Thread: What binos are you using?

8x30 Daylight Deluxe. Had them for years and years and years and... still goin' strong. Have remarkably good glass.

Things are changing. If binos don't get more compact and lighter and punch well above their weight the expensive euros especially will become very hard to sell. And the range finding binos will lose favour. Thats my prediction.
There are for more enquiries on here about what thermal spotter to buy than what binos. Thats where the money will go and binos will become supplementary for positive id and looking at antlers - and as thermal tech progresses binos will begin to lose that role too. People will want smaller and lighter binos and wont be so fussed about a ranger finder model. The range finder will be in the thermal.

Good glass is nice and means a lot to me, but even Im feeling the force.

I'm using Weaver Grand Slam 10x50's. Clarity appears to be high making them very nice to look through. This pair is the only bino I have seen of this brand and model. Possibly the last gasp of Weaver before they disappeared off the shelves. Japanese glass and precision.

Originally Posted by Tahr

Things are changing. If binos don't get more compact and lighter and punch well above their weight the expensive euros especially will become very hard to sell. And the range finding binos will lose favour. Thats my prediction.
There are for more enquiries on here about what thermal spotter to buy than what binos. Thats where the money will go and binos will become supplementary for positive id and looking at antlers - and as thermal tech progresses binos will begin to lose that role too. People will want smaller and lighter binos and wont be so fussed about a ranger finder model. The range finder will be in the thermal.

Good glass is nice and means a lot to me, but even Im feeling the force.

For sure. I moved to more compact binos and now sometimes don't even take binos on a hunt (depending on where I'm hunting) and simply use the thermal for finding the game.

Latest model swaro 10x42 rangefinder flashy things. Bloody amazing.

Swarovski EL's.

On the 10X50's now (which they don't seem to offer anymore!). Used to have 10X42.

Had a set of 12X42 NL Pure for a wee while. Glass was definately better but the ergo's were superb (what matters just as much as glass quality is how steady you can hold them).

Would like to try the 14X52 NL Pure, but they are nowhere near as tough as the old EL Swarovision (the diopter adjustment is stupid on the NL).

I don't use anything else. Ziess never impressed me with their glass, Leica binos for people with small hands.

Originally Posted by Tahr

Things are changing. If binos don't get more compact and lighter and punch well above their weight the expensive euros especially will become very hard to sell. And the range finding binos will lose favour. Thats my prediction.
There are for more enquiries on here about what thermal spotter to buy than what binos. Thats where the money will go and binos will become supplementary for positive id and looking at antlers - and as thermal tech progresses binos will begin to lose that role too. People will want smaller and lighter binos and wont be so fussed about a ranger finder model. The range finder will be in the thermal.

Good glass is nice and means a lot to me, but even Im feeling the force.

A good set of bino's should last 30 years plus. Be lucky to get 3 out of a Ching Chong thermal!

OP made it clear he is new to hunting.
I cant help noticing some are recommending bino's that cost and arm and a leg. This is all very well if you know you will still have a use in 7 or 8 years but OP might decide hunting isn't for him in a couple of years. Then he has a pair of bino's he will likely sell at a significant loss.

There are plenty of bino's out there for under $500 (Vortex?) that will be satisfactory for a couple of years till he decides what he wants to do.

My 2c's

Originally Posted by caberslash

A good set of bino's should last 30 years plus. Be lucky to get 3 out of a Ching Chong thermal!

Where you live they probably still think thermals are wooly prickly things you wear most of the year to keep warm.

Originally Posted by Oldbloke

OP made it clear he is new to hunting.
I cant help noticing some are recommending bino's that cost and arm and a leg. This is all very well if you know you will still have a use in 7 or 8 years but OP might decide hunting isn't for him in a couple of years. Then he has a pair of bino's he will likely sell at a significant loss.

There are plenty of bino's out there for under $500 (Vortex?) that will be satisfactory for a couple of years till he decides what he wants to do.

My 2c's

That's my thoughts too.
For someone starting out a lot of the comments regarding glass quality, although valid to those who know what that all means, are going to be like a foreign language to a newby.
And they will be wondering where their extra couple of grand went.

Out of interest I did a search. Swarovski 10x42 binoculars are over 4k aud here. I'm sure they are good, but are they really 20 times better than a vortex monocular?

Im running the vortex diamondbacks 10x42 and they are more than suffice for what I do for the price. Im thinking of upgrading to the razors though for the range finder capability rather than separate.

Originally Posted by Ryan_Songhurst

I think the comments along the lines of "i looked through my mates swaro/leica/other decent bino aide by side with my $1000 binos and there wasn't much difference in it" are exactly that, an opinion formed by a couple of minutes with some alpha glass. Once you actually own and use some really good glass and its what you use all the time you appreciate it more and more, its not just the "extra 5 minutes" you're paying for, better management of stray light, sharper edges, better definition between shades of the same colour, better at eliminating chromatic aberration etc and a product that is actually repaired by the manufacturer if an issue arises not just throwj in the bin and replaced with another one are all things I can think of that add value. Realize that $3-6k+ is not realistic money for a lot of people to spend on a pair of binoculars but its never an exercise in wasted dollars. I certainly shouldn't have spent what I have on some of the glass that I have/had but Yolo lol I'm happy to make some sacrifices in other areas if it means I end up with something I enjoy using

Bit like camera lenses really. A lens is a lens is a lens, a cheap lens can take a good photo much like an expensive one does. But sooner or later nothing compares to the $4000 Canon USM lens with F2.8 aperture - but you have to know exactly what you're doing with it and value the difference otherwise it's just another heavy piece of glass. At first glance the average user will never know or understand the difference compared to somebody who lives with their eye against it.

The difference between top of the heap and lower, is not so much what each can deliver, but how long they can be used over long periods of time before eye strain becomes a major problem, and in severe cases the user can not use them. This may not be the case so much here in NZ but in Canada where the user will be looking for days and often weeks on end for that ultimate trophy, quality will make the difference.

@BravoBoss458
Sooo, what did u decide?