blgoode

Binocular use the last year has turned out to be very relaxing and enjoyable for me. Provided me with excesses to get out and trail walk and broaden my view of what is around me that often go unnoticed.

I began to notice several things that I didn't enjoy about my current binoculars.

1- 10x isn the most steady hand holding
2- field if view isn't as good with 10x
3- not all binocular crispness is created equal.
4-inside 200 yards 10x isn't always a benefit and my hunting area is inside these if not often times inside 75 yard visibility.

My search was on.....and money needed to be gathered....so goodbye gear not I use. I may regret selling some items but anything not used often in over a year had to go if I could rake in some cash.

After a solid month if not more I settled on 2 brands. Vortex and Swarvoski. Obvious price and quality differences. Over all the brands I looked at many hung well in there together. That made choosing difficult and not always about the glass itself but other reasons such as designs or customer support or resale potential.

I wanted Leupold- but Binos aren't US Made at all and I was hoping they had Gold Rings that would fit close to US Made. Their Gold Rings are discontinued. Didn't want a total discontinued model.

Nikon-guess I see too many at the big box stores. Wasn't interested because no one carried any higher end stuff of theirs to look through.

I could keep going but I won't. Ill explain why I settled in on Vortex and Swarvorski.

Vortex Optics is owned by the same family that owns Eagle Optics. They have been in the optics industry since the 80's and have really invested a lot in growing the products they sell. They don't make any of them but stand behind them 100%. If it isn't USA made invest in a USA ran company that treats its customers like family. I think vortex does very well with this and has many many products to choose from. I still choose Leupold Gold Ring scopes however but Vortex is a company I'd give money to in the future if I didn't buy Leupold.

I didn't settle on a Vortex set of Binos because I snagged some like new Swarvorski EL 8x32 for. $100 more than a new set of Razor 8x42 by Vortex.

Swarovski has a great warrantee and Binos many emulate. These are the pair I was longing for and was glad I stuck to my guns and kept looking. 8x32's in a top tier glass has awesome light gathering ability and I have been super satisfied with low light use. Considering I mainly use 33mm and 36mm scopes so I am not cheating myself with the less than 42mm Binos as my hunting rig. From my research 32 vs 42 binocular size is equal to a little over 5 min viewable time late and early as the sun comes up and sets. Not enough to settle for the larger and heavier 42 size. I choose 8x power for the higher field of view and more stable image due to less shake the 10x can have. I can hold 10x still but not as enjoyable and as long as I want. Also I think I will maintain a higher resale value with the Swaros over Vortex if I do sell these down the road. I don't think that road is any where in the near future.

So here is my main go to hiking/hunting/hanging out binoculars. Not 1 regret after 2 days of afternoon use.











Crisp enough to show good small limb detail. Happy Happy Happy.

CalHunter

+1 on Swarovski. I've got an old (25+ years) pair of Swarovski 7X30's that I wouldn't trade for anything. They're great for shorter distances (under 250 yards) and rock in brush and heavier cover. Your research on the viewing time difference between 42 and 32 OD was very interesting.

OpticsCamp

I think that the marketing behind low-light performance is just that - marketing. The low light performance of any binocular (or scope, for that matter) is really only a concern to those who are going to hunt at night, and the difference between 32mm and 42mm is negligible. The differences in price aren't justified because like you said, it comes down to a matter of minutes of extra use. Serious night hunters and observers are going to go with 50-60-70mm objectives and often spring for gen3 or gen4 night vision.

Nice find on the 8x32s, they are a good binocular. I also prefer 8x over 10x for just about everything, the steadier image far outweighs the increase in magnification.

Big Uncle

Good choice with the Swarovski binoculars. I have been using their binoculars for many years and have never seen better.

Mojotex

Great choice. It was while on my first western hunt some 15 years ago where spot and stalk was the technique that I learned the value of top performimg binos. My midrange priced ($250 +/-) binos were simply not up to the task of long range, low light spotting where crisp detail in low light is a must to pick out a bedded mule deer at 1000 +/- yards, right at the crack of dawn, or judging a buck slipping through the dark timber right at dusk. I replaced them with a top end bino and have never regretted spending the absurd amount that I did.