bin advice

[vvsarana]

hi, i am a decent birder and now with my stipend I want a bin upgrade. I am torn between seemingly indistinguishable choices. any suggestions/advice would be appreciated:

Swift Audubon HHS HCF RP 8.5x44 - I am told the new guys who bought out Swift don't know much about optics and concerns have been raised about their service and warranty. My brother has had an Ultralite for years now and no complaints!

Minox BL, BD or even HG.

Vortex Viper 8x42 - the local store I went to was bent on selling these to me
at $460 they seemed steep for the quality. They apparently have special XD glass and XL coatings.

Zeiss Conquest 8x40 - Is the flare/glare a real problem? and are these worth the price ($750)?

My friend suggests I should just buy Audubon equinox HP 8x42. but the problem with all these "cheap" bins are that they are made in China and I don't usually support Chinese goods and the quality shows in a few years.

I don't have a particular budget - well anything below $800 but I should be making a single investment for the next 5-10 yrs until I become a pro.

thx.

PS> i narrowed my list after extensive review but theres too much conflicting opinions on the web.

[delia todd]

Hi vvsarana I see this is your first post, so may I welcome you on behalf of the Staff and Moderators at Bird Forum

I'm sure there'll be someone along soon for some advice for you

D

[APSmith]

IMO Under $800 is just not quite there yet. It's hard to get a concensus on the models you mention - you really have to try yourself.

For just a little more, you can really consider some of the best as you approach $1K:
Some say the Nikon LXL 8x32 is as good as it gets.
A certified/pre-owned Leica Trinovid BN can also be had at that price.

[vvsarana]

Hi vvsarana I see this is your first post, so may I welcome you on behalf of the Staff and Moderators at Bird Forum

I'm sure there'll be someone along soon for some advice for you

D

many thanks. yes this is my numero uno post.

[David Smith]

Hi
Having recently gone through what you are now going through I would like to offer an opinion-but first a general comment:-
Besides the obvious preferences people have for Make, size, balance etc. I feel that as everyone has different eye-sight we are never going to agree on a BEST BINOCULAR.
I tried makes/models up to £1000.00 and found that once I got over the £250.00 price I personally could see little difference. I could feel that Swarovski @ £1100 was maybe a better build (smoother focus etc) and POSSIBLY clearer. but not £800.00 better. In the end I went for Minox BL and have been delighted. £230.00
I gave my old Pentax to my wife and since then she has become as keen on bird watching as me (both at novice stage). Because of that she also now wants a better binocular. Now, with hindsight she has tried everything we can find up to £300.00 and has decided on...........Minox. We honestly hoped that we would find something different but it kep coming back to Minox. Hope this helps.

[Grace]

You really have to find a good optics store and try out several models for yourself--actually using the binocs to look outside an open door at a distant object. Here's what I'd check first"

See how much light gathering ability the bin has--very important in low light situations

See how good fine focus is--adjust, and readjust it yourself

I have old Leica 8x50s which I absolutely love--but they are heavy.

For something less expensive, I recommended Swift--and she was real happy with them.

Good luck

[gr8fuldoug]

hi, i am a decent birder and now with my stipend I want a bin upgrade. I am torn between seemingly indistinguishable choices. any suggestions/advice would be appreciated:

Swift Audubon HHS HCF RP 8.5x44 - I am told the new guys who bought out Swift don't know much about optics and concerns have been raised about their service and warranty. My brother has had an Ultralite for years now and no complaints!

Minox BL, BD or even HG.

Vortex Viper 8x42 - the local store I went to was bent on selling these to me
at $460 they seemed steep for the quality. They apparently have special XD glass and XL coatings.

Zeiss Conquest 8x40 - Is the flare/glare a real problem? and are these worth the price ($750)?

My friend suggests I should just buy Audubon equinox HP 8x42. but the problem with all these "cheap" bins are that they are made in China and I don't usually support Chinese goods and the quality shows in a few years.

I don't have a particular budget - well anything below $800 but I should be making a single investment for the next 5-10 yrs until I become a pro.

thx.

PS> i narrowed my list after extensive review but theres too much conflicting opinions on the web.

In the price range that you have indicated you should look thru the Minox HG's, The Pentax DCF ED's and perhaps the Vortex Razor's (worlds better than the Vipers) All three of these are wonderful optics that will come extremely close in resolution and sharpness to the big three.

[FrankD]

My suggestions, in terms of models, tend to mirror Doug's. Under/around $800 I would suggest the Minox HGs, Vortex Razors, Meopta Meostars, Kahles and possibly the new Pentax ED series (haven't tried the latter). They all offer excellent performance that approaches that of the bins costing twice as much. Most of the ones I am familiar with also offer superb warranty service.

[elkcub]

...
Swift Audubon HHS HCF RP 8.5x44 - I am told the new guys who bought out Swift don't know much about optics and concerns have been raised about their service and warranty. My brother has had an Ultralite for years now and no complaints! ...

Swift Instruments recently sold its binocular and riflescope business to SafeTGard, Inc., which is well known in the sportswear business. Their new optics company is called Swift Sport Optics and is headquartered in Overland Park, KS. Their current catalog contains much the same lineup as before, and the warranty and repair services seem to be unchanged. It really hasn't been in operation long enough to draw conclusions, but I was very impressed after talking with their customer support representative, Christy, a month ago. Several of the key staff stayed with the company, so the necessary expertise is retained.

The street price of the Japanese made HHS Audubon is about $350, and in my (increasingly humble) opinion represents THE BEST BUY for the money. I own one myself and several friends are very excited about theirs. You might wish to review several recent threads in the Swift forum.

Blue skies,
Ed
PS. See: http://www.eagleoptics.com/index.asp?pid=1156

[Tero]

Zeiss Conquest 8x40 glare..

I think the glare I saw was when the sun was from the side. The Zeiss eye cups are slightly different shaped than even Monarchs and Pentax etc. The inner rim has no lip bending in. So there can be reddish glare spots from side light. The eye cups were not uncofortable, though they are pretty tube like.

[oleaf]

Hello,

I've got two pairs of the Equinox HP 8x42's for my wife and I and these are very nice. Neutral, sharp, bright.

For $250 you can't go wrong.

I tried the Vortex Broadwings, Viper, Pentax and Minox, Bushnell Discoverers 7x42 (I really liked these these) and all were not worth the extra $$$ in my opinion.

Nikon Monarchs are a can't lose in this price range.

You in New Haven CT? I'm in Essex

Cheers

[vvsarana]

Many Thanks to everyone who replied to my query - I guess it all comes to down to comparing several bins side by side - perhaps when the spring migrants do arrive, I will pester other birders to sneak a peek through their bins. But I think I will get a Swift 828 for $299 if I am buying anything in the $300 range or maybe a MINOX BL for $279:
http://www.eagleoptics.com/index.asp?pid=4638

small world oleaf, i am at yale.

[elkcub]

Many Thanks to everyone who replied to my query - I guess it all comes to down to comparing several bins side by side - perhaps when the spring migrants do arrive, I will pester other birders to sneak a peek through their bins. But I think I will get a Swift 828 for $299 if I am buying anything in the $300 range or maybe a MINOX BL for $279:
http://www.eagleoptics.com/index.asp?pid=4638

small world oleaf, i am at yale.

Just a small cautionary note. The Swift #828 shown on EO has an advanced, locking diopter control that is integrated with the focusing wheel, as well as the latest multi-coatings. The earlier model 828, which is often found at a discount and looks very similar, did not. Rather, it had a simple diopter mechanism similar to that seen on the Minox. Either design will work, but a locking mechanism is preferable.

Blue skies,
Ed

[vvsarana]

hi all,
thanks for your suggestions. in the end i bought a Zeiss Conquest 8x40 for $749 from Eagle Optics and I dont regret it. My only squib is the lack of objective lens cover and the aberration at the edges of the FOV. But i was birding in NZ last week in the most abysmal conditions - fog, rain and the bincoulars were super-bright in such conditions and the image was very well resolved.
And my friend has an Audubon Equinox HP 10x42. He teased me saying he would have bought three of his for the price I paid for mine but he is having problems now with his cheap pair and the image doesn't seem that magnified compared to mine in spite of his being a 10x, maybe it is a FOV artifact/illusion.

cheers
V.