I've looking for a new pair of binoculars for hunting. The cheap Tasco pair I have just don't cut it. I'm looking for something easy to carry, not too heavy, and good enough to count the points on a whitetail out to at least 300 yds. Thanks in advance.
Any binocular recommendations ?
- Thread starter Mantis
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I've got Swarovski (8X56) and Leica (10X42) - both are excellent glass. These days I'm carrying the Leica's more - they're lighter, have a built in range finder and my wife gave them to me so I damn well better use them.
There are some other ones here too, I know I've got some Nikons and Steiners in a closet somewhere - optically they aren't as good.
There are some other ones here too, I know I've got some Nikons and Steiners in a closet somewhere - optically they aren't as good.
money is everything... name your price.
for starters: bushnell legend 8x42, pentax sp, brunton eterna, and weaver grand slam.
if you have more money, you get better glass, and zeiss is top of the class, but i haven't seen leupold's new ones yet (and for $1000, they should be awfully nice).
for starters: bushnell legend 8x42, pentax sp, brunton eterna, and weaver grand slam.
if you have more money, you get better glass, and zeiss is top of the class, but i haven't seen leupold's new ones yet (and for $1000, they should be awfully nice).
It is hard to go wrong with Steiner, Swarovski, or Leica. If you go and test them make sure to go outside to do it. Also try and do it at high noon and at dusk. The difference in good glass is really apparant at different times and light conditions.
Nathanael_Greene
Member
I'm a notorious cheapskate, but I recently sprang for a pair of Swift Audubon HHS 8.5x42 binoculars. They run about $300, and are incredibly sharp and bright; magnitudes better than anything I've seen.
For a lot less, though, a pair of Barska Atlantic 10x42's aren't too bad (they run $50 or so).
If you want to go cheaper than that, I've got a brand-new pair of NCStar 10x42's (model #BWM1042G) that I'd be happy to sell for $30, delivered.
For a lot less, though, a pair of Barska Atlantic 10x42's aren't too bad (they run $50 or so).
If you want to go cheaper than that, I've got a brand-new pair of NCStar 10x42's (model #BWM1042G) that I'd be happy to sell for $30, delivered.
El Tejon
Member
I like roof prisms, fully coated lenses and lots of light in the apeture.
I like Swarovski as a brand. Best wishes.
I like Swarovski as a brand. Best wishes.
TangSafetyM77
Member
I am a little funny about optics. Especially binoculars. You spent a lot of time behind that glass. I ended up with the Leica 10X42 Ultravids after researching for about a year. I upgraded from a pair of Steiner 8X30's. I love the Leicas, but I still loan out my Steiners to new hunters in camp. They always tell me how great the Steiners are when they give them back after their hunt. It's just what you are used to, I guess. For high-end you are looking at Leica, Swaros, and Zeiss. The Pentax DCF are good. You can get some of the best bino info on the web from the bird-watching sites:
www.betterviewdesired.com
www.betterviewdesired.com
Sergeant Sabre
Member
Leupold Wind River Cascades, 8x42mm. Outstanding glass for any price range, but especially for what you will pay for them!
waterhouse
Member
The below is all hearsay:
I spend a good deal of time reading over at snipershide, and a lot of those guys have forgotten more about glass than I'll ever know. A member both here and there, who goes by USSR (Don), sells russian binoculars for about $100. Everyone at the Hide raves about the quality. These are guys who think nothing about dropping $1500 on a scope and tend to expect the best in their glass.
I've never used them but if I needed a new pair I'd probably get those. Do a search for his name and you can probably find the binos he sells.
I spend a good deal of time reading over at snipershide, and a lot of those guys have forgotten more about glass than I'll ever know. A member both here and there, who goes by USSR (Don), sells russian binoculars for about $100. Everyone at the Hide raves about the quality. These are guys who think nothing about dropping $1500 on a scope and tend to expect the best in their glass.
I've never used them but if I needed a new pair I'd probably get those. Do a search for his name and you can probably find the binos he sells.
I have some of the pre-Conquest "real" Zeiss binos and a pair of Leica Ultravids. Both are top notch. My brother showed up with a pair of Leupold Wind River Cascades during elk season and we spent a lot of time comparing the binos under various light conditions. I am very impressed with the Leuopold glasses. They are not as optically brilliant, nor do the resolve as well as the Leica, but they are every bit as good as my Zeiss binos. For the money, they are really nice. Down side is they are a few ounces heavier...big deal.
Vern Humphrey
Member
That about nails it. I'd add two things -- light weight and center focus. Light weight because I've carried far too many extra pounds too far in my younger day and have got smart in my old age. Center focus because sometimes you want to glass something close up, look through brush and so on, and need adjustable focuss.
Next, I'll give on magnification power to get light-gathering and resolution. Leupold makes the superb 6X30 Katmai that I like better than the 8x30 version for just those two reasons.
I just used my Burris Landmarks (free with a scope I bought) for the first time hunting yesterday.
I really liked them. They have flip-down lens caps, a rubber-like coating, and they're just the right size/weight. I didn't find the game I was looking for, but they were really effective in ID'ing birds from a few hundred yards. None were ducks, which was the problem.
I really liked them. They have flip-down lens caps, a rubber-like coating, and they're just the right size/weight. I didn't find the game I was looking for, but they were really effective in ID'ing birds from a few hundred yards. None were ducks, which was the problem.
I've always had a champagne appetite and a beer budget for binos and spotting scopes. Generally end up with a best bang for the buck Pentax, Bushnell or Swift and learn to live with disappointment. All of those I've tried have room for improvement, even the big dollar glass. I expect that we'll see a lot of laser rangefinders incorporated in mid level binoculars and riflescopes in the not too distant future. I'm still looking for the sweet spot in spotters.
Here's a site that may be of some interest: http://www.24hourcampfire.com/binoculars.html
Here's a site that may be of some interest: http://www.24hourcampfire.com/binoculars.html
buzz meeks
Member
Lots of good advice above. Faced with the same choice, I chose the Pentax DCF SP 8x43s. They were a stretch for me financially but I can say honestly that they nip at the heels of the best Euro-glass. I say that having spent a bunch of time playiing with Zeiss 10x40Cs, Leica BNs and a pair of Swaro ELs. Half the price, ninety percent of the performance.
I got a pair of Nikon 10X compact binocs for Xmas a coupe years ago. They were on sale for about $60. For me, they work great. Take up practically no room in my pocket and give me the edge on identifying deer at the beginning and end of the day when all you see is a dim form moving along.
Cindog
Member
If money was no object and I was hunting out in the open fields of the west spending long hours glassing, then I would have bought a pair of Swarovski EL's. But since money is an object and my hunting is done in the thick woods of western Pennsylvania where my glassing is limited to a couple hundred yards, I bought the Leupold Wind River Cascades. Very nice for the price and I do not regret my purchase one bit.
Vern Humphrey
Member
I have a pair of Fujinon 7X50s -- these are marine binoculars. Too heavy for general carrying in the woods, but in dim light they will amaze you with what you can see, and they have superb resolution.
But hunting binoculars are kind of like CCW guns -- the little shirt-pocket binoculars you have with you are better than the big, high-power ones you left home because they were too heavy and cumersome to carry
But hunting binoculars are kind of like CCW guns -- the little shirt-pocket binoculars you have with you are better than the big, high-power ones you left home because they were too heavy and cumersome to carry
You just said a mouthful.
I once had to pass up a probable shot on an elk hunt because I left my binocs behind. I had to take a "nature walk" while sitting in a deer park. I decided not to despoil my sit area, so I grabbed my iron-sighted rifle (SMLE No. 5 sporter with 180gr handloads) and necessary paper and headed a couple of hundred yards down the old logging trail to find an appropriate location to do the personal business. While engaged in my task, I saw movement down the trail about a hundred yards or so. Thinking that I was to be embarrassed by a hunter, I stood up and prepared to make myself decent, and saw that it was actually a group of several elk pushing uphill across the logging trail. Because their heads were up in the branches of the trees, I couldn't see if there were any brow times, and I held only a bull stamp. But what are the chances that a group of several (6? 8?) elk didn't hold at least one bull with 4" brow tines? I quickly got going and grabbed my rifle, futilly taking perfect sight pictures on several shoulders without being able to shoot. I tried to stalk them, but the three-day old October snow had melted and refrozen hard, making it sound I was walking on broken glass whenever I passed through a shadow. They quickly departed silently. (How does a herd of horse-sized animals move so quickly, so silently? Ghosts!)
Back at my pack was a pair of 10X50's. I wanted to cry.
It is said that the difference between a $300 set of glass and a $50 set of glass is absolutely enormous, while the difference between a $1000 set and a $300 set is pretty small. I can see what they're talking about, to some extent.
Vern Humphrey
Member
My beef is that they won't make binoculars like I want -- because they have sold people on hype. All that sells, apparently is high power. I've actually seen a "zoom" set that claimed 80X -- with a 25mm objective lens.
I'd a lot rather have a 7X35, or 6X30 than a 10X25. But good ones in that format are hard to find.
I'd a lot rather have a 7X35, or 6X30 than a 10X25. But good ones in that format are hard to find.
buzz meeks
Member
Modern roof prisms represent a great compromise to me. They are bigger than some of the shirt pocket glass that Vern is talking about but they are considerably more compact than the large porro prisms of the past. And in my part of the country where we do a lot of glassing, the 7x42/8x43/10x40 has a decided advantage in terms of exit pupil and field of view over the 7x25s and their kin. I'm not the first one to say this, but we are truly living in the good old days when it comes to quality binoculars. Today's middle of the road glass competes on an even footing with the finest European optics of just ten years ago.
Vern Humphrey
Member
buzz meeks said:
Now if they'd just give us a more sensible power-to-objective lens ratio. I'd love to have a pair of 6x25s, for example. That would make for real shirt-pocket binoculars with a useful exit pupil and good resolution.
Vern Humphrey
Member
buzz meeks said:
Now if they'd just give us a more sensible power-to-objective lens ratio. I'd love to have a pair of 6x25s, for example. That would make for real shirt-pocket binoculars with a useful exit pupil and good resolution.
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