Buying Advice High Power Binoculars

[Bird]

Contrary to some posts here, I would suggest NOT spending a lot of money. You simply don't need to.

I reckon it just depends on what you need to see through your binoculars. Many, many years ago my wife bought me 7 x 20 Nikon (travelite II); small enough to fit in my pocket and powerful enough for looking at the birds at the bird feeder and such. Naturally, there's been times I would have liked 10 x 50, but overall these have been very good and I still use them.

 

[TripleR]

Contrary to some posts here, I would suggest NOT spending a lot of money. You simply don't need to.

Save your money...spend less and get the same result. I will never pay over $100 for clarity.

I prefer 8x40...you may prefer something different. I have never seen a pair of 20x70.?? 7x35 can be great, as well.

I guess it depends on the individual which is why I recommend trying them out rather than going by brand.

I have owned more pairs of binoculars than I would like to due to trying cheap ones and oh there was that time someone broke into my house and stole all of them. I had "replacement value insurance", so if still available I got new stuff identical to what was stolen. Imagine my surprise when the quality was not as good as the same make and model that was stolen. I gave all but one pair to my kids and started over.

This is not unique to optics as I have a new pair of Irish Setter Soft Paws boxed up to return as even though they are labeled the same size as my regular pair, they are off a good 1/4 inch and much different shade of brown.

When I bought my Leupold binoculars, I compared them to a pair of $1600 Swaroski and there was absolutely no difference in clarity, but they were about half the weight. For me it was not an issue, but for a hunter it may very well be.

 

[BobRip]

What is your intended use? It makes a difference.

 

[tcreeley]

I use a 9x35 Bausch & Lomb porro prism I bought back in 1990. I love them. I have looked through many binoculars and for me these were surpassed by only the Leica 7x35 roof prism- in resolution. I have a Bushnell spacemaster 15-45x x 70 spotting scope. Anything above 20x you lose the crispness of the image- still handy for seabirds.
My all around throw in the truck binocs are the 7x35 wide angle Basuch Lomb legacy. -nicely lit sharp image.
A tasco 7x35 was my first pair- they died -lens blurred from too much heat and sun. A JC penney pair was my second. When I switched up in quality, with Legacy and Bushnell Discoverer, I appreciated the difference. I could see details birding that were lost to poor light conditions or distance. My current 9x35's give me quick magnification and are wide angle with a clear detailed image.
A lot depends on our eyes. You need to look though binocs. If you wear glasses, look for long eye relief. - means the focal range is a little further from the surface of the lens you look through. Important because without glasses, your eyeball is held closer to the lens. With eyeglasses, your eyeball is set further back. This means you lose part of the field of view, and possibly sharpness. With long eye relief, the focal distance has a greater range of what's in focus- so you can still see well even though you have glasses on.

 

[davey4000]

Oh my. I must say I did not expect so many good and diverse replies on this topic. Here is my intended use. I live on a 76 acre farm. My house is bordered on three sides by woods, a 2 acre pond and soy bean/hay fields. I love sitting by my window and checking out the wildlife which is plentiful.

Right now I have a set of 7x35 el cheapo binocs. I stand corrected if 20x70's do not exist. I thought I saw that on the web, but I guess I am mistaken. My cheap binocs do not give me the magnification I desire over long distances, plus they are difficult to focus and keep focused.

For instance I can see a buck, tell if the rack is small or large, but cannot count the points. I was thinking that the more magnification the better. After reading these posts I'm not sure any more.

A typical use for me is to walk by the window, see deer, turkeys, ducks, geese or the occasional fox and grab the binocs. All in all I doubt I look through them more than 5-10 minutes a pop, but I may grab them several times a day.

Thanks to all for the suggestions. I clearly have more research to do if I want to obtain something to fit my needs.

 

[Storm56]

OK now you have given us some specifics. You need a good quality 8X or at most 10X glass. Any more and you are fighting a losing battle as you cannot hold them steady enough for clear viewing.

I guarantee you that you will see more detail with a good 8x than an average 10x. And definitely way more than a mediocre 12x when held in your hands. I spent a lot of time comparing glass over the last 7 years and in the process got quite an education.

You can file any statement that "my $200 glass is a clear as a $2000 glass" under the file labeled "horsedip". Kind of like saying my Cobalt rides as good as a Cadillac - Sorry ain't happening.

What you CAN do is get a mid price glass that comes close to the top shelf glass, but if you look real hard at the fine details, resolution, color rendition, sharpness at the edge of the field, etc, there IS a difference. If it is worth the almost 2 times the cost is something you will have to decide.

I chose to buy the BEST glass I could afford and figure it as a longterm investment. If you are willing to spend say $800 you can get some very good glasses. On my 8x glasses I spent the money for the "alpha" glass as I use these the most, Leica Ultravid HD's. For 10x I went with Pentax DCF ED's, VERY nice, ALMOST alpha. I do not use the 12x a lot, and for that I went with the Meopta, again VERY good but they are not a Leica or Swarovski.

Once you use a GOOD set of glasses you see pretty quick the differences in what your dollar is buying. Sorry here but the top name glass rules, there are good lower cost alternatives, but do not think for one second that a $400 glass will rival the big guys that cost 4-5 times that.

 

[crazyal]

I'm not sure about their binoculars but I have always been very impressed with Burris. Most of their stuff is made in the USA and their prices are usually pretty good. Plus they have a very good warranty.

 

[bullbreaker]

I'm not sure about their binoculars but I have always been very impressed with Burris. Most of their stuff is made in the USA and their prices are usually pretty good. Plus they have a very good warranty.

:thumbsup:
Know what you mean.About 5 years ago I bought a Burris package deal from Bass Pro.Got the Fullfield 2 3x/9x-40mm and a pair of 8x32 bino's for if I remember correctly $250 plus tax.I use the bino's for tree stand bow/crossbowhunting. :thumbsup:

Boone

 

[Johnbro]

Save up your money and get a pair of Fujinon 16x70's. I own the 10x70's and they are awesome. Probably around $700.00 these days for the Fujinons. Check with Astronomics online.

+1 on Fujinon. I have had their marine 10x50 for years and although heavy, they are razor sharp.

 

[JohnK454]

You can file any statement that "my $200 glass is a clear as a $2000 glass" under the file labeled "horsedip". Kind of like saying my Cobalt rides as good as a Cadillac - Sorry ain't happening.

Once you use a GOOD set of glasses you see pretty quick the differences in what your dollar is buying. Sorry here but the top name glass rules, there are good lower cost alternatives, but do not think for one second that a $400 glass will rival the big guys that cost 4-5 times that.

Quite true! I use Leica binos, a friend uses Swaros. I have a Kowa spotting scope, he has a Swaro. All excellent glass. We use them for spotting while shooting at long range. The resolution of the better glass will enable seeing small details that higher mag lower quality cannot resolve.

Also, The cheap stuff will pull your eyes out in short order and give you a blistering headache...

Another good place for optics is Cameraland NY. Doug always has some nice deals at various price points.