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What bin do we use (1 Viewer)

Long ago my first binocular was a Sears 7x35 wide field from Hong Kong. And it did the job for wild life observation for over 20 years. Next a Unitron branded 8x32 from Vixen showed me how much better binoculars had gotten. I now use Nikon 8x30 EII and 10x35 EII as my go to bins for birding and other daytime observation.
 
Hi Jan:

Towards the end of last year I was mainly using the 7x42 BGAT*P for shorter distances (7/800m and closer in) and the 10x40 BGAT*P* for longer distance observation (beyond 1km). I still love both and the 10x40 works particularly well for me in brightly lit destinations (southern Europe, southeast Asia) where that very bright sunlight that can be so rare in Northern Europe compensates for the slight but noticeable drop in brightness compared to more modern optics. Recently I have been using the 8x32 FL for everything and found it does the job quite well. Very lightweight and easy to hold up for long periods, very bright (for a x32), only a little less field of view than the 7x42, and very close in sharpness to the 8.5x42 EL.SV.FP. On bright summer days I still find the 8x30 non-B Oberkochen porro a pleasure to use - I also use a Swift 7x35 wide field occasionally but the great field of view comes in a larger more cumbersome package.
 
Hi Jan:

Towards the end of last year I was mainly using the 7x42 BGAT*P for shorter distances (7/800m and closer in) and the 10x40 BGAT*P* for longer distance observation (beyond 1km). I still love both and the 10x40 works particularly well for me in brightly lit destinations (southern Europe, southeast Asia) where that very bright sunlight that can be so rare in Northern Europe compensates for the slight but noticeable drop in brightness compared to more modern optics. Recently I have been using the 8x32 FL for everything and found it does the job quite well. Very lightweight and easy to hold up for long periods, very bright (for a x32), only a little less field of view than the 7x42, and very close in sharpness to the 8.5x42 EL.SV.FP. On bright summer days I still find the 8x30 non-B Oberkochen porro a pleasure to use - I also use a Swift 7x35 wide field occasionally but the great field of view comes in a larger more cumbersome package.

Yep, the more recent P models are a joy to use for life.
Ofcourse the modern models outrun them but looking through those oldies is still like coming home.

Jan
 
Currently used binoculars
Meopta Meostar B1 8x32
Nikon EDG II 7x42
Nikon E II 8x30
Meopta Meostar B1 12x50 HD
Zen-Ray 7x43 ED3

Previously used or tried binoculars, some of which are still in my possession:
Zeiss Jenoptem 8x32
Zeiss 10x40 B/GA T*
Minox HG 8x33 MIJ
Minox BV 8x25
Vortex Fury 6,5x32 Used to love this, both 6,5x32s are in real use substituted with the 8x30/8x32 and 7x42
Meopta Meopro 6,5x32
Nikon Mikron 6x15 current version, not vintage
Pentax Papilio 6,5x21
Zeiss FL 10x32
Nikon Venturer/Premier/HG 10x32
Bushnell Excursion 8x28
Nikon Monarch X 10,5x45
IOR Valdada 7x40
Zeiss Notarem 8x32
Vortex Fury 8x42
Nikon 7x50IF HP WP Tropical
Meopta 6x30 porro Classic lightweight porro >50 years old, with a very decent view, but impossibly tight eye relief
Mamiya 7x28 roof
Zeiss DF 6x18

Apart from keeping some for their sentimental value, for being rare or for exhibiting extraordinary traits, I have navigated away from anticlockwise-focusing models, IF models, models with very skewed colour rendition, models exhibiting excessive CA or just for lack of real use. The only possible improvement I could think of would be replacing the Meostar 8x32 with... a Meostar 8x32 :eek!: or a Cabela's Euro Instinct 8x32. That could possibly also be done with a Kite Lynx 8x30, but if their price were the same, I'd likely go with the Meopta since I developed a very tight bond with it. My current sample's focus knob stiffness is long gone which is pure bliss.

//L
 
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L
I am also very fond of Meopta MeoStar 8x32 and while I can understand you wondering what the Cabela's version might be like I am puzzled by your reference to the Kite Lynx. I am sure it is a fine bino but it isn't related to the Meopta like the Cabela's is.

Lee
 
I was happy looking for my "sweet-spot" in price vs performance near the budget end of the market in the $200-$350 range. I was doing OK too, fuelled by reviews and recommendations on this forum. After having spent on various binoculars (some good, many poor or very poor in one respect or another), I reckoned that I had spent so much on poor bins that I could have bought a good binocular with that money. At least, that was the reasoning that applied when I had a chance to buy a 7x42 UVHD at a very attractive price.
Very happy with it, although maybe there's an 8x or even 10x in my future for hide birding.

Using .. 7x24 MCF compact porro that lives in my backpack
8x30 Nikon M7 for lightweight outings
7x42 UVHD most of the time
7x36 ZR ED2 when the Uv is at risk of damage/loss (holidays etc)
Opticron 8x42 HRWP, 8x32 SRGA.
(sold my 8x30 Eii as it was not getting used much, now I miss it)
 
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Hi,

for me it's in order of usage:

Nikon E2 8x30
Nikon SE 10x42 if more range is needed
Pentax DCF ED 8x32 when it's pouring or as a loaner
Hensoldt DF 8x30 IF is in the car so gets the occasional look when no other is available

The others are rarely used.

Joachim
 
L
I am also very fond of Meopta MeoStar 8x32 and while I can understand you wondering what the Cabela's version might be like I am puzzled by your reference to the Kite Lynx. I am sure it is a fine bino but it isn't related to the Meopta like the Cabela's is.

Lee

Lee, I never claimed they were the same binoculars. On the contrary, I wrote that the Kite could possibly act as a substitute for a new Meopta, but that I prefer the Meopta's very ergonomic design.

Advantages of the Kite would be the huge FOV with considerably less weight, better colour rendition than my current Meopta and a slightly lower price.
If the prices were the same, I'd most likely go with the Meopta.

//L
 
For me:

1) Almost always, birding, night sky, sailing, most travel - Canon 10x42 L IS (with a finnstick attached for a lot of birding). If I want to see what there is to see, there simply is no alternative to a premium image stabilised view.

2) For theatre and some travel, when light and small is paramount and seeing well is secondary - Leica Ultravid 8x20

3) If I want to have a binocular along but there are real risks of losing it, breaking it or having it stolen - Nikon 7x20 Travelite III (I have had this for almost thirty years. Central image is really sharp and easy on the eye, so for all its limitations, it is actually a very pleasing view - also, about the only thing I own made of plastic that has survived the test of time faultlessly).

Other binoculars I own:

Nikon 10x42 SE - used by my wife when we bird together and by me sometimes if I need a "normal" binocular as a measurement reference.

Carl Zeiss Jena Jenoptem 10x50 - Nostalgia from my youth. This one just gathers dust now, but there's no point in getting rid of it either. Way back when, the Nikon SE replaced this, although disappointingly it turned out that the Jenoptem was at least as sharp. The Nikon was and is, however, significantly brighter and has truer colours and more even field. The Nikon is also much lighter and more comfy to hold.

Kimmo
 
Bins

I started with military IF models a Hensoldt 8X30 DF, which evolved to the NVA DF 7X40, EDF 7X40(still have them), as well as a couple of Kern of Arrau models.
I have got back into the hobby and have different glasses now, which are all different in their own way and they all get used. some are below.

The surprise was the Leica 8X42 HD, a glass providing a different view to the EDG 10X42 of not being flat, and with exceptional contrast. The others are the Meopta 7X42 and the Zeiss FL 8X32.

The Meopta a second go around with the 7X42 format and in my honest opinion, it will be difficult for Zeiss to build a new 8X32 to match the size and portability of the FL, a very portable glass.
The SE porros are always with me in my nearby nature Sanctuary.

Waiting for spring.

A.W.
 
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