Good pair of binoculars?

MilitaryCollectorMark said:
Hey all!

What would you recommend for a pair of binos?

Buying a high quality pair of used zeiss or other compairable binos would be the best.
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I was speaking with a Zeiss dealer who talked me out of the brand. He said they are unbelievably petty with warranty problems. On the other hand Swarovsky was amazing for warranty. Pretty bad when a guy wearing their T Shirt tells me to avoid one of their own products.

In the end I went with Kowa with the prominar glass, but not because I didnt like the Swaro stuff... Just could not justify the additional cost.
 
The Kowa's are a fantastic bino, maybe a touch heavy if youre nitpicking. I had one and I don't think I gained much if anything with a pair or Swaro EL binos.

Maple57 said:
I was speaking with a Zeiss dealer who talked me out of the brand. He said they are unbelievably petty with warranty problems. On the other hand Swarovsky was amazing for warranty. Pretty bad when a guy wearing their T Shirt tells me to avoid one of their own products.

In the end I went with Kowa with the prominar glass, but not because I didnt like the Swaro stuff... Just could not justify the additional cost.
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If you can try as many as possible and see what fits you the best. I have both Zeiss and Swaro’s and what I grab to use the most is my 7x42B Dialyt’s. The ergonomics of them ‘fit’ me the best. I reach for the others only when I have a specific use in mind like optical power or ranging.

Good luck.

*edit* I have used both zeiss and swaro warranties and both were excellent especially since it was user error.
 
I have Zeiss Conquest 10x30's. Love them, love them, love them. The glass is fantastic. Great light transmission. I consider them as important as my rifle when hunting. I would buy them again in a heartbeat.
 
I used to say this all the time when I sold binoculars for a living:

The jump from a $25 pair to a $250 pair is a much bigger jump than from $250 to $2500.

I feel like $500-800 is about the sweet spot for most people, but if you can put the money into a leica/swaro/zeiss you won't regret it.

For sizing, I like to have two pairs:

An 8X32 set that come with me everywhere. They're smaller, stable, easy to carry, and easy to "spot and point" with the 8 power. You see something, bring the glasses up, and you're right on it.

I also keep a 10X42 set for "sit and watch" moments. More magnification means it's better to be resting your elbows on something, larger glass for a little more light capability.

I've known people who use 12X and 15X units, but I'd only ever use that when tripod mounted really.

Similarly, I don't think I'd go smaller that 30mm for your objective lens. The smaller micro-glasses start to feel really pinched, even with the top-notch glass.

Brand wise, I don't think you're ever buying bad binos when you spend over $500.

The way I break it down is:

Under $500? Probably pick bushnell.

$500 to $1000? Probably Vortex or Leupold or one of the budget-Europe brands

$1500+? Time to go hard on the austrian/german and do some real side-by-side comparisons if you can.

When I had hours everyday to sit and compare optics at different ranges and light conditions, I found I preferred Swarovski Binos, Leica Rangefinders, and Zeiss spotting scopes.
 
Southcountryguy said:
If you can try as many as possible and see what fits you the best. I have both Zeiss and Swaro’s and what I grab to use the most is my 7x42B Dialyt’s. The ergonomics of them ‘fit’ me the best. I reach for the others only when I have a specific use in mind like optical power or ranging.

Good luck.

*edit* I have used both zeiss and swaro warranties and both were excellent especially since it was user error.
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This is how I ended up with 8x42 Meopros. They were the only pair I was able to put up against my glasses and see perfectly with. They aren't as clear as others that I could have afforded, but for constant carry and seeing what something on the horizon is, they work for me the best.
 
Wow! Some very good advice here! I'm not really interested in vortex. Haven't heard too many great things about their lower priced optics. Basically I want to buy once cry once as the saying goes.

One pair that caught my attention is the zeiss conquest. Buying used would be preferred. I've heard good things about athalon optics, really clear bright optics.

One pair of steiner HX 10x56 binos new for $999.99 how is that?
 
If I were in the market for a bino, I’d strongly consider a Tract Toric. Had the opportunity to play with a set of their 15x at a match recently, and found them very impressive. Even more so considering their price point. I’m regularly using hunting bud’s Leica & Swarovski, and the Tract are right there. Quite a bit better than the cheap lines of the big names, like the Ziess Conquest, IMO.
 
LittleBoyLefty said:
If I were in the market for a bino, I’d strongly consider a Tract Toric. Had the opportunity to play with a set of their 15x at a match recently, and found them very impressive. Even more so considering their price point. I’m regularly using hunting bud’s Leica & Swarovski, and the Tract are right there. Quite a bit better than the cheap lines of the big names, like the Ziess Conquest, IMO.
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$1400 isn't exactly cheap :)
 
MilitaryCollectorMark said:
Wow! Some very good advice here! I'm not really interested in vortex. Haven't heard too many great things about their lower priced optics. Basically I want to buy once cry once as the saying goes.

One pair that caught my attention is the zeiss conquest. Buying used would be preferred. I've heard good things about athalon optics, really clear bright optics.

One pair of steiner HX 10x56 binos new for $999.99 how is that?
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I don' ven think need to go that pricy. Their hunting line that is around and most the time under 500 is fantastic for finding animals. Good glass.

Their police/military/marine lines can often be found for around that price as well. I've used the now discontinued police version as my boating glass, they auto focus and are fantastic binos.
 
Steiner 8x56. I love them. I prefer the porro prism as the light path is deflected 4 times compared to roof prisms 6 times. You get better light transmission for the buck. Roof prism binos require much more expensive coatings to achieve same brightness as porro prism. Though roof prism binos are smaller and weigh less for the same sizes.
 
You can't go wrong going the used Steiner route also
No one really abuses binoculars most time out of 10
I used to sell the US Military Surplus 7x50 Steiner's
They were battlefield returns to Steiner and reconditioned
I don't think they do that much anymore , Law enforcement gets them now
 
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