Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics 10x or 8x binos?

10x for me for sure, but I’m hunting open country. For your country I’d be looking pretty hard at some 8x42s.

My 8x30 SLC’s get more use than anything else I own

Bargain for 10x

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/2420121029?pid=927718

None of you are talking about the fov. Field of view is why I bought my 8x32 Leica binos because for what ever reason, those 8x32’s have a fov very close to the wife’s 8x42 Eagle Optics and are more compact. I see lots of stuff out at the fringes that others in the group do not see right away because they do not use their binos properly. In our birder group, they look for birds with their eyes then use the binos for a better look. I do carry those 8’s for a macro look and a smaller 10x25 pair of Swarovski’s for a closer micro look.

For what you describe the 8x32's are a great fit. In fact, a pair of 6x30 Yosemites would be great as well.

I spent a lot of time shopping for my bins. Looked at a lit of shops, through a lot of bins. Settled on some nice 8x30s and bought onc cried once. They have been all over including alaska, the rockies and midwest. I've never felt the need for more, and if I did I wanted the spotter.

I use a B&L 7x42 Discoverer bino and it has never failed to do it's job and the rain guard coating works well. 10x is the most magnification the average person can hold steady enough without support. 8x32 is handy and 8x42 a bit brighter all other things equal. If you wear glasses and will wear the glasses while using your binocular you want at least 18mm of eye relief. For hunting in brush consider a good poro prism binocular. The zig-zag design of Porro prism binocular creates a clearer 3-D image with greater depth perception. poro prism binoculars cost less to make with with same quality parts are equal to a roof prism model.

So, what binos did you buy?

My hunting is mainly stationary, so I don't mind heavier 10x42 glass. I'm also shooting quite a few does each season and the extra magnification does help when looking for headgear. If I was more mobile, I'd be looking at lighter 8x glass in the 30-35mm range.

I really like my 8x32 BX3 Mojave binoculars. They suit me just fine and weigh in at 17 oz's. I've spotted elk in the shadows of the tree lines at more than 600 yards with them. They are great up close too.

For the two states you mention ( I hunt in Georgia a lot), 8x42s without a doubt. the 32s are ok as well, but you get better light transmission (everything else being equal of course) with the 42s in the dark Georgia pine woods and swamps...

8 is great. 32mm is where the magic is, unless you glass from a tripod. Most of us in AZ wear 8 x 32s as a neck glass and carry 15s or 18s for glassing off tripods -- I mean both units at the same time -- for a typical hunt. Also, I grew up hunting North Carolina. Point being I would use the 8 x 32 in your situation.

If the time came when I could only have one bino, then it would be a 10 x 42; used for both tripod and neck carry.


J

I bought zeiss 8x30 conquests about 12/13 years ago. Haven't shopped for bins since.

I went through this same scenario with my son over the last few months, his buddies would tell him one thing his Old Man would tell him another. It cut through the crap when we went on a hunting trip together. I told him you need one core binocular that you can use in most situations and somewhere down the line get a different bino for something more specialized. I have 5 different bino's from 7X to 15X and we spent a week hunting and playing binoculars.....
My son decided 10x42's were the way to go...........and I can't disagree !!!!! I still use my 7X bino's for outdoor sporting events because of FOV and use my 15X quite often from a tripod but would never have them as a core bino...........the 8's are fine but would choose 40-42mm over the 30-32mm 10 times out of 10

Apparently I don't know most in Arizona.........this last week end in Arizona all of us were using 10x42's
What kind of 18's are you using ??????

I prefer the 8x30/32 format but from time to time I use my Zeiss 10x40 Classics.

The small size, decreased weight, and field of view of an 8x30/32 make up for slight decrease in magnification, relative to a 10x40.

There is a 4oz difference between my Zeiss 8x30 Classic and 10x40 Classic.

8x32 for close work in the timber and thickets of the upper Midwest, paired up with my favorite Whitetail rifle.

Oh ya man, very sexy....

I prefer 10x, but I hunt more open country. I think an 8x would sevre you well.

I can't take full credit, my wife put the ensemble together.