Low light binos in the 1 to 2 grand range..any ideas?

[icehunter121]

K here is the situation...what optics can the fine members on the board suggest for using binos in very low light conditions?? We are talking about that once in a life time buck that is hiding in a hollow in a bottom of a coulee,and we need to be able to count the tines against a background of dead trees!!!

The price range is 1 to 2 grand but we want the best in optics and low light visibility!! Any suggestions?? Thx in advance...Ice..

 

[daniellybbert]

swarovski 10X42
i got a pair of 8X32 and i can tell if hes a big buck in the dark and with less than half a moon
so hte 10x should do well

 

[AP]

I have the Swarovski 10x,50SL ... an older porroprism design that is pretty good. So also are the 7x,50 ELCAN's issued to Canadian Forces for a while. If you bargain you might get the new (or demo) 10x,50 Leitz Ultravids ... technically these all have (except the ELCAN's that qualify as pretty good for other reasons) pretty high "twilight factors" eg: the square root of the product of the magnification and the objective in millimeters. After that it is optical quality, contrast etc. AND your ability to hold them still long enough to discern what you are looking for. A pretty nifty bino is/was the Zeiss 8x, 56 porro as well as the 8x,50 Zeiss (Jena) Nobilem....these are about as good as it gets for looking for the proverbial "black cat in a coalbin".....

I might add that the German Navy (of WWII vintage) used 7x and 8x bino's by Leitz and Zeiss ...the highly desireable ones for low light (hand held) work were 8x,56 Leitz (or beh labelled) bino's

 

[Gatehouse]

check out gr8tful dougs postings here..Great deals on high end optics.

I bought a pair of Lieca Ultravids fomr him, 10x43, and they are excellent.