Thread: Binoculars?

Hi can anyone recommend to me some binoculars for a first time buy? I don't know much about them but I have recently been hunting the tops and could really do with a pair that's not too heavy/bulky under the $300 mark if possible? Second hand is fine if any members have anything to sell me

Cheers

In all honesty mate, your better off saving your pennies for something better, I went down that path of "I'm on a budget" and in the end went through two shitty pairs that would have went about half way to a pair that will last a lifetime. Good optics are the most important thing in a hunters repertoire in my opinion (that includes scope)

Originally Posted by Bavarian_Hunter

In all honesty mate, your better off saving your pennies for something better, I went down that path of "I'm on a budget" and in the end went through two shitty pairs that would have went about half way to a pair that will last a lifetime. Good optics are the most important thing in a hunters repertoire in my opinion (that includes scope)

Totally agree.

I've been there, done that!

When I bought my first pair of binos I had three little kids, mortgage etc. so limited budget. First pair seemed ok but we're useless. Bought a 2nd pair and they were better but fogged out.

Bought a third pair after learning my lesson. A set of Swarovski. I've had them now for nearly 20 years and they haven't failed me yet!!

You can't buy cheap binos. It's money down the drain! If u can't afford quality binos, then better to go without.


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So its not worth paying a few hundred to get some, knowing you will upgrade, so that can get out hunting in the meant time?

Most are going to take a while to save the 5k a nice scope and binos are going to cost

Originally Posted by sAsLEX

So its not worth paying a few hundred to get some, knowing you will upgrade, so that can get out hunting in the meant time?

Most are going to take a while to save the 5k a nice scope and binos are going to cost

I bought some Bushnell H2O 10 x 25 binos a while back for about $150 and to be fair they were utter shite! They did the job in strong light ok I guess but when they needed to perform i.e. early morning and late afternoon they didnt.
I since saved up a bit and bought some Leupold Mojave 10 x 42 for about $700 and the difference was pretty major. Sooo much better light pick up and the glass quality was way better too.
I reckon you will get some decent entry level for $300 but just bear in mind you will want to upgrade so save save save

Since I'm poor I bought a pair of Leupold Yosemites (under $200 if you ask nicely enough at your local shop, probably better online). They seemed to have good reviews online so I went for them and they do ok for me, I am very well aware of how much better more expensive ones are though. Keep an eye on the for sale section on forums etc, bargains pop up now and then.

I've got some lupy cascades.
Should be able to find them for 450-500 bucks.
They have found a lot of deer even out kms away.
Iv had them side by side most of the top binos and yep they are better but not by much at all. Certainly not 4.5 grand better.
But on the other hand they are 10x better than 300 dollar binos.

OK so if I were to spend a bit more what should i be looking for to tell the good from the bad? Someone said I would be be best to look at 10x42 power for deer, is this good advice?

Yep

That would be ideal, I run 8x42's and they do alright but I'll be upgrading later this year to some leica's probably the HD-B's and definitely going 10x42s

Depends what you're after - 8x has wider field of view and easier to hold steady, 10x a bit more magnification for seeing further away. Good optical quality is more important, I reckon you'll see more detail further away with a good 8x than an average 10x.

I have a pair of Zen-Ray ED2 which I got for $300 and they're really nice, but that was half the normal price. As others have said, it is probably worth upping your budget to $400+ and get something that you will keep longer term.

Redfield Rebel's 10x42 are about 3hundy, to look through at a shop they're no different to a 6hundy pair of leupold 10x42.

try to find some Zen-Rays over seas, try camerlandny.com, from what ive read these are the best bang for buck binos in the lower price range

Originally Posted by Frosty

Redfield Rebel's 10x42 are about 3hundy, to look through at a shop they're no different to a 6hundy pair of leupold 10x42.

No offense but i've never seen a deer in the shop at 300m plus. Only way to get a decent gauge of their worth is to take them outside and compare against things in the distance.

If you are hunting open tops then get 10x42's, if you are hunting broken country and more bush with shorter sight lines then get 8x42's. It is counter productive to buy shit bino's because you will not enjoy looking through them, therefore you won't use them much at all, then whats the point having them?

Redfield Rebels are the same as Leupold Arcadia's in quality - crap. May look okay in a shop with good lighting, but don't cut the mustard in the field, (from experience with having used/trialled a lot of different bino's over the years). Minimum I would recommend is Leupold Cascades. Speaking from experience, for every $100 you spend (up to approx $1k) you get significantly better optics, after the $1k mark the quality difference vs additional costs reduces.

When looking at optics in a store, try and do it when the light outside is fading (i.e. closing time through winter). Take them outside (with the salesman) and look into the shadows and try and make out objects, the further away the better as looking at something 20m across the road won't show you enough of a difference. You will soon tell which ones are quality and which are not.

Also Looking at one point through binoculars in the store is very different to scanning a hillside. Move them around as you are trying them (as if you are searching), you will soon see that a lot of the $300 bino's will have quite a lot of divergence around the outside edges of the lenses and your viewing picture will distort a lot as you scan. This will cause a lot of strain on your eyes and lead to headaches.

You don't need to spend $1000's on bino's ($500 will get you a very good pair comparative to $ spent). But the difference between $300 and $500 is substantial. Save just a little longer...

my 2c worth (and rant of the day over)