I need New Binoculars, Where to go/Look for?

FishOrDie · 09-18-2003, 01:37 PM

Looking for a New set of Bino's I am not really sure where I should go or what I should be looking for? I am looking to spend as little as possible but still get somewhat decent Quality.
Any Suggestions.

Thanks,

FOD

Boatdog · 09-18-2003, 01:55 PM

I've owned dozens of these things.
My advice - save up for a good pair, or break out the VISA! :grin: Don't waste your money on budget glasses. You'll be glad you did...
Swavorski(sp?), Nikon, B&L, etc. Get the best you can afford.
Cheap ones don't have a clear view, can't see in low light conditions, fog up, and they have little itty-bitty lenses on the eyeball side.
My 2-cents

goforchrome · 09-18-2003, 02:11 PM

I just went thru the same decision. I assume you are looking for hunting optics? (what happens when you 'assume'?)
For the PNW, light gathering is crucial.
You can get a good pair of 50mm objective porro prism (old style) binoculars from a very good manufacturer on EBAY for under $200.
If you want the sleeker, newer roof prism designs, the strata is under $200, 200-400, and then up to 4x what you have invested in your gun.
I wanted decent waterproof for under $200 and looked at Burris, Brunton, and Bushnell trophy.
All would do what I wanted. Found Bushnell camo for $103 and pulled the trigger.
Not the best.
I would buy Leupold 10x50 roof prism if my budget was $350.
See EBAY, SWFA.com, ....do google search.
Good luck.

Critr Gitr · 09-18-2003, 02:13 PM

really like my Nikon ATB 10X40s - lifetime guarantee.

Shop around on the web I paid about $240 - tried Cabelas Alaskan and the frame bent on me.

Old Coot · 09-18-2003, 02:53 PM

I received a pair of Swift Audubons for my birthday and they are just great. Don't know whether they are waterproof, hope I never find out.

duck-boy · 09-18-2003, 08:27 PM

F.O.D.
I would look at the new weaver binos, my brother got some and they are clear and pick up really good light for the price their worth looking at. my o-2 worth.
duck-boy

troybuz · 09-18-2003, 08:37 PM

Optics are probably the best investment you can make. I have often seen game when others in my party can't. I've seen horns when others can't.
Take some time, and most importantly, look through the lense before you buy.
This sight has a good selection http://www.just-binoculars.com/
Goos Luck,
Troy

McBaine · 09-18-2003, 10:31 PM

OK, time for some binocular education. Since I sell them, I believe I can help. First spend as much as you can, optics are price point items. From one manufacture to the other, at the same price point you will get the same quality optics. Lets start with the basics.

Light Transmission:
This is easy, the greater the light transmission the brighter the world will be. This has everything to do with coatings. Secondarily it is the size of the objective lens. There are 5 types of coatings, coated/single coated, fully coated, multi coated, fully-multi coated and phase coated. coated/single coated means just that, at least one air to glass lens has at least one coat. Fully coated lenses means that all air to glass lenses have at least one coating. Multi coated lenses means at least one air to glass lens has multiple coatings on it. Fully-multi coated lenses means that all air to glass lenses have more than one coating on them. Phase coated lenses are fully-multi coated with a specific type of coating to enhance light in the visible spectrum.

To put it simply the more coating you have on the lenses the better. The less light that will be reflected off the glass.

Clarity:
Clarity is basically how sharp you can see a distant object. The higher the power you use, the better the lens has to be to see the object sharply. That's why you can't read small print on a $20 pair of 10 power bino's and you can with a $200 pair of 8 power bino's. There really are only three major lens manufactures in the world right now. Swarovski, Zeiss, and Nikon. Most US bino manufactures buy their lenses from Nikon in Japan. But don't be mistaken, they are cut to said buyer's specifications. The more you pay for optics, the longer you can look through them without getting a headache. I can't look through a $20 set of compacts for more than 5 minutes at a time. Whereas I can spend over an hour looking through a set of Wind River Leupold 10X23's.

Waterproof v Water Resistant
This is a basic choice your going to have to make. Are you going to need a waterproof bino, or get away with one that has better optics. All Leupold bino's are waterproof, Wind River and Gold Ring. Whereas most of Nikon's bino's are not. Only the Mountaineer, Monarch ATB and Premiere series are waterproof. Bushnell it's basically half and half. You'll get what you pay for either way.

Prisim Type:
There are three types of prisms; Porro, Compact Porro and Roof prism. Roof style binoculars will generally be heavier than their porro prism counter parts. This is because they need more glass than the porro prism. This is where you decide what size of binoculars are you going to get, compacts, mid or full. I wouldn't want to pack a full set of bino's, i.e., 50 mm objective lens, for miles a day.

So what should you get? The most you can spend. I wouldn't get anything under $100. Basically those will have muli-coated optics at best, and most wont be waterproof with the exception of Bushnell's H20 series. I would shoot for the $200 bench mark. If you can bump up to $300, then the Nikon Monarch ATB's are the ones to get. I have them and work wonderfully. I hope this helps.

McBaine

Lured In · 09-19-2003, 07:33 AM

This is a subject near and dear to my heart, as I have been researching (read: drooling over) a new set of bino's for nearly two years.

McBaine...that is some great info and is in line with everything I have read/learned.

Here is a suggested process to consider when looking for new glasses.

1. What am I going to be "mostly" using these for? ex: looking across massive canyons at other ridges glassing for deer or elk and carry them in my pack. Or use them for still hunting with them around my neck?

Depending on how long you look through them, how much you plan on packing them vs carrying them, etc are all consderations that will help you decide on either compacts or full size. (I decided I need both. [img]graemlins/eek13.gif[/img] :grin: )

2. If you have a spotting scope, you may be able to get away with a less powerful set of binos. I have found that most areas I hunt, (west side of the Cascades) 8x is a good magnification that gives enough power to see a good distance without being too large/heavy.

3.Do you wear glasses? If so, some manufacturers have eye cups and extended eye relief for eye glass wearers.

4. If you are looking for glasses under $400-500 you will find that each manufacturer makes trade offs in the above listed features that McBaine describes. For example two sets of 8x42's in the $350 range may have similiar features, have differing optical quality. One may have fully multicoated lenses, p-coated prisms (good visibility) and be water resistant. The other may have mulitcoated lenses, be nitrogen purged (fog proof) and be waterproof. So which do you choose? The only way to know is to look and look until you find one with the optical quality and the features (rubber armored, waterproof, fog proof, lens coatings, etc) that you want in the price you can afford.

If you have a Cabela's catalogue, look through it making special note of the features McBaine mentions, and the style (porro vs roof prism. Roof prism bino are 'straight' line and porro have the 'dog leg' shape to the body.) Generally a porro prism bino is going to be less than a roof prism with the same features. I believe it has to do with the necessary quality of lenses/prisms to make roof prism bino clear.) You will notice if you look at Swarovski, Ziess and others on the high end, they are mostly roof prism.

Many manufacturers have 'economy' brands. Lueopold has Wind River and Swarovski has Kahles. While not exact matches to the originals, they are really good and can be as much as $200-300 less for similar features.

Personally I have settled on the Wind River 8x42's as I don't have a spotting scope and will be packing them. I am also going to get a new pair of compact porro's for carrying in my pocket or around my neck for still hunting. Probably in a 7x.

Sportsman's has a good selection, and if you can get someone knowledgeable behind the counter, you will quickly be able to see the differences in features, optical quality and price.

Good luck.

SeanD · 09-19-2003, 09:20 AM

Pentax DCF WP's are what i was planning on buying. They are closing them out since they came out with the new DCF SP model. You can get them for around $270 on closeout. Get on some bird watching websites and read the reviews. I did a ton of research on it and found that for less than $800, nothing compares the the pentax or the leupold wind river pinnacles or P1's.

[ 09-19-2003, 10:23 AM: Message edited by: SeanD ]

Soft Plastic · 09-19-2003, 05:43 PM

I am looking at the Wind River 8X42's. I am deciding between the Pinnacles, and the Olympic series. Does anyone have any input here? The Olympic's are about $80 cheaper. Is this the way to go???

Thx

McBaine · 09-20-2003, 09:29 AM

The Pinnacles have phase coated prisms, where the Olympic series are just fully multi coated. If your primary use is going to be in the dawn and dusk, then it's well worth the $80 difference in my opinion.

Capin' Dan · 09-20-2003, 10:27 PM

Remember where you live. Its Leapould country. Wind rivers. they are mid range quality and price but good glasses and great folks.

Myles · 09-21-2003, 08:22 AM

After you choose, you may want to look here. From what I understand you may not be getting the "USA warranty". I bought a pair of Minox 8.5 x 42 about $150 less than elsewhere, they're heavy but I'm told they're made by Lieca, excellent optics.

http://www.hotbuyselectronics.com/default.htm

myles

The Overfishin Condition · 09-21-2003, 11:31 PM

I have the Leupold 10X50 Wind Rivers, they are a lot of binoculars for in the woods, but I don't notice too much, specially compared to my pack and my rifle. The only time I thought I fogged them up I was actually fogging up the windshield in front of me... whoops. I've been nothing but satisfied with them. TOC.

glowball · 09-25-2003, 07:18 AM

This is by far on of the cheapest places I've seen for good high end optics. I've spent a fair amount of time searching through sites to find the best prices. Check it out.

http://www.aaacamera.com/binoculars_page.html

Killertraylor · 09-25-2003, 07:42 AM

Lots of good advice here. I had a pair of the Swarovski EL's - $1200-$1500 depending on where you get them and my Bausch and Lomb 7x Discoverer's (I think I saw them for $274 on one of the URL's posted above) are so close in clarity and brightness that I sold the Swarovski's. For less than $300, you can't find a better pair of bino's than the B&L Discoverers. My dad bought the 10x Discoverers and although they aren't as bright as the 7x (simple physics - they don't let as much light in with higher magnification) he loves them. Good luck.

StickFish · 09-26-2003, 06:13 AM

[QUOTE]Originally posted by FishOrDie:
[QB] Looking for a New set of Bino's

I'm sure you have gotten some great replies. On my web site I have a page on Bino advice and I'd recommend reading it. I'm not about to tell you anything different than you probably have not already heard, but buy the best you can and generally price is related to quality. There are several exceptions to this. One of which are Fujinon FMTR-SX

I use these and they are by far the best glass I've looked through at their price. They are very close to the Swarofski resolution and about 1/2 the price or better.

I would not recommend them to anyone who is a birder though, they have individual focused barrels, but the depth of field is 30 yards to forever. Flat Field of view - got to see that to understand. Very little carona.

If your near Portland go to Capitans Nauticle and check out the good stuff and compare them to the Fujinon. Than ask the optics technician what he thinks. When your done leave - do not buy your binos there - sorry. Call Eagle Optics.

Whatever you end up with you will enjoy them good luck