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Binocular Evaluations (1 Viewer)

If you don't do a direct A-B comparison, then I don't think you can tell for sure which optic is best. The memory is not reliable on fine details. That being said, your eyes are your reference. If a particular binocular is very decent, or very bad, your eyes will tell you based on what you see in everyday life. To judge two great binoculars against one another, you need to see them both together, or A-B them against a known reference. After you find the the optic that best suits you, you will find that it won't be best for everyone else. It depends on which set of compromises or strengths are important to the individual. Just my opinion for what that's worth.

Bruce

Once you have done ALOT of comparisons you remember what was best when you compared them though. I have compared alot of alphas side by side and decided waht I liked best. My results seem to compare with all the major reviews so I think I am in the ballpark. When I get a new glass I compare it to what I know is the best and arrive at a ranking for them.
 
If you think the less expensive binoculars ar as good as the alpha's then good for you. You just saved alot of money! To my eyes they are not. I think once you have more time with an alpha observing under different lighting conditions and viewing different birds you will come to realize there is a difference and that difference is worth the extra money. An extra $1k averaged over a lifetime of use is not that much. Maybe $30.00 a year? I think once you are more experienced with optics you will come to appreciate the top glass. To me that little bit of extra money is well worth it. You know all you have to do is give up a Starbucks coffee once in awhile to enjoy a Zeiss FL or a Swarovski Swarovision.

I hear that and maybe it's even true. One thing I've learned about myself however is that working my way up is a learning experience and also fun. Right now I'm thrilled with the optics I'm looking at and learning a lot about optics in the process. When I feel knowledgeable I can then seriously evaluate all the optics choices I have in the marketplace. Like I said before money is not an obstacle for me.

Value however is a ethical consideration for me. If I bought the alphas and then realized that for the money they were not the best value I'd feel like a sap. Not a feeling I like especially when it could have been avoided with time and patience.

And it's not like I feel deprived in any way. Like I said I'm thrilled. I don't use that world lightly here. I'm in love with the experience I'm having right now. I'm in love with the optical quality I've discovered with my own effort and using my best judgments about value. I'm thrilled that I've found good people to socialize with and learn from and share with about a passion that has had no outlet with others up until now. You have no idea how much fun and value I've gotten from my few weeks here. And all for a few hundred bucks. I'm winning dude.

Now down the road and as a very natural process I may well find myself in a place where those alpha optics will become available for my inspection. When that happens I will know a lot more and be in a very good position to evaluate them and decide if I want or need them. I seem to remember you mentioning you used a lot of the mid range optics at one time. You didn't head straight for the top based on a strangers say so did you? You figured it out for yourself in your own way. That's what I'm doing.

So if you're right I will likely find that out at some point and I'll have no problem letting you and everyone else here know that. Right now the majority here seem to think value wise these mid range binocs are the best for the $$. I'm listening.
 
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Here's a concrete example of things I want to know before I would ever consider a $2000 binocular. What size aperture do I really need, and more importantly what is the best power for my comfort and enjoyment. If I don't have the experience I need it's very likely I'll end up with something I'm going to want to sell. Or god forbid have to consider a second pair.
 
it is important to "spend some alone time" with each bin though as some things that crop up in A/B comparos may not be as relevant with extended use, and of course you don't really know how the ergonomics and ease of use will hold up over a couple hours of use in the field.

for example, just from my own experience, in direct comparison with a very neutral bin like the Zen ED3 the Vortex Fury has an obvious warm/yellowish color cast. But if you were just using the Fury in the field for a couple of hours, you would never even think about it. The ED3 is obviously better at controlling color fringing, but if color fringing doesn't really bother you in "real world" use does it matter?

that said, it's good to find a few "control" targets for certain tests, because as noted above sensory memory is quite imperfect and your recollection of sharpness of a given pair may have been more due to light conditions or other factors. That's when A/B tests are very useful. So for example, when judging sharpness on axis find a good target (e.g. trying to read the nutritional information on a cereal box from 30ft away :p) and use the binoculars back to back to try and read them. When judging color fringing find a good static target (e.g. a white sign down the street on a sunny day) and try each binocular in turn, panning side-to-side and seeing where the fringing starts and how far off center does it get really bad.

but bottom line is that among many bins in a similar price class, the optical quality is so close that non-optical factors (ergonomics, how "relaxed" you feel using them) may override the differences.
 
Here's a concrete example of things I want to know before I would ever consider a $2000 binocular. What size aperture do I really need, and more importantly what is the best power for my comfort and enjoyment. If I don't have the experience I need it's very likely I'll end up with something I'm going to want to sell. Or god forbid have to consider a second pair.

agree, and don't feel pressure by some of the folk here to spend more money than you are comfortable with. This can be a cheap and fun learning experience to understand what you want in a binocular and what types of things you like and dislike. And the bottom line is by the $500 price point you are well into the point of increasingly diminishing returns. Once you have more experience you might then decide that the incremental benefits of the "alphas" are worth the extra cash, or you may not.

but let me tell you, fancy glass does NOT make you a better birder / hunter. You can enjoy the heck out of your time outdoors and get plenty of experience with a $130 pair of bins like the Vortex Fury, which is optically good enough for 99% of people and situations.
 
it is important to "spend some alone time" with each bin though as some things that crop up in A/B comparos may not be as relevant with extended use, and of course you don't really know how the ergonomics and ease of use will hold up over a couple hours of use in the field.

for example, just from my own experience, in direct comparison with a very neutral bin like the Zen ED3 the Vortex Fury has an obvious warm/yellowish color cast. But if you were just using the Fury in the field for a couple of hours, you would never even think about it. The ED3 is obviously better at controlling color fringing, but if color fringing doesn't really bother you in "real world" use does it matter?

that said, it's good to find a few "control" targets for certain tests, because as noted above sensory memory is quite imperfect and your recollection of sharpness of a given pair may have been more due to light conditions or other factors. That's when A/B tests are very useful. So for example, when judging sharpness on axis find a good target (e.g. trying to read the nutritional information on a cereal box from 30ft away :p) and use the binoculars back to back to try and read them. When judging color fringing find a good static target (e.g. a white sign down the street on a sunny day) and try each binocular in turn, panning side-to-side and seeing where the fringing starts and how far off center does it get really bad.

but bottom line is that among many bins in a similar price class, the optical quality is so close that non-optical factors (ergonomics, how "relaxed" you feel using them) may override the differences.


This is good advice. Thanks.
 
agree, and don't feel pressure by some of the folk here to spend more money than you are comfortable with. This can be a cheap and fun learning experience to understand what you want in a binocular and what types of things you like and dislike. And the bottom line is by the $500 price point you are well into the point of increasingly diminishing returns. Once you have more experience you might then decide that the incremental benefits of the "alphas" are worth the extra cash, or you may not.

but let me tell you, fancy glass does NOT make you a better birder / hunter. You can enjoy the heck out of your time outdoors and get plenty of experience with a $130 pair of bins like the Vortex Fury, which is optically good enough for 99% of people and situations.

And this.:t:

Likely how this will end for me. I'm 90+% happy with these Eagle SRT 6x30 that I just scored on their sale. I just got back from another two hour hike with them but this time in mountain fog instead of sun. All I can say is I like them more each time I take them out. That to me is a very good sign. I really resonate with your advice and I thank you for it. If those Fury 6.5 are as good or better I'll be knock down happy. If the Sightron 8x land in the same ballpark I will likely be done at least for a long while. I am about to win a new pair of Zen Ray's however so I'll have to have them. But after that I'm going to likely live vicariously through the purchases of the rest of you all. Then I'm off to try to learn the names of tweety birds. Today I sat under a tree in fairly heavy fog with a Red Tailed Hawk at the top of that tree about 30 or 40 feet above me. The view was terrific.
 
I think that basically I know a good set of binoculars when I look through them but honestly I've never really thought about it until I joined this forum in December. I joined because I got excited about bird watching and the optical end of that. I've always carried compact binoculars but in November bought my first pair of full sized optics. I didn't really know about more than a half dozen companies and did my initial research on those. I had a low end budget but wanted something really good for my money. I knew from the inexpensive Nikon compacts I've owned that it could be done. I've owned maybe five pair of Nikons and one pair of Swift compacts in my life. I knew how good the Nikons were so I was biased for sure. Where I live it's kind of hard to put your hands on a lot of binocs so I went mostly on reviews. I ended up with the new Nikon Monarch 3 8x42. I think I did ok but now know I could have done better for that $200. That's my binocular history up to now so you get some idea of where I'm coming from.

When I got here I got swept up in the optical excitement. No one I know personally cares about optics like I do. So like a kid in a candy store I jumped in with both feet and within the next week (waiting for deliveries) I will own nine pairs of binoculars. :t:|:S|

Better late than never I'm realizing I don't know enough about evaluating these optics to know which ones to keep and which to let go of. I do understand some of the basics of course but I hear terms here that mean almost nothing to me.

So I would like to ask for some help here.

Would some of you be willing to make a list of the most important things to look for when evaluating and testing these optics? Many of these binocs will be close optically but there well be other things that I will not know to look for to separate the good from the great. Or if there is a link to a thread here that already covers this subject. I'd greatly appreciate the help. And if you can briefly describe how to make the tests to determine these different mysterious things.

Help out a newb dudes. Pretty please. I'd like to be able to make some reasonably worthwhile evaluations to share with you all.

You can pretty much go by Albino's reviews. They are about the best and i agree with them for the most part and they have done all the work for you. Just buy the top ranked binoculars in the size you want and you will be happy.

http://www.allbinos.com/
 
A friend of mine uses a newspaper that he hasn't seen before to see if he can read sentences from it.

Bruce

i


So for example, when judging sharpness on axis find a good target (e.g. trying to read the nutritional information on a cereal box from 30ft away :p) and use the binoculars back to back to try and read them.
 
That's funny cause I had mine out today for over two hours with no math involved. Am I doing something wrong?|:S|

Don't worry about rolling globe unless you buy some Swarovisions. They are the only ones I have seen that some people don't like. They are awesome optics but a little weird if you notice it. A bit like a carnival mirror. Almost like they are tricking your eyes. Started bothering me after awhile. The Nikon EDG's have the sharp edges with a field flattener too but not any noticeable rolling ball.
 
Don't worry about rolling globe unless you buy some Swarovisions. They are the only ones I have seen that some people don't like. They are awesome optics but a little weird if you notice it. A bit like a carnival mirror. Almost like they are tricking your eyes. Started bothering me after awhile. The Nikon EDG's have the sharp edges with a field flattener too but not any noticeable rolling ball.

So it's OK to go with the Tasco's then? :t:
 
The more I think about how I will do my evaluations the more I realize I'm getting in a little over my head here. I'm going to keep my evaluations simple and based on what I actually know about and care about. They won't impress the pros here but for someone who's just learning they might be worthwhile. And It will reflect my needs and desires about optics rather than trying to play with the big boys. I'll be more comfortable and relaxed and it will be a lot more fun.

Over time I'll learn more and can evaluate things better. Or not.
 
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