Thread: High end binos

Originally Posted by chainsaw

Lashed out on a pair of Leica Geovids 10x42's a couple years back and have not regretted. Before making that purchase I went to a high end optics shop that stocked Leica, Swaro, Zeiss and others - I tried lots of different models and makes. Shop was in an area of town with great views out over gulf/harbour so gave me a good feel for image clarity, brightness, sharpness etc in full light conditions. While this is by no means a true test for our hunting environment and low light I came away with good sense of "fit for my eyes" and what $$ got you what performance. To my eyes the Zeiss Victory was the best glass i tried, but hard to justify spending ~2x more than the Leica Geovids. Same for the Leica HD-B's too much moolaa for slight, if any difference, to my eyes. So I went for leading edge not bleeding edge & saved $2k. They are a bit of a "brick" but in a bino biv i find these no issue to carry on the hill, and glassing is a pleasure.

I have pretty much used all the high end binos and spotters a fair bit and have to agree that Zeiss for me is optically superior out of all the so called high end optics. But imo they're severely retarded by weight.

I spend some serious hours behind binos and spotters and finding a compromise in comfort, practicality and optics is way more important than brand.
Swaro works out for me in both binos and spotter where something half the price could work just as well for someone else.

I was with a fella the other day who had a tiny set of 10x25 swaros. I had a play with them and wanted a set straight away. Ideal to tuck into your jacket or shirt and less fiddly to pull out quickly and check on things. They would be handy for everyday use in the truck etc.
Once he had his eye in he was picking up animals at some serious distances.

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