Who here uses a 10x30 or 10x25 size bino and do you find them lacking much over a "full size" 10x42 bino? I'm thinking of replacing mine and could maybe save a few grams at the same time by going to a compact.
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Who here uses a 10x30 or 10x25 size bino and do you find them lacking much over a "full size" 10x42 bino? I'm thinking of replacing mine and could maybe save a few grams at the same time by going to a compact.
I using 8x25 Swaro CL Mountains (latest Pockets)
They come in 10x too
Fantastic - fit into top shirt pocket - at daylight today I had a Thermal in right hand and them in left hand on neck strap and so easy
Watched 10 Deer too
Would have only seen prob 4 without Thermal as locator.
Just a head sticking up over Pine cutover stumps - then Bino
Have got Leica 10x25 Trinovid Pockets - not as good as the 8x Mountains
You get sick of them after a few hours glassing
@Shearer seems to like his.
Personally, I couldn't bring myself to give away the extra FOV. Suspect you would lose a bit more than you think in low light, too.
Depending what country you in mostly
Open tops and Alp Thar hunting etc - no
Pulling out to scan a slip in Ruahine or Tararua type terrain - pockets perfect !!
I use the pockets more than the Alpha's but I ain't walking open Tussock/tops etc
Horses for courses
I have the swaro 10x25 pockets. They are great where weight and bulk are concerned. More scanning required due to field of view, but you can’t have everything.
What would you do about your bino harness then Ryan, and all your extras you stuff in it? Do AGC make a small harness for say the 10x30 CL Swaro's?
Na surely that's not heavy enough though?
I've got a pair of those 8x25 mountains due to arrive during the week, hopefully they're the goods. My normal binos are a bit gritty in the adjustments after falling in a glacier river. Silt everywhere.
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I've got 8X30 Kahles and its not exactly "midget" to me. I'd really like say 7x25 for a lot of North Island hunting, as it was really good carrying 8X 21 in my shirt pocket for Many years. The 8×30 is So much better in resolution and low light its not even the same sort of device.
A mate has 10x42 geovids and they do have an edge in brightness and resolution. The bigger optic is oversize even "giant" but is superior if you're a big strong man with a big credit card prowling the south island tussock.
When I saw the title all I thought was @Philipo
Divide objective size by magnification, so for 7x35 then 35/7=5mm exit pupil. 8x40s and 6x30 and 10x50 binos each have 5mm exit pupil, so similar light gathering power. Note though that the lower magnifications "win" in the light-gathering department as they have less thick glass letting more light through (and weighing correspondingly less).
The grunty military 7x50s will have a much bigger exit pupil (50/7=7.14mm exit pupil) but the older we get the less likely we are to have pupils that can dilate to 7mm and utilize the extra light available! Dead weight unless you are a 21 yr old soldier.
If you want something you don't tire from, go for lower magnification like 7x35 or 6x30. Minimal shake, maximum light gathering, light weight, wide viewing angle. For an occasional closer view you have your rifle scope.
Individually adjustable tubes for better waterproofing, e.g. WW2 Leitz style field glasses. 6x or 7x have such a deep focal plane you hardly need to adjust them anyway.
Like these - diminutive girl with scoped mosin for scale:
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I have had a go with 8x42 binos (steiners) and got sore eyes real quick, I mostly hunt big open tops chamois country and found I was concentrating harder on a smaller image when glassing stuff 500+yds away to pick up on animals.
Some favourite haunts photos, because every thread needs pictures :)
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If you're that stressed about saving a few grams just use your scope.
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That’s "Alpha Bino" terrain/territory- 110% so
Forget the Pockets in that environment
You need
Geovid or EL Range
Got a spare 4K :yaeh am not durnk:
Do yourself a favour and get a decent pair of binos. I’ve used a set of Swarovski Slc 8x30 for years for everything alps to local etc and never had sore eyes or headache after hours of glassing.
Let your eyes do the walking and you can’t shoot what you can’t see.
I've had a pair of Leica 10x25 for years, excellent lightweight compact bio's, never fail me, fit in your pocket, I carry them a lot when fishing, and my eyes never get tired using them, cos they're good glass. Also use Swaro 10x30 as my go to bino's, much lighter and more compact than most others I've used. I certainly dont feel disadvantaged when I take either, bloody sight easier than carrying around some of the more hefty types, particularly those with a rangefinder in them.
I have a pair of Kowa Prominar 10x32 binos. Sold my Minox 10x44s as they were just too big and heavy for my liking and the Kowa's are every bit as good.
Their optics are excellent and they are much lighter (250 odd grams) than the average 10x42s.
FOV is fine (105m at 1Km, only 5m less than the Swarovski 10x42 SLC). I find them a great compromise between weight and performance. The quality of the glass is more important than the size of it.
I also have some Minox 8x25s for bush hunting. Perfect for when my eyes just aren't good enough.
PS Had the Kowa's in the Lambert @Ryan_Songhurst and did a LOT of glassing. Never found them wanting.
I use Swaro 9x25 (I think that is the magnification) when I feel tired of carrying stuff but they are not comfortable: very unforgiving of eye position and low light performance is not impressive. I much prefer 10x42 Zeiss, when I really need to see (for hours at a time) and don't mind carrying.
@Shearer where did you get kowas from? See heaps of really good reviews on their optics
Binoculars need to "fit" your eye and scan habit. The difference in power between 6-10 doesn't make a lot of difference for spotting game (determining more specific characteristics maybe, but that's not spotting) so i don't recommend anyone be talked into the opinion that "you'll see more with 10x than 7x".
You'll have a much higher chance of getting glass that suits by looking through it that trying to choose by specification - set yourself a price bracket and peer through as many pairs across a range of magnifications as you can before you choose. I had an exceptional pair of mid range Minox 7x bino's, and got a superb pair of top end 8x42's by peering though every set in all the shops between Invercargill and Chch.
I use 10x30 Swaros and they are great. Went for them over the 10x42 for weight saving when I was lightening all my gear. I really rate them and don't see the point in going to a 10x42 which are nearly twice the size and weight. Will glass all day happily and they gather light as well as my 3-15x50 Zeiss scope so I don't lose out on any shooting light either.
Many reasons for eye strain with binoculars. One can be that the prisms are not correctly aligned so the two visual axes are not parallel. The bigger the magnification, the more that will be a problem. Even a fraction of a hairs breadth out may cause eye strain. With an expensive pair of binos, you'd have to ask, were they dropped real hard?
Other causes can be the binos are too heavy. Or too much magnification (shaky image and having to pan too much).
If the exit pupil is small, say in a pair of 10x25s with 2.5mm exit pupil, the binoculars are not so forgiving of eye positioning as some 7x35s which have twice as wide exit pupil (the width of the shaft of light coming out the eyepiece).
Don't do this for too long, but monocular telescopes have a use for that closer look, if you haven't got zoom telescopic sights for that use:
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A short blurb on the use of telescopes in "upland deerstalking" from Why do upland deer stalkers seem to prefer telescopes? - Shooting UK
There’s a number of reasons the main one being that for any given magnification a telescope will be smaller and lighter than an equivalent set of binoculars.
Trying to assess a stag’s head from up to a mile away would require a colossal (and heavy) set of binos but an equivalent scope would be a quarter of the size and weight.
Furthermore a scope is much easier to hold steady in a prone position and for studying detail at long range there’s really no substitute.
The reason binoculars are so popular closer to sea level is because they have a wider field of view and are far easier to use from a standing or sitting position around fields and woods where ranges are shorter.
For the last 25 years I've been using 10x25's when hunting. I wanted a pair of Swarovski's but couldn't afford them at the time so I bought a pair of Doctors and they were bloody great. About 5 years ago I got a hell-deal on a pair of 10x25 Swaro's from TM and when my son lost the Doctors I replaced them with a pair of Leica 10x25's. So I now have two pairs of 10x25's and I rate them. It's true the field of view is smaller than larger binos and yes, the larger binos have great light-gathering benefits, but for day to day romping around the hills and for quick on-the-hop-flip-em-out-checks, they're so easy. When on the hill I keep the binos either down the front of my shirt or in a breast pocket. They're light, compact and fit in even the smallest breast pocket if you don't want them swinging around your neck. I prefer the Swaro's to the Leica's but there is very little to tell them apart. I think the swaro's are clearer on the last millimetre of the edge.
I was very keen on a pair of 10x42 EL Range Binos until I went and picked up a pair in the shop. They're big and heavy by comparison. They ARE nice. Very nice to look through, but then you need a bino bivvy and it just gets too cumbersome, too uncomfortable. I really like the Swaro 10x30's and would buy a pair tomorrow if they came with a range finding system. They're a little larger than the compacts but they're still light enough and almost small enough to justify not having a bino bivvy. Because I'm always in countryside like your photos Ryan, I prefer to have something light and something that doesn't add a burden to traversing those steep guts. Being able to hug the tussocks as you climb around in places you have no business being can be essential and having a big pair of binos hanging around your neck just doesn't do it for me. Yes, I compromise with the smaller FOV but when searching the guts and gullies for game I've never sat there and wished I had a bigger pair of binos. Quite the opposite - I've always been thankful I've had the compacts that I can slip into my pocket and forget about until next needed. In fact when searching for game the only thing I have ever wished for is a Spotting Scope - solely for the magnification. It's on my wish-list and I'm saving for a Swaro ATS, quietly.
There are some excellent comments in this thread, all very relevant and important to the individual user. Each to their own I guess.
Nikon also have some pretty good mini bonus that are worth a look. I had a pair of excellent 8x20 (I thinK) from Nikon many years ago.
Thinking back it's surprising what people get used to, the Nikons were front shirt pocket jobs, but I quite happily carry my Leica RF 8x42's on the neck strap and tucked in my short all day - I've tried bono bivis etc but never liked them.
I have hit my Leica 10x25 Trinovid's on a rock face up the tops in the snow they condensed inside and would not focus properly so no use after that (at least they did not take up much room or become Geovid type dead weight in my pack the rest of the hunt) but I still could use my 7x magnification Leica 1600b range finder and scope not ideal but got me through the hunt.
I sent theTrinovid bino's direct to Leica Portugal and they repaired them for free. had the Trinovid's for around 14 years with no complaints.
Liked my 10x25 Trinovid's that much I imported a new pair of 10x25 Ultravid's when my Trinovids were stuffed rather than carry my 10x42 Geovid's.
I would recommend the Ultravid's as it is my understanding the Trinovid's are not waterproof