Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Swarovski bino comparison?

I had some Minox HG's that I picked up from CL a few years ago for $500. They were a really good pair of bino's for the money.

The Cabela's Euro or Meopta are built like a tank and get you a view as close to anything alpha glass IMO.

Couldn't agree more. Great stuff.

Used Swarovski. Stretch your budget to $750-800 and you're in the market. We bought my dad a set from Shrapnel a few years back and, while not "HD" or the latest and greatest, they are fantastic glass. Slightly better than the Zeiss 10x40 Classics that I own, but only because of the adjustable eyecups - view is difficult to tell any difference at all.

What size and power are you looking for? As the 8x30/32 even on the used market sell for a bit ( quite a bit) less than the 8,10x42 binos.

I would look at used Swarovski SLC's or Meopta/ Cabelas Euro as stated above, or a Pentax DCF ( so or ED). I saw that a 8x43 Pentax DCF ED went for less than $400 on eBay last week. It was new, and they are built like a tank.

There are deals to be had out there.

I'm wanting an 8x. I dont thnk Cabelas sells used and I'm gonna use Cabelas gift cards. I'm surprised no one has mentioned Vortex. The Talon HD seems like a great bino for the $$ but I could be wrong.

Ziggy,
If you're going the Cabelas route, I'd consider the Vanguard Endeavor ED 8x42 before a Talon. And it'd keep some extra cheddar in your pocket.

8x what obj size ( 30/32; or 42).

Can make a big difference in price.

At least 32 but 36 would be perfect. The monarch 7 comes in a 36.

The Endeavor HD seem to be well built. Been looking at them as well. I'm starting to narrow it dwn

I was wrong it was the vanguard that comes in a 36.

I'm a big endeavor fan. Like I said earlier, Cabelas is running a smoking deal on ed2's if you can find them in a retail store. My 8x32's were new on the shelf for 199.
Nick

I bought a pair of 10x42 Zeiss Conquest HD from Doug for $720 during one of their sales. Side-by-side with EL's, I have a hard time noticing a difference in image quality. I know/suspect there is, but I haven't seen it, yet. Close behind were the Razors. Next were the Cabela's Euros, by a quite a bit in terms of brightness and sharpness (i.e. the other 3 were noticeably better than the Euros). Vipers were behind the others by a large margin.

A little hokey, but some interesting "tests" of the Zeiss...

Link

The only pair of bino's I used for over 5 years was a pair of Nikon ATB 3's. They must be close to 7-8 years old and still work fine. Bounced off a saddle horn about 20 times, been in my pickup for the last 3 years.

Doesn't help with selecting a current model bino but goes to show that a $300 pair of bino's can still be 'tough'.

And view aside they are also not equal to the solid feeling of a Swarovski.

If you want Swarovski buy the cheapest decent binos you can find and keep stashing away your gift cards. Pay cash for you boots decoys targets bullets etc and squirrel away gift cards or tax returns or bonuses or gun sale proceeds until you are there. I got my first pair at 55 years old and could kick myself for the Bushnell, Pentax, Minolta, Minox, Nikon and finally Zeiss Terras I bought and sold before i got the SLC 10x42's.

I was surprised recently by the new Leupolds in 8 power a young man was using hunting turkeys on our place. Those might be a decent fit but they aren't Swarovski. Seeing multiple fur colors on deer at 100 yards in great detail may not be necessary but it is really nice. I just wish i had them when my eyesight was better - who knows how many nice deer and elk i missed spotting.