ORIGINAL: skeeter 7MM
ORIGINAL: JNTURK
ORIGINAL: vichris
ORIGINAL: skeeter 7MM
I believe as well 8x's are the right balance/mag for use/performance/ in field conditions. If you need detail at distance the logical step to me is a spotter on a tripod. I always thought bigger was better until I realized when it comes to some things like opticsa point ofdiminishing return factors in. Less light to the pupil, ability to hold on target for extended periods, weight, etc. I moved my bins to the 8x and never lost a beat but rather I feel I gained. In recent I have proclaimed my approvalfor my 10x42 EL's here but they were switched for 8's this fall - no regrets. I hunt where there are places where you can watch your dog run away from home for 3 days, yes it can be prettyflat/open in the saskatchewan prairie. The extra 2x didn't do enough in area of bringing it in even on high end glass. I like many used the lower to mid range bins and noticed more performance issues between a comparable 8 vs a 10 then with the swaro's. The only reason I bought the 10x ELwas the price so when I had the opportunity to trade for new 8's straight across I jumped on it and no regrets.
Most folk really don't consider how little they gain in magnification on a 10x
At 500 yds with 8x the subject looks to be 62 yds vs 50 yds with the 10x......... it is negligable. Yes the performance on an 8 x far outweighs that little extra power that in most cases isn't realized anyway because they are right at the limit of what you can hold steady enough to see the detail.
BTW I've been looking at that Swaro 8.5x42 EL. Wish I could afford those..... probably the best peice of glass on the market today.
IMO, when trying to look at antler size at further distances (500+) 12 yards can make a difference if you are looking at inches on an animals head.
In the instance of field judging animals down to inches at distances such as 500 yards(+)bins in my hands of any mag wouldn't be my choice. JMO but I spend a fair bit of time peering at antlers in a given year and if I am long distance field judging bins aren't the tool I chose for the application, it's a spotting scope on a pod.
I agree with Skeeter 7mm here. I carry a spotting scope for those cases where I'm try to field judge trophy quality. But honestly in most cases I don't need to break out the scope. When I see something thats trophy quality it's usaully pretty obvious &I don't waste alot of time trying to get a better look at him. I'm usually either moving to cut the distance or getting setup to take a shot............
