Bino recommendations

Hey team

Looking at buying a half decent pair of bino's, spent the weekend hunting around Wanaka and found my current ones just dont cut it, they're shocking.

I'm hunting mainly North Island however heading down S.I again for the roar. Thinking 8x40/42 would be suitable? My budget would be about $600, don't really want to spend any more then that.

Open to recommendations new & second hand.

Thanks!
Vincent

Hey,

I've found the vortex diamondback 10x42 to be a good compromise between price and quality. I started out with Bushnell elite 8x42 and found the build quality of those pretty shocking. Rainguard on them was good though. I've found the extra reach of 10x42 much better in open country.

Minox and Steiner binos seem to be popular choices too.

You'll be able to get the vortex in NZ for less than $600, but the age old advice is, buy the best you can afford!

Cheers
Hunter

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Leupold cascade's or Acadia's would be a good choice, The Redfields are pretty nice also. Can't beat going in to the store and having a hands on look to see what suits you best.

Binos are the wrong items to pinch penny's on. A decent pair will last forever and the difference is worth it. I suggest you either save more and wait with what you've got or, if you can, spend the coin. @camowsm has an awesome pair for sale now at a excellent price.

Keep an eye on Trademe for some SH Euro glass, Swaro or Leica :cool:

As KJ mentioned above, its never a good idea to penny pinch on Binos or any optics for that matter.....

I've got some Zen Ray Prime HD's for about that price from the states a few years ago. They are bloody good for the money glass wise.. Have compared next to Leica HDs and new Bushnell Fusions and stack up well. I'd say on par with the Bushnells glass but not as good as the Euro. Have heard some poor reports on warranty claims though.

Alright sweet, sounds like I need to invest more into this.

I have Kahles CT scope, guess I better match it with euro if possible.

In terms of magnification, what would be a good all round option?

In my opinion, 7 or 8x is great if most of the game you're looking for is likely to be inside 600 metres or so.. The much wider field of view makes it noticeably easier to have a quick scan of a near basin etc, and pick up animals that much more easily.

For distances beyond that in the big country, or especially if you're often trying to count points or inches, e.g. chasing specific animals, then 10x really comes into its own.

There is a pair of Leica trinovid 8x32's brand new for $1100 in a Christchurch store

The difference between 8x and 10x is f all in reality. Even you want to assess trophy a properly you need a spotting scope.

I have 8x binos and spot more than most on the hill. If I want to get a better look I just look through my scope which is 16x

A trophy Thar or Cham is obvious thru binos inside a km with good 10x glass.

Red stags with length and width will usually need closer inspection with a good spotter depending on distance. It is very rare that I need to use my spotting scope to assess a Thar or Chamois.

They are that obvious if over 13 and 10 1/2 inches respectively, it isn't funny.










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Quote:

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Originally Posted by deepsouthaussie

I've got some Zen Ray Prime HD's for about that price from the states a few years ago. They are bloody good for the money glass wise.. Have compared next to Leica HDs and new Bushnell Fusions and stack up well. I'd say on par with the Bushnells glass but not as good as the Euro. Have heard some poor reports on warranty claims though.

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My hunting mate has the ZR Prime HD's in 10x42, i have the much less expensive Vortex Diamondback 10x42's. We have compared them side by side back and forth on the hill at last light. We both agreed, the Vortex DB was a touch brighter the last few minutes of light. During the day you cannot really tell them apart.

You can get Diamondbacks for sub $400 NZ on trademe. Sure expensive euro optics are bound to be better, but in all reality how much better are they. I bet they are not 10x better. Its not hard to spend $4,000 on euro binos if you wanted too.

The Diamondback for the $ are very hard to go past, unless you are an optics snob that couldn't possibly be seen with anything that wasn't euro ;-)

Yep Vortex are sweet.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by GWH

My hunting mate has the ZR Prime HD's in 10x42, i have the much less expensive Vortex Diamondback 10x42's. We have compared them side by side back and forth on the hill at last light. We both agreed, the Vortex DB was a touch brighter the last few minutes of light. During the day you cannot really tell them apart.

You can get Diamondbacks for sub $400 NZ on trademe. Sure expensive euro optics are bound to be better, but in all reality how much better are they. I bet they are not 10x better. Its not hard to spend $4,000 on euro binos if you wanted too.

The Diamondback for the $ are very hard to go past, unless you are an optics snob that couldn't possibly be seen with anything that wasn't euro ;-)

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Until you get a headache after glassing for an hour or so then the price difference becomes relevant.
Optics snob? Probably.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by GWH

My hunting mate has the ZR Prime HD's in 10x42, i have the much less expensive Vortex Diamondback 10x42's. We have compared them side by side back and forth on the hill at last light. We both agreed, the Vortex DB was a touch brighter the last few minutes of light. During the day you cannot really tell them apart.

You can get Diamondbacks for sub $400 NZ on trademe. Sure expensive euro optics are bound to be better, but in all reality how much better are they. I bet they are not 10x better. Its not hard to spend $4,000 on euro binos if you wanted too.

The Diamondback for the $ are very hard to go past, unless you are an optics snob that couldn't possibly be seen with anything that wasn't euro ;-)

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Nailed It chap.