Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics How fancy a binocular do I really need?

I keep struggling with this question and end up having a hard time justifying the high priced glass. Now high price for me is anything over $500-600 - although some of Dougs demos bring some very nice glass to the table for just a bit more. My glassing consists of mostly wide open areas here in Idaho where glassing out to a mile or so is common. I realize that is spotting scope territory, but I already know I will not carry one so that is out. I'm not a trophy hunter and don't really need to see every little sticker at 500yds but I do need enough glass to tell if it is a buck or not. At one time I owned a set of Nikon LX 8X32's which were very nice - something in that class would be excellent. Are the new Monarch 7's comparable? If so I would be satisfied - but if they have flare or blackouts then I'd be disappointed. I am very partial to the 8X30-32 size. They tend to be lighter and sized a little smaller than the full size along with less expensive on average. On my short list are the Zeiss Conquest HD 8X32's, Swarovski 8X30 CL and the new Nikon 8X30 Monarch 7's. These will be my only nice glass and will accompany my truck binos that are Vortex Viper 8X28's. Problem is, I have not been able to compare all of them together - each individually (except the Monarchs) and only indoors. I guess the real question is "Are the Zeiss or Swaro's worth the extra $"? I realize that is a very subjective question but would still like to hear your reasons why or why not. Other options? Thanks.

Mid-tier glass has come a long way and would probably do everything you need it to. But if you have the money there's nothing like looking through top tier glass. You can see that extra 5-10% performance difference (although it comes at a high cost).

Getting a demo bino, a secondhand, or last year's model can be a good way of saving money. There have been some outstanding deals on optics in the classifieds. The great thing about this approach is that you can try them and resell at close to what you bought them for since they're already discounted.

Eric

I don't think the big name binoculars are worth it except of course to show off. However a 'special' binocular might cost more.

I was deer hunting on open land with my 8X Leu. binos. which are good. My eyesight is good.

While does were in season I wanted a buck. I spotted a group of deer across a valley. It was quite far. I could not make out if one was a buck or not.

Thus I found some 7X-12X Switch Power binoculars. They were very expensive. The zoom binoculars I tried have a narrow field of view and are not good for scanning.

You might search here and in other forums for topics on Switch Power binoculars.

I don't know were there is a good deal on some. Mine cost $500 and that was at "half price".

I have some "high end" glass on my primary hunting rifles; but have been VERY satisfied with Pentax DCF SP for my binos; have both 8x32 and 10x50.

I think you'll eventually be let down by something in an 8X30 or 8X32 when you have to use them in low light. In mid day they are fine. The higher end glass can help offset things a bit, but the standard rule of having a front objective 5X greater than the magnification is still in play. I decided to buy some quality binoculars 3-4 years ago and ended up with these from Cameraland.

http://www.cameralandny.com/optics/pentax.pl?page=dcfsp8x43

I paid less than $400 IIRC. They have gone up some since then and was offered a display model at a discount.

They are very good, but often get left at home for something more compact. Personally, I'd rather drop the magnification down to a 6X30 in something more compact. Everything is a tradeoff and I'd rather give up some magnification in order to keep things a little brighter at the end of the day if size matters. It is really a shame more 7X35's and 6X30's are not offered. That is a very useful size and power range.

These are now discontinued, but if you can find a pair are great compact binoculars.


http://www.optics4birding.com/leupold-wind-river-katmai-review.aspx


Don't laugh, but for under $100 these are surprisingly good. I keep a pair in the truck and end up using them quite often.

http://swfa.com/Leupold-6x30-BX-1-Yosemite-Binocular-P48061.aspx

centershot,
Although a bit above your projected price range a Swaro SLC 10x42 jus posted in the classifieds, I believe that he is down to around $900 for them. It may be worth consideration. As a disclaimer I do not know the seller, nor do I have any interest in the sale, I am just passing some info here.

drover

I have used leupold and Nikon binos. both 10x42. The leupolds were clearer. I then saved 4 years and bought a used pair of leica geovids for $1600. A lot of dough, but worth every penny.I can still see in the dark with them when everything in the other binocs is black. Much better definition, and no eye strain. When it comes to binos, you get what you pay for.

check out the meopta 6.5x32

after getting my Vortex Razor spotting scope and how impressed i am with it I would consider their binos now as well....

http://www.cameralandny.com/optics/vortex.pl?page=vortextalonhd8x42

Keep your eyes peeled on used. I picked up a set of 8x Swaros here for $600 a couple years ago.

Buy the best glass you can possibly afford. The thing is, with poor optics you never know what you are missing.

My thoughts on glass... sell all the rifles you don't need to buy the best glass, then stretch a bit more.

A safe full of unused rifles is worthless. I'd rather have the very best bins around my neck and a Walmart rifle, than the reverse.

OTOH, "mid-priced" binoculars have gotten quite good these days.

Yup. No comparison. You definitely get what you pay for.

I have never once regretted dropping the money on Ultravids.

Agreed.

Here's a related anecdote. Setting: Yellowstone National Park, late May, a few years ago. I had with me a Pentax 8x42 DCF WP, good mid-tier glass, and a Zeiss Victory FL T* 8x42, definitely alpha glass. We were driving down a main east-west road on the north side of the park and see a couple vehicles stopped with a couple spotting scopes set up. The couple who owned the spotting scopes had spotted two bears, a cub and mama bear, on a distant hillside that must have been at least two miles away. Once my wife and I saw the bears in the spotting scopes, we tried our binocs. With the Pentax 8x42, I could barely see tiny fuzzy black spots, with no discernible shapes, on the hillside. With the Zeiss, I could barely make out the bears' shapes. So on an open hillside a long distance away the difference between mid-tier and alpha was fuzzy spots vs. bear shapes.

That difference in resolution sold me on alpha glass. If I couldn't afford alpha glass, I would be perfectly happy to hunt with the Pentax 8x42 DCF WP, like I did for a few years before I could afford alpha glass, accepting that there would be some limitation. Side note - I sold that Zeiss Victory in the Classifieds recently for $1050, so an alpha binoc doesn't have to cost you $2000.

I'll throw out one other consideration about some of the newcomers to the middle-tier optics market. The quality of the view may not be all that far from that of alpha glass, but what about durability of the binoculars? Do those newcomers have the decades of design experience that the Big 3 and other established optics companies have, and what deficiencies in design might you encounter over the life of the newcomer's binoc? While quality of the view through the optic is the most important and easiest aspect to compare, durability is important too. If you have to replace cheaper constructed mid-tier glass a couple times over the next 30 years because the cheaper binocs didn't hold up to long-term use, you haven't saved any money compared to buying an alpha binoc, and you've paid the same amount or more for an inferior view all that time.

I'll add one other related thought - What if a major durability design flaw on the mid-tier Chinese copycat binoc becomes all too apparent at the worst possible time - a once in a lifetime hunt - and the binocs are useless the rest of the hunt (worse than useless if you're backpacking and have to carry them out with you so you can send them for warranty service when you get home, if the company is even still in business and supports their product)?

I agree with Brad - I would rather hunt with a Walmart rifle and the best binocular I could afford than to have a safe full of guns and hunt with a cheaper binoc. That safe full of guns isn't going to help me see the game I'm seeking.

Good points above - With binos there are several big steps in price and quality. First step from the $40 Walmart to the $200 stuff, pretty big. Second step $200 to $400 - smaller but noticeable. Third step $400-800 - the upper end of this get very nice glass, starting to plateau in the price vs view. Next step gets smaller and pricier to the $1000-$1200 binos, very nice indeed - you about need the elite binos to see the difference. The last step is to the $2K range - best of the best. What I am looking for is the point where the view begins to plateau vs the price. The Zeiss Conquest 8X32 HD is slowly becoming my favorite in this category - but I really want to see if the Nikon Monarch 7 is a sleeper at 1/2 the price of the others. At that price range things tend to be very good, good as the best of the best 10-15 years ago? Close. Thanks for the opinions so far, keep them coming.

The fellows above have given good advice as top glass really makes things easier...and is easier to sell if you should need cash.

FWIW, there was a good thread recently about customer service and a number of folks gave Nikon a big thumbs down on CS.

Eric