Binoculars

[Gem99ultra]

I'm wanting to buy a new pair of binoculars - BUT... there's a million different styles, powers, etc. There's so many different powers and I know absolutely nothing about what would be a good utility pair. Can anyone recommend a good pair that I can use for approximately 150 yard viewing? Night vision feature would be nice, but I'm sure that's way out of my price range... i.e. $400.

 

[roadhunter]

Best recommendation I can give you is to go try them out. See what is comfortable for you. What are you going to use them for? (Hunting, Birding, spying on neighbors) Long time periods or short?

 

[bullbreaker]

Oh man loads of great brands out there. I use Leupold and Burris only cause I bought em at a great deal and liked how I could see through them.
Then thers also Steiner/Swarowski/Zeiss /etc.
If your looking for some with a lot of bang for your buck IMO I would give Vortex a hard look.

 

[charlz]

Are they going to sit in the house or you need a compact pair for field carry or ? I have a pair of Leupold Cascades that I use for hunting and they are very sharp and clear. Little over $300 is what I paid IIRC.

 

[dusty3030]

Nikon or Leupold in the $400 range will give you good service.

I do suggest going to a Cabelas, Bass Pro etc where you can try a few styles before you buy.

These Nikon Monarch 5's in 10x42 are a very good bino for the money.

Nikon | Sport Optics | MONARCH 5 8x42/10x42/12x42

 

[oosik]

I would like a pair of Swarovski but I use Leopold Wind River 10x50. The Leopold were around $350-$375. I don't think my eyes are good enough for a pair of Swarovski, I know my pocket book sure isn't.

 

[fxone]

Vortex are the best value i know of. The Viper series are the best buy I think. There are deals out there if you have the time to look. Unbelievable to look through. What impressed me the most was looking into an area of woods and actually seeing detail of what's inside. dawn and dusk views are greatly enhanced to what I was used to.

The normal street price you see advertised everywhere is high 500 range. You won't be disappointed with the Viper.

p.s mine are 8x32

 

[dodge man]

I also have a pair of Leoplod Wind River 10x50. My best advice is don't go over 8 or 10 power. They get shaky. I spent about a half hour looking threw them before I picked out what I bought. I even took them outside the store to look threw them.

 

[Gem99ultra]

Best recommendation I can give you is to go try them out. See what is comfortable for you. What are you going to use them for? (Hunting, Birding, spying on neighbors) Long time periods or short?

No neighbors so no peeping They'll be mostly for the front porch to look at critters out in the woods from the comfort of a nice rocking chair. Good advice on checking for comfort. The strength and size is mostly what's confusing as well as the quality of the internals. Buying a pair of binoc's is almost as bad as buying a used car. Every store has their preference, which always coincides with their excess inventory.

Recommendations were definitely appreciated. I'll follow through.

 

[schmism]

Make shure you look through the steiner.

Don't know that you can really test them well in the store, but at dusk when you need that light gathering, when you need that depth of feild, Steiners are hard to beat.

Remember there is no substitution for optic size. 50mm objectives will AWAYS pull in more light than 30mm. You likely wont see the diffrence in the well lite store or looking out the window on a sunny afterrnoon. But like i said, at dusk when your trying to track down that coyote that has been attacking your chickens.... your going to wish you had all the objective you can get your hands on.

 

[schmism]

The strength and size is mostly what's confusing as well as the quality of the internals. .

8x30 - 8x maginification, 30mm objective (large lens on the front end)
7x50 7x mag 50mm objective
10x50 10xmag 50mm

for porch watching you may want to look at a spotting scope. They generally feature zoom mag like 15-30x while having a large objective 50mm to 80mm are common. The upside is you can put it on a trypod and not have to hold it.

 

[MortalWombat]

Remember there is no substitution for optic size. 50mm objectives will AWAYS pull in more light than 30mm.

This is probably one of the most important points. All else being equal (manufacturer, quality), I would always choose an 8x50 over a 12x30 for instance. And in my hands, anything over 10x magnification gets too shaky to see what you're looking at anyway without something to brace against.

 

[flying m]

I have Kahles 10x 42's. Not many people know about them though. They are made by Swarovski at about 2/3 the price. Got mine about eight years ago and paid $800.00. I think they're still about that. Where I live/hunt, a normal shot is about 250-400 yards. I can easily glass up deer in the brush and check out the rack with these glasses. Regardless of the distance though, you will be amazed at the clarity and light gathering ability of high end optics. Get as high quality as you can possibly afford. You won't regret it. Now, the cool thing about a spotting scope on the other hand is that you can get adapters to mount a camera, video and still. Makes for some neat DIY nature films.

 

[dmccarty]

I find a 10x magnification too large. It is very hard to hand hold the binoculars steady so you can see with 10x power. 7 or 8 power is better. You want the largest objective you can afford to buy and carry which pretty much means a 50 if you are carrying the glasses around and using by hand.

I had a 10x50 and hated it because it was very hard to hand hold. When I replaced that 10x50 I got 7x50s which work very well. 50mm objective will bring in lots of light even after sun down. It is not night vision but a 50mm objective with good coatings can work surprising well in dark conditions.

I buy Nikon. They know how to make good lenses and their prices are not out of this world like the big name binocular companies.

There are also stabilized binoculars, pretty sure Canon makes some, but they require batteries. Stabilizing technology is magic on camera lenses but the battery requirement prevents me from buying a pair for land use. On a boat, where I could easily keep spare batteries and where the binocs would be in constant use, I would strongly consider stabilized. With stabilized you could have higher magnification.

Later,
Dan

 

[coobie]

I have found the real sleeper in good Binoculars at a decent price is Pentax.I bought used Pentax 8X42 DCF-WP Binos which have phase coated lens that have outstanding clarity.I would look to purchase here Cameras, Binoculars, Spotting Scopes, Rifle Scopes - Camera Land NY Good prices IMHO.

 

[bigtiller]

I bought a pair of Bushnell glasses, 7-15x35mm in the mid 70's for about $50
I bought a pair of Nikon Monarch 7 glasses, 10x42 last year for about $500.

I always thought the old Bushnells were good enough to brag about until I bought the Monarch 7. Now, EVERY time I bring the Monarch up for a look I say to my self, WOW... and EVERY time I bring up the Bushnells I say to my self, WTF?

There is that much difference between affordable and good glasses.

 

[Rhinohio]

In that price range, Nikon Monarch would be a good value.

And get yourself one of these, worth twice the price. Keeps them in place ready to use and you forget their around your neck.

http://www.cabelas.com/product/S-Gear-Lockdown-Bino-Harness/1276471.uts?productVariantId=3053875&srccode=cii_17588969&cpncode=26-381849858-2&WT.tsrc=CSE&WT.mc_id=GoogleProductAds&WT.z_mc_id1=03329256&rid=40

Mike

 

[Travelover]

I bought a pair of Bushnell glasses, 7-15x35mm in the mid 70's for about $50
I bought a pair of Nikon Monarch 7 glasses, 10x42 last year for about $500.

I always thought the old Bushnells were good enough to brag about until I bought the Monarch 7. Now, EVERY time I bring the Monarch up for a look I say to my self, WOW... and EVERY time I bring up the Bushnells I say to my self, WTF?

There is that much difference between affordable and good glasses.

I'd second the recommendation for the Monarchs. They are waterproof and also close focus (thus the name, for butterfly watching). They are made in China but to Nikon specs.

 

[coobie]

In that price range, Nikon Monarch would be a good value.

And get yourself one of these, worth twice the price. Keeps them in place ready to use and you forget their around your neck.

http://www.cabelas.com/product/S-Gear-Lockdown-Bino-Harness/1276471.uts?productVariantId=3053875&srccode=cii_17588969&cpncode=26-381849858-2&WT.tsrc=CSE&WT.mc_id=GoogleProductAds&WT.z_mc_id1=03329256&rid=40

Mike

I also have the Nikon monarchs but the pentax binos with the phase coated roof prism lens put them to shame.

 

[coobie]

I'd second the recommendation for the Monarchs. They are waterproof and also close focus (thus the name, for butterfly watching). They are made in China but to Nikon specs.

Nikon monarchs are made in china now?Glad I bought mine about 6 years ago,mine are made in japan.