ORIGINAL: nksmfamjp

Interesting. . . So, yes, I will bite. Exit pupil and optical quality the same, I do like a 10 x out west. So you say I can't hold it as well. I can leaning agains a pack, or another rest. Yes, a rest is part of hunting.

Now for most hunter's especially archery... First, I prefer 7x as an overall balance, but for a pure Ohio deer bino, I think a good 5x or 6x would be best. I want something small, quick to the eye and the highest possible resolution for separating the laying whitetail from the very whitetail looking scrub brush next to it. My 7x binos do this ok, but are just a bit big, a bit heavy and a bit over powered for looking at brush 25 yards away with deer in it. Still, they are ok, and frankly. . .Where do I buy a quality 5 x 35 compact bino?

Last, we have talked about magnification, and objective size, but what about spotting game. Game spotting is about color rendition and resolution. Resolution is kind of about the resolution chart thing, but those are black and white for a reason. Deer a deer colored and live in a roughly deer colored world. This is where high dollar bino's and a few reasonably priced ones jump in. Picking deer out is about having glass and coatings which will allow you to separate a solid average colored deer from a multi, but almost the same colored background. Hint, porro prisims do this better than roofs. For under $300, you can probably get better porro bino's than roofs. Over $400, they are more similar. In the end, money buys coatings and designs which make for good color rendition and therefore deer spotting ability.

Another important game spotting piece is field of view. So, if 300 ft at 1000 yds is ok, there are quite a few binos to look at, but to get 400 or more, wow, that narrows the field. Deer must be in your lens for you to pick them out. Simple as that. At 100 yards, this is 30 vs. 40. . .At 25 yards, 8 vs. 10. That 2 feet might be the difference between an antler glint in or out of your FOV.

Last, cost and weight. Simply put, cheap light binos are more likely to be in my hand or around my neck.
Cost:
Porro is cheaper than Roof
low mag is cheaper than high mag
Cases and lens caps and doodads cost extra to throw in the box. This extra comes out of lens coatings, focus systems, ergonomic design, places where you don't see it until they are used in the field a few times.
Auto focus doesn't work, but Steiner's do!


Weight:
Porros weigh more
Glass weighs more
solid housings weigh more
include laser range finders weigh more(separate is best)


Warranty:
Good bino's have good warranty
Electronics usually lower the warranty to almost nothing


Last, don't use bino's as a spotting scope. Out west, you do need a good spotter. Unfortunately there is nothing cheap or reasonable about good spotter pricing!