Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Best sub 1k binoculars.....10x

After Much research and hands on shopping. I could not be happier with my Leupold BX-3 10x42 Mohave Bino's.

the meoptas that hand has for sell in the classifieds for $600 are a steal for a great pair of binos.

I just got a pair of 10x42 Meopta Meostar HD's and can't find anything to complain about. Price was under 1000 for demos. I had both the 10x42 HD and the 10x50 Meostars and I couldn't find anything the 50's did the 42's couldn't looking through them both side by side all day and all night. I ended up sending the 50's back since they were a little bigger than the 42's but both were excellent as far as I could tell. Very nice binos.

I have a pair I would sell for $600 shipped.

My buddy is looking for a pair last I asked. Which one's? Shape?

My vote for Pentax DCF SP, well under $1k. 10x43 or I have 10x50, very pleased.

I looked through those (~$900.00 +) when I thought I lost my Pentax DCF WP's that are over 10 years old. They were certainly not a step up from the Pentax, which I paid under $400.00 for. I was VERY happy when I found my Pentax.

To the OP, look for the Pentax on the used market.

Mule Deer has evaluated a bunch of glass and I would certainly contact him.

seconded

FOV is a little narrow but the glass is great. I don't know if they are the best under 1k but good prices are out there

Pentax DCF 10x50

Might be more betterer

Pentax 10x50 DCF ED

I would say the Meopta meostar or used swaro slc neu. I own both and they are great binos

Factor in the warranty and CS, too.

Those demo 10x42 PRIME HD looks sweet. With $50 instant discount (they have a coupon code PRIME), it is only $519.

http://www.zen-ray.com/shop/demo/prime-hd-1042-demo.html

I have the 10x40 Conquest HD... got them for $720 during the Moving Sale. They're nice binos and equal the 7x36 ED2 that I have in low light. Those ED2 were noticeably brighter than 8x30 SLC-neu that I had. The 10x Conquest HD are 4mm exit, vs ~5mm for the Zens... so I'd say the Zeiss is doing fair in terms of light transmission.

I also have the Zeiss 10X42 Conquest HD. Crystal clear and the low light capability has blown my mind.

If you are doing side-by-side comparisons, make sure these are on your list.

Cabela's Euro donkey stomp the Zeiss ConquestHD. Beter resoultion, colors ans low light transmission. You have to buy Swaro EL's to beat them...The 10x32's are great compact binos with amazing optics. If you haven't checked them out, you owe it to yourself to do so. And the waranty/CS will be easier to deal with.

I found a NIB 10x42 nikon venturer LX - the one with the old lead glass and the heavy weight. I think I paid $750 for them. Heavy, but very clear and true.

Hunted since 2002 with a pair of pentax DCF WP 8x42. Narrow FOV, but I was never wanting for clarity. Bought new on ebay for less than $250 back then.

I like the conquest HD for the price.

I have these Brunton's Epoch 10.5 X 43 These are new in the box.

If you would like them PM me.

I stopped at the local Cabels's to check out 10x42s a couple of weeks ago. I looked at Viper HDs, Conquest HDs, Euro HDs and a couple of others the guy at the counter pulled out. I was personally disappointed with the Conquests, the focus knob was funky and I had a hard time with the sight picture when I looked away from the center of the FoV. The Vipers were next, better ergos for me, maybe a little better optically than the Vipers, but I didn't spend much time with them because of the ergo and sight picture stuff. The EuroHDs won out, best focus knob and the optics were better for me than the others (contrast, brightness, overall sharpness, details in shadows, etc.).

I went home to see what I could find the Meostar HDs for. I checked the NY ABC shops and found them for $1028 shipped & no tax compared to $1199 + the WA sales tax. Got them now, anxious to spot some sheep with them. I also ordered a Euro stud for the Outdoorsman's tripod adapter. Nice. :-)

-Doug

At this price level we might be splitting hairs or seeing variances in individual bino samples. To my eyes, the Conquest was easily better than the Vipers, and still noticeably better than the Razors. I liked the Conquest over the Euros as well. All were fullsize 10x.

IIRC, Primes and BX-4 share similar designs but with some differences. First time I looked thru the BX4 I wasn't that impressed but wouldn't mind stacking all of these against each other.