Binoculars

F

Fnewguy

Member
Looking to pick up a set of binoculars to keep in the truck and use to view wildlife ect. while driving around the countryside. I'm thinking $100-150. I dont have any experience or knowledge with optics and noticed quite a range in pricing , seems to be related to quality/ coatings of the lenses? I have normal vision and only use glasses for reading at this point. I found the Bushnell Explorers 10x42 online for $100 with good reviews. Any input appreciated.
 
Just my opinion, when it comes to binoculars or scopes if you go cheap you get junk. You may not notice a big difference in the store but 20 min before dark when you can't seem to get your glass to focus you'll start to see what the extra $ was worth.
Example, while shooting prairie dogs I get a headache after looking through a vortex viper for a 1/2 hour, they look great in the store, but I can look through my vx3's all day long. all 6.5-20x50 one cost about 500.00 the others about 1k, I'll save as long as I have to for the nicer glass, well worth it.
I've tried about 10 different binos, if I'd have known I'd have saved the money on the cheap pairs and just got my last 2...

Good luck!
 
Deweybagger said:
Just my opinion, when it comes to binoculars or scopes if you go cheap you get junk. You may not notice a big difference in the store but 20 min before dark when you can't seem to get your glass to focus you'll start to see what the extra $ was worth.
Example, while shooting prairie dogs I get a headache after looking through a vortex viper for a 1/2 hour, they look great in the store, but I can look through my vx3's all day long. all 6.5-20x50 one cost about 500.00 the others about 1k, I'll save as long as I have to for the nicer glass, well worth it.
I've tried about 10 different binos, if I'd have known I'd have saved the money on the cheap pairs and just got my last 2...

Good luck!
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X2 what he said !

I also have a few pair, but my favorite are Pentax DCF WP 8X42. They are very nice with good optics and coatings, also won't brake the bank !
 
Deweybagger said:
Just my opinion, when it comes to binoculars or scopes if you go cheap you get junk. You may not notice a big difference in the store but 20 min before dark when you can't seem to get your glass to focus you'll start to see what the extra $ was worth.
Example, while shooting prairie dogs I get a headache after looking through a vortex viper for a 1/2 hour, they look great in the store, but I can look through my vx3's all day long. all 6.5-20x50 one cost about 500.00 the others about 1k, I'll save as long as I have to for the nicer glass, well worth it.
I've tried about 10 different binos, if I'd have known I'd have saved the money on the cheap pairs and just got my last 2...

Good luck!
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I don't buy into this I have Weaver Redfield Burris & Leupold Rifle scopes. I use to hunt at night no lights just calling coyotes on snow. They all worked, even Deer hunting I never had a problem seeing to the end of legal shooting time. In Binoculars just make sure there waterproof and 10x because when you want to use Binoculars you want to see it closer, 8x power works 10x power works better for me. Just a little FYI my last 3 rifle scopes all were Leupold CDS models, why because I like them for longrange shooting & Made in USA.
I hunt with a pair of Bushnell Bino's I paid $ 150 for and never had eye strain. All this talk about quality is mostly talk. Good Hunting.
 
1100 Remington Man said:
I don't buy into this I have Weaver Redfield Burris & Leupold Rifle scopes. I use to hunt at night no lights just calling coyotes on snow. They all worked, even Deer hunting I never had a problem seeing to the end of legal shooting time. In Binoculars just make sure there waterproof and 10x because when you want to use Binoculars you want to see it closer, 8x power works 10x power works better for me. Just a little FYI my last 3 rifle scopes all were Leupold CDS models, why because I like them for longrange shooting & Made in USA.
I hunt with a pair of Bushnell Bino's I paid $ 150 for and never had eye strain. All this talk about quality is mostly talk. Good Hunting.
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As you stated "mostly talk" but it's no BS, you take a pair of $150 and a pair of $500's 15 min to dark and try to count points or see if it's the deer you've been chasing at 400 yards, I'll be moving closer for the shot, you'll still be F'ing with your focus, which won't focus until the sun comes up tomorrow.
I can hunt coyote in the snow with a $80.00 tasco, your silhouette shooting not focusing on a spot on your target.
You get what you pay for with optics, 100%. if you haven't used them enough to see the difference quality makes, you either haven't looked through quality or don't need to look farther than 30 yards.
 
Over 47,000 binoculars for sale on eBay.
 
I'm quite pleased with my Nikon (Monarch) & Leopold binos; of the 2, I prefer the Nikons. that being said, a friend has Swarovski binoculars; there is truly NO comparison - they are just out of my price range. And I'll support the "you get what you pay for" camp when it comes to optics, much like fine shotguns. Less-expensive brands will do the job, but there is a helluva difference.
 
I have looked through Quality optics & the difference between them is not that great. IMHO Yes there is junk sold, but there is a lot of affordable Bino's that are dam good.
 
I have an older vx3 leupold 2.5x8 scope. This winter I was looking for a pair of binoculars in the same price range you are. I ended up with a 10x pair of vortex diamondbacks. One day I was watching a group of deer at somewhere in the neighborhood of a half a mile. I can tell you that with the scope in good light I could not quite count points . But I definatly got a good sense of rack size even on a couple of the smaller deer. With the higher powered binoculars I could just barely make out that a big racked deer was horned at all. If was buying again I would stick to 8x and save a little bit of weight and money, or buy better glass.
 
UplandHntr said:
Of course you can go wrong. Those are $240- someone will chime in saying get the ones for $340 becuase theyre better. Seems everyone has a bottomless budget cept me and the OP
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EXCUSES ME !!!

Yes there are better, but for the price these are very good optics and low price. Now go kick your dog or what ever turns your crank ! :cheers:
 
Highvoltage said:
EXCUSES ME !!!

Yes there are better, but for the price these are very good optics and low price. Now go kick your dog or what ever turns your crank ! :cheers:
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Talk about kicking dogs is generally frowned upon here at UPH. As is insulting people in your 11th post.

I wish I could have $340 binoculars, however I am too much of a cheapskate to buy them. I can't speak for the OP, but it didn't sound like he was wanting to buy binos to count points on a deer 15 minutes before sunset. It sounded like he wanted a pair to sit in the console of his truck, that if he was driving down a dirt road on a Saturday morning and he thought he saw something off in the distance he could stop and look and see if there really was something there. At least that's why I have a monocular in my console.

I know we all have things we are overly passionate about (don't get me started on pulled pork) but insulting people over the amount of money they want to spend on binoculars is a bit much in my book.
 
I might have got this tread started off on the wrong foot!

To the OP, what Im trying to say is from my own mistakes, money spent and waisted; if I had $200.00 today to spend on a set of binos and didn't really plan on using them until fall, I'd personally wait and save more $ and look for a better pair, if you find what you like for less you've got extra cash! All good.

I don't have a bottomless pile of cash but I'd rather buy quality once than buy a cheap pair three times and still not have a great glass.

Something else to consider, I've broke a crosshair on a vortex viper and with their warranty you bring the scope into the store and they hand you a new one if they have it in stock, don't know if the binos are the same but that's great customer service. Great optics???? I'd save more

Had a dog chew the eye piece on a pair of luepold binos and they were pretty banged up from bow hunting/flopping around in my pack. Scratched lenses....
Pretty much worthless, so I sent them in expecting to get a good bill, nothing, about a month later I got a box ups, brand new binos in the box with lens caps and neoprene case, with service like that I'll pay extra for the gold ring ever time.

Similar deal with Nikon once, think I had to pay $50.00-$100.00 bucks for shipping and something else.

Like everyone is stating you can get something ok for cheap but you'll be a lot happier with better glass and a lifetime warranty.

Good luck, let us know what you buy
 
Steiners with the largest objective lense (X 50 or X 56 ideally) that you can afford. Get a used pair to save costs (I bought a used pair of 10x56 for $500 on ebay and that was huge for me to fork out). You will not regret it nor need a another pair (assuming your purchase has no lense defects.) The difference between low light use on a Steiner's (or other German/Austrian glass) vs. other pairs is astonishing. Night use on the same is also eye opening given even some moon. I hunted in Germany for boar at night with them and given even some moon you can see quite well-full moon and it is like daylight. Low light conditions also are remarkable as with the naked eye you can not see but look through quality binocular glass and it is still like daylight.
 
I also agree with the majority that the higher priced binoculars are better. However, you need to look at what you will be using them for. If it's like you say, driving around the countryside and occasionally observing wildlife I think you can find a decent pair in your range of $100-150. I also think the 10x42's would be a good choice. Don't buy compacts for your usage. Will the $100-150 binoculars be quite as clear as the $500-1,000 ones? No. Will they stand up as well when you drop them on the floor of your pickup? No. But they will work well for you now and maybe someday down the road you can upgrade.

Cabelas has some decent Bushnell and Redfield 10x42's in your range. These Redfield's for $149 look nice and have some excellent reviews. Their made by Leupold. http://www.cabelas.com/product/Hunt..._SEQ_104217480?WTz_st=GuidedNav&WTz_stype=GNU
 
Look, we all know that if you spend $300 or $500 or $1,000 you will get a better pair of binoculars. But let's get back to the OP's original question and help the guy out. He wants to spend $100-150 on a pair. Now you may think that is foolish and a waste of money, but instead of trying to shove more expensive binos down his throat why don't you to do some research and offer some good suggestions on binos he can purchase within his price range. That's what I was trying to do in my last post. That pair of 10x42 Redfield binoculars at Cabelas for $149 is a good option, within his budget and will serve him well for what he wants to use them. Amazing how these threads transition so far away from the OP's original question.
 
david0311

Dakotazeb said:
Look, we all know that if you spend $300 or $500 or $1,000 you will get a better pair of binoculars. But let's get back to the OP's original question and help the guy out. He wants to spend $100-150 on a pair. Now you may think that is foolish and a waste of money, but instead of trying to shove more expensive binos down his throat why don't you to do some research and offer some good suggestions on binos he can purchase within his price range. That's what I was trying to do in my last post. That pair of 10x42 Redfield binoculars at Cabelas for $149 is a good option, within his budget and will serve him well for what he wants to use them. Amazing how these threads transition so far away from the OP's original question.
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Bought a very similiar pair to bounce around in my Arizona UTV -good value for that use--

ZEB--think you should consider moderator status again :thumbsup:
 
DakotaZeb- Great point you make. Providing inputs from my own experience and lessons learned for buying multiple pairs of lower price binoculars that may not have lasted or performed as I had hoped does not address his $150 dollar question. I wish I had understood more based on someone's feedback that I could see that much better under more conditions for $350 dollars more and that not only for more casual viewing from a truck but that I could use them hunting, as a substitute for carrying (and buying ) a spotting scope, other sporting uses etc and that would be the only pair I would need again. It is forums like these and inputs from others with their own experiences that is the real benefit regardless of whether a contributor stays directly on the topic/question or going beyond to explain other options. If the OP wanted a dollar value to quality recommendation then any quality salesman can provide it as well as forum members. Looks like you did some great price point research with the OP's parameters for use and made a recommendation. My recommendation was based on my own experience in the field and wallet and was not attempt to shove down his throat more expensive binos. I tried to convey not that they are not just "better" even though more money but that I described the performance difference. In store evaluation of binoculars or scopes for that matter allows you to see across the store or parking lot but in no way can you duplicate what you might see from your truck or in the field under various conditions unless you already make the purchase or have a friend that can show you theirs. That assumes that Cabelas or other sporting store is nearby and you can at least try a recommendation at the store vs. buying online from a recommendation.
 
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