blurry. Chromatic aberration is well control to up ~70% and less control onwards but still really good except for the outer 10% or so.

Vanguard Endeavor ED 8x42

Pros: Image is really sharp, almost edge to edge sharpness (this might be due the smaller FOV 368� compare to 426� and 438'?), great overall build quality, 19mm eye relief

View is sharp almost to the very edge ~95%. 95% on ward is usable but less sharp. Chromatic aberration is well control to up ~65% and less control onwards but still usable.

Nikon Monarch 3 8x42

Pros: Cheapest of the ones I�ve tried, decently image sharp within sweet spot but slightly less sharp compared the others (maybe because of the lack of ED glass),

View is sharp to ~75%, from 75% to 95% it is usable but apparently less sharp. 95% onward it is usable but somewhat blurry. Chromatic aberration is controlled but not as well as others. FOV could be wider (330� is on narrow side for a 8x ). Image doesn�t seem to pop at you as much as those with ED glass.

Great reviews, thanks.

I have some alpha binos but wanted an inexpensive pair with rainguard. I bought the Bushnell Legend HD 8x42 for $220 and have been very pleased. They do get less sharp towards the edges but are excellent in the mid areas. Rainguard is great. Nice case. Quite light. Very good value.

I have a pair of Minox BV8x42BR's and the Zen ED2 8x43's. The picture is definately better on the Zen's but the Minox has closer focus and much lighter. If you want top quality at an affordable price, you can't go wrong with the Zen's. The Minox are very nice as well and will save you about $100. I bought both from Doug at Cameraland. I'd be happy with either bino. A word on the Minox service. My kids were playing with my Minox and dropped them (or threw them) and bent the twist out eye cup almost shut. Minox fixed them for FREE without ANY hassle. Minox stands behind their product!
I did a review of the Zen's here: http://peditocascabel.blogspot.com/2011/09/zen-ray-zen-ed2-8x43binocular-review.html

Nikon 8X42 ATB. I think they are being replaced with a new Monarch 6, one step up from the Monarch 3. I love the bATB's, great eye relief for glass wearers like myself.
Check Optic's Planet. I think they are $299

Centershot, all of these are roof prism- is that a requirement? How much of a fctor is weight and size? Reason I ask is that I spent over $300 on Leupold Pinnacles- at the time their top of the line 8x42's roofs. They have a nice view, are compact, and were very highly touted but I found myself constantly fidgeting with the adjustments. I researched and decided to go porro. I got some Bhushnell Legends 8x42. A little bigger and heavier but SO much brighter and mero comfortable over extended viewing. They just work- especiall in very low light. Anymore I think I am sticking to porros. Just can't beat the bang for the buck- heck look at how many folks rave abuot the <$100 Yosemites. Just something to consider.

Buzz, As far as I know the Monarch ATB's are not going anywhere. Their size definitely has uses for many folks. The step up from the MONARCH 3 is the
MONARCH 5. Here's a bit more info on the 5's.
Nikon Monarch� 5 Binoculars

Waterproof, fogproof reliability
Eco-Glass dielectric prism coatings for low-light performance
Protective, full-rubber-armored body
You can rely on these slim-lined, lightweight binoculars when the going gets tough and the game moves fast. They feature Eco-Glass dielectric prism coatings for superior sharpness and low-light performance. The super-tough, full-rubber-armored body is O-ring-sealed and nitrogen-purged for waterproof, fogproof reliability


Check them out, I think you will be very pleased.

nice comparative review

Update on the Endeavor ED. Damn I spoke too soon.

Finally got to do some detail chromatic aberration testing on these today. On a really bright sunny day the CA can get pretty bothersome when view slightly off from the center. Its CA is a purple-ish white tint that is more apparent compared to others that I have test and it does inconstantly flare a bit at the extreme edges, especially left and right edges. I might order another pair to see if these is a defective unit or not.

I have tried some Bushnell ED spotter and noticed the same blue fringing color too. It confirms my suspicion that not all ED glasses can handle the CA that well. From my experience, the Swarovski EL and ZEN ED2 are the best in controlling CA. EL does not mention anything about having an ED glass. But I assume it does have ones.

A perfect example of how ED glass does not make a binocular. It is the other way around. Unless a binocular is designed around the ED glass objective then they aren't taking full advantage of the design. I have handled many ED glass objective bins and scopes and many of them show color fringing on high contrast objects.

Many really good suggestions so far. I would agree with many of the other posts and go with the Zen Rays.