Help me decide on new binos.

CyaN1de

CyaN1de

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Looking at getting g a new pair of binos.

Top contenders right now are the Zenray and the Minox but looking for some opinions on the others (excluding the Nixon Prostaff's)

Image is missing the Vortex Diamondback 10x42

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I have not had the opportunity to look through any of the mentioned binos other than the Vortex so first hand experience with any of them is appreciated.

Thanks
 
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I had the Minox, good set of binos, but i paid $249 from cameralandny. I think they have an open bridge now, mine did not.

Traded them off when i got a set of fusions.
 
You will not get good quality roof prism binos for $300, be prepared to spend at least twice that, pay once cry once.
Stick to well established brands and stay away from newcomers. If your budget is $300 or so choose porro prism binos that will give you more bang for your buck.
10x40mm is not a good choice IMO, those are dim in poor light and shaky in off hand glasing, 8x40mm with 5mm exit pupil will serve you better for general use.
 
Not on your list but I got the Sightron Sii BL 8x32's last year, had the chance to also try a couple other of their top models at the same time to compare. I picked these as they were compact/lighter, clarity is as good as an eye could tell, and really good/easy focus.
I had previously looked into the Steiners 10x42 as well, I found the Sightron easily as good, perhaps even better and definitely better in price. But as always with optics its best that you be the one looking through it.



Edit, just went to do a little quick test as daylight was almost gone(7:40pm) rolled out the 100ft tape and printed different letter font size and numbers from 12 to 32 on a sheet of paper. At 100ft can read 32 and discern numbers and some letters to size 20-24. Could probably do a bit better with more light and if I wasn't so shaky. If I had been smart I would have done that test when I had the higher end models to try as well in 10x42 and Siii. Of course this would vary a bit with each persons eye.
 
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I'm very happy with my Minox optics and think them very good value. I have their IF6.5x32mm binos (model since discontinued) and a MD50 (16-30x50mm) spotting scope. (Both came from CameraLandNY, good service and competitive prices.) The binos were about $300 and the spotting scope a little over that by the time they got to me.
 
10x40mm is not a good choice IMO, those are dim in poor light and shaky in off hand glasing,
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No doubt 10x magnification makes it necessary to hold them more steady, but not all 10x40 binoculars are dim in poor light.The quality of the lenses and coatings is just as important as the lens sizes, as far as light transmission is concerned.
 
Based on the reviews I read on many hunting and bird watching sites I decided to go with the Zen-Ray ED3's over the Minox.

I will try and do a short review on them when I get them and will also see if I can borrow some other highend brands to compare them to as some of my shooting buddies have some expensive glass.
 
stubblejumper said:
No doubt 10x magnification makes it necessary to hold them more steady, but not all 10x40 binoculars are dim in poor light.The quality of the lenses and coatings is just as important as the lens sizes, as far as light transmission is concerned.
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No matter how you look at it the 10x40mm binos have only 4mm exit pupil, to little for even the best ones out there. Some younger hunters can use 7mm EP, middle aged ones might need only 6mm EP, me? older fellow at 60 years old will never even consider EP of less than 5mm in binos and that's my personal experience.
 
gunrunner8 said:
No matter how you look at it the 10x40mm binos have only 4mm exit pupil, to little for even the best ones out there. Some younger hunters can use 7mm EP, middle aged ones might need only 6mm EP, me? older fellow at 60 years old will never even consider EP of less than 5mm in binos and that's my personal experience.
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At 60 I'm guessing you are closer to a 3.5mm...age is hard on the eyes. Few people ever achieve a 7mm exit pupil and even 5mm is a pleasure that only the middle aged share. Light transmission means far more than exit pupil at the end of the day. There are lots of binos with a 4mm exit pupil that are far brighter than those with a 5-7mm exit pupil. That's why old eyes appreciate high quality glass so much more than young ones.
 
No matter how you look at it the 10x40mm binos have only 4mm exit pupil, to little for even the best ones out there. Some younger hunters can use 7mm EP, middle aged ones might need only 6mm EP, me? older fellow at 60 years old will never even consider EP of less than 5mm in binos and that's my personal experience.
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My current binoculars are 10x42s(Leica), and my previous pair were 10x40s(Zeiss), and I find both brighter than many binoculars with larger exit pupils.
 
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