Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Cost for next meaning meaningful step up in binos

John,

There is no doubt that the equipment that we have today, even the mediocre stuff, is much better than what was available in the 80's and 90's. As a kid in the 80's I had a 788 243 and a tasco scope. it was still pretty good. I like the geovids I mentioned, not only for the good glass, but for the rangefinder that it has. I use it as much as the binoculars. Nice not having 2 separate items.

I'll sure sign on to that one. What I would like to do is go around with a traveling unmarked optics demonstration. Just a bunch of unmarked binoculars with either no armor or drastically different from what the binocular comes with. The complete disguising would be impossible in some cases. But when a user picks up a binocular marked only with an ID number and a small test protocol designed to point out what that user likes or does not like, the results would literally be life altering, I think. When you have in your hand before you look at it, say a Swarovision, and you have read all about how great it is, you expect to see greatness, and it should be no surprise that you do. Thing is the greatness you see is often skewed to greater levels than are justified. On the other hand if you are going to look at something generally derided as a cheap POS, then a cheap POS is what you will think you are seeing. On the other hand a more objective evaluation caused by being handed an unknown binocular and a test sheet, you will be far more likely to see what is there for what it is, not what you think is going to be there.

Several years ago a friends brother was hunting Elk at the Chalma ranch in NM..
On the last day of the hunt late in the day the guide spots a nice bull with his Swarovski binoculars.
The hunter raises the gun, can't see the bull, guide looks it's there.
Hunter still can't see the deer and looks through the binocs and spots the bull.
He has an average scope on a expensive hunt.
Moral of the story he upgraded the scope and purchased high end binocs. Granted he could easily afford them.
When I talked to a fellow 5-6 yeas ago about a S&B scope he had mounted on a rifle he was selling In asked what was the difference in his eyes and his answer "15 minutes at dawn and dusk".
That made me a believer in higher end optics and sold my "surplus" guns etc, qsaved up and purchased my first Swarovski scope and then binoculars.

By the way I paid $1,300 for the Swarovski, sold them 3 years later with a new harness and hard case for $1100 to a campfire member and purchased a new pair of 8.5x42 EL swarovision last month.

See if you can find the Swarovski 8x30 Habicht.

Dont belived its sold in the US, but its a very very good binocular! Maybe a dealer can find one for you.

http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=251846

Nowadays, if a guy thinks he's going to get an extra 15 minutes of viewing time/shooting light by using a $2500 scope/bino as opposed to a $500 scope/bino, he's going to be sadly mistaken. I've had m.y own McKinley's side by side with my own SLC HD's to know that there MAY be a 1-3 minute difference....MAYBE.

I've also had a VXIII side by side with a S&B Summit. 15 minutes ain't happening.....once again maybe 2-3 at most.

The biggest difference, IMO, between $500 binoculars today, and the premium stuff, is in the build quality, not optics. There are several $1000 binoculars today that will give you 98% of what a $2000 binocular does. You'll never know what you're missing, and even if you have them side by side it will be extremely hard to see. Side by side with my Meopta HD/Swaro SLC HD for example.

Good study.

The presence of scarcity also produces a spurt of "buy that now" transmitter substances...

Just in time inventory and "demo" pricing...:)

I'll bet post purchases of the sacrificial type, a bunch of defense mechanisms kick in....beyond hiding it from the significant other.

I got brainwashed into the roof prism thing decades ago so it may be too late for me(maybe But along the way I bought 2 pairs of these, the Swaro Habicht poor prisms; a 10x40 and a 7x42, both of which I wish I had back.A guide in southeast Alaska "taught" me about them....the dingiest,dankest place i have ever been for glassing and his 7x42 was the best performing of any bin I took up there.

The 10x40's so badly beat my Zeiss Classics in depth of focus, sharpness,color and clarity that there wasn't much doubt about it. Seems they were in focus "forever" with a wonderful 3-dimensional view.I found myself banging the focus adjustment much less than with a roof prism..

They rank in a handful of the "best" hunting/viewing bins i ever owned. If you want alpha optics at half the price tag, these are how I'd go.The optics are every bit as good as any roof prism.

They may look old fashioned, not as chic as a roof,but leave nothing on the table in performance. at a much lower price point.I have been promising myself another 7x42 but just have not pulled the trigger.

JG most all my Canadian whitetail hunting has been done with pretty mundane standard Leupold scopes. I am not one of those folks who has been thwarted and lost a chance at a big buck by not having alpha glass on the rifle.

But I do know a couple people who have; they whine to the high heavens!

It can happen. One guy still bends my ear over a big buck he could not shoot with a 2.5-8X Leupold in an Alberta alfalfa field.

One guy with a lot of hunt time up there had this to say... while the difference is not all that great, but I get 3 minutes more at dusk and dawn, that's 6 extra minutes a day and over the course of a 10 day hunt, that's an extra hour of "prime time",which became, in his mind, significant.

Since he had killed more big deer up there than me, and had more years "in",I could not argue the logic.

Which elites do you have? I had the elite 10x42s and sent them in for repair my fault....They sent me a pair of the new elites with ed glass!!!!!very nice upgrade....I am very Happy with them...I think you would have to spend a Whole lot more for very little improvement...

Not doubting you for a second Bob, but I've never not got a shot at last/pre dawn light due to the scope I was using. However, throwing a little red dot into a VX6 or Meopta duplex reticle.....any potential problem would be solved forever.

This bruiser was at very, very last available shooting light and I could have easily shot him with my VX6/duplex......

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JG I hear you...like i said I never lost one.

But I now have one red dot scope here .

I have the new 10x42 ed's and in all honesty I have realized that there is little I could afford that would improve on the view. I have come to the conclusion that any dissatisfaction I have is with the shape. I am a fan of open bridge binos and to satisfy the itch I am looking at different 32mm options, that way I won't be buying another pair to fill the role of what I already own.
Nick

I'm late to this thread, but will say you should look at the Leupold Gold Ring Binos. They hang with the best to my eye and Leupold does have fine customer service if you ever need it.

Illuminated is THE way to fly for hogs, btw.

Might try Rockstad Enterprises, they sell new, used, & demos of all brands. I bought demo Leica 10X42 binos for $770 and a used but like new Leica 20-60 spotter for $930. This was a few years ago, but it was the best deal I could find at the time.

Warranty & customer service should weigh in heavy on your choice, Swarovski & Zeiss may be the best in that regard.

Buy once & cry once.

I like the Zeiss 10x42 HT demo I bought from Camerland. Quite a saving on the normal retail of over 2K. Exceptionally sharp and great in low light. My Swaro 8x32 SV EL are great too but I think the Zeiss has better center resolution.

For the money I think the Zeiss Conquest HD is outstanding value. Very little difference from the alpha models.

Here are links to two press releases that refer to two possible articles;
One done by CalTech researchers;
http://www.caltech.edu/news/wine-study-shows-price-influences-perception-1374
"Marketing actions can modulate neural representations of experienced pleasantness," published January 14, 2008 in the early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
and another done in England by Richard Wiseman.
http://www.wired.com/2011/04/should-we-buy-expensive-wine/

The Wiseman "study" had some methodological problems that raise questions about the validity of the results. You can read about that here;
http://www.wineanorak.com/wineblog/wine-science/the-wiseman-%E2%80%98study%E2%80%99-%E2%80%93-cheap-versus-expensive-wine

Valid or not, it's apparently it's an area of interest for the wine industry, because there were other similar studies done on perception of the quality of wines being colored by the price.
Here's another example you can download;
www.wine-economics.org/workingpapers/AAWE_WP35.pdf

I'll leave it up to ya'll to decide for themselves whether wines and Bino's are subject to similar judgements.

p.s. JB check your email box.

How one hunts determines the quality required.

At 77, I'm past walking into the high desert looking for mulies. I'm not likely to be more than a couple of hundred yards from my van, Kawasaki Mule, Ranger, or at worst, a horse. My favorite white tail hide is a box stand overlooking a food plot, a game trail, and a spring. Everything a buck needs is there including girls. I can park my van in a hidden spot some forty yards out.

I bought SLC 8x30 when they came out some 25 + years ago. Last year I was looking them over thinking of an upgrade and trashed the diopter wheel. I sent them to the service center, and when they returned, they were better than new.

I can tell the old SLC is not phase corrected when I look at the clear sky. It is not an issue looking over a buck at somewhere between 70 and 250 yards. Unless I run into a heck of a deal, this optic will do for me.

SIL just bought a place in the edge of the expanding mule deer territory. A farm with a creek running through it. Here, the mulies are hunted much like white tails. I intend to place a box stand where I can see them feeding around the edges, which will be planted food plots. The old glass will do here.

My greatest need is to sell some unused guns and trade for a new fuel injected, power steering mule. My old one is about as temperamental as the flesh and blood variety.

Jack

That sounds like a good plan to me jt402. Good luck with it, and take some pics when you smack a buck!