I have a pair of 10x50s that I keep in the vehicle of rare moments when I might see something driving but, they are too bulky to take out hunting....I would probably go with either my 8x40s or 10x40s......but no larger.

I have pair of Bushnell 8-21 for the field, they are smll enough to fit in your shirt pocket oout of the way and yet good enough for hunting.

I think you need to determine how much you want to spend first. Then start looking at binocs in your price range. You should expect to spend around $250-$300 bucks to get a good quality pair of binocs. Also, if your looking for compact & portability, I would suggest you go with roof prism instead of porro prism. You get the same quality in optics but the roof prisms are less bulky. Also, if you wear glasses, you need to consider getting at least a 11mm eye relief. It's also a good ideal to get the diopter adjustment that has clicks, this will help's especially after you have adjusted the diopter to your vision from getting bumped out of focus. I just bought the Leupold Wind River 8X42 binocs. They cost $240 and are perfect for seeing game close in when your trying to "see through the brush"

Good luck!

I am by no means,an expert,but I went through the same process that you are going through,right now.
I got a lot of other's advise,and looked through a lot of binoculars.
I finally decided on the Nokon Monarch 8X42 glasses.
I suggest that you look through any and all binos,that are available to you,EXCEPT Lica or Zeiss.They make a good glass look bad by comparison.
Frank

IF YOU CAN AFFORD IT, ID WOULD GO WITH A PAIR OF LEICA 10 X 50'S

early morning and late evemings have a need for more clarity. high noon can distort a lot of glass. i had nikons,swarovski, and then leupolds. they all distorted the pic at high noon. i tried LEICA in the 12x50 and fell in love. they were very expensive but worth every dime. just do not tell my wife how much i paid.

I would go with a pair of 40 or 42mm binos in 8 or 10 power from a quality maker like swarovski, zeiss, or leica. I definately wouldn't pick a pair of 50mm binos for hunting, they're too big and bulky to be used in the field. Hunting binos end at 42mm. A 40 or 42mm pair of binos from a top end maker like the three mentioned above will be brighter than any 50mm binos from a cheaper maker.

5mm lenses are not too big or heavy. i use the bino-buddy system and i never know they are there.

sorry for typo. 50 mm lenses.

I use Nikon 8X42's for deer with a cabelas bino system as they are a little heavy. 10x50's seem way too big/bulky for most hunting. I also bought a compact bushnell 10x25 for toting around at times.