mid-priced bright and sharp 10x (1 Viewer)

I just bought an 8x42 Leupold Gold Ring for $500 from the Sportsman's Warehouse Outlet Store found on ebay. It is scheduled (according to UPS) to arrive Monday. I can tell this weekend is just going to drag on and on (not to mention work on Monday.) These are gone for now but, there are a few sellers still offering this same binocular for about $600 - which still isn't bad.

Eagle Optics' ebay store continues to offer Bushnell Elite refurbs in both 8x43 and 10x43 for under $500. They may be refurbs but, you won't be able to tell any difference and they retain the fully transferable lifetime-of-the-product warranty. I doubt you could find a much better deal than that.

buff said:

burdup, just to clarify you were talking about 10x leupold GR?
I have read that people aresaying good thing about 8x power but I never found a review of 10x Leupold GR.

Click to expand...

My mistake, I have the 8x. You are right, I too have not seen any comments or reviews of the 10x, but I looked at them before deciding on the eights...

lucznik said:

I just bought an 8x42 Leupold Gold Ring for $500 from the Sportsman's Warehouse Outlet Store found on ebay. It is scheduled (according to UPS) to arrive Monday. I can tell this weekend is just going to drag on and on (not to mention work on Monday.) These are gone for now but, there are a few sellers still offering this same binocular for about $600 - which still isn't bad.

Eagle Optics' ebay store continues to offer Bushnell Elite refurbs in both 8x43 and 10x43 for under $500. They may be refurbs but, you won't be able to tell any difference and they retain the fully transferable lifetime-of-the-product warranty. I doubt you could find a much better deal than that.

Click to expand...

Most likely the non-HD version, which is not a big deal since it is the binocular that got the great review anyway!

I am excited for you. Let me know how your Monday ends...

Pentax DCF ED, there are some demo's at OP and I think Camera Land? Excellent in all categories, compare very well with the Alpha stuff.

FYI: Here is a review comparing the Vortex Viper with the Bushnell Elite and the Pentax DCF ED eight power binoculars (both of which models were just mentioned above). Though the Viper is considerably less expensive than both of these (though Luzcnik indicates refurbished elites are on sale at roughly the same price), it was found to be quite comparable to them in the review. Though the review is written by a vortex employee, I have found him to be quite objective in what he reports on his website. Moreover, the following chart from an independent reviewer shows similar results with respect to the Pentax: http://www.birdwatching.com/optics/2007roundup/chart_main_extended.html

Best,
Jim

I went to the store and returned home with Vipers. I tried various binos in the same price range but it was dificult to tell the diffrence in the store they all performed the same. At home I compered it to Fuji CD 10x. Viper is slim while CD is bulky, which suits my large hands just fine.
Viper's eye-relief (ER) is sufficient to give me full FOV, CD has short ER but I don't loose too much FOV and I don't have to press bino against glasses to get that insignificantly restricted FOV. Viper has excellent depth of view and CD is good but Viper is much better.
As I said earlier CD is dim in low light but actually I am not sure if it is dimness or yellow cast that is in question here. Viper is noticably brighter.
So far evrything is working in Vipers favor, but CD is sharper bino that, despite its yellow cast, gives clearer image. CD also seems to have a bit more magnification although both are 10x. CD's sharpness and clarity are its strong points, on the other hand Vipers brightnes, ER and light weight are Vipers strong ponts.
Image is most important in a binocular and Fuji gives me more pleasing image.
These two bino are in the same price range so they perform similarly. When I bought Viper I wanted bino that would give me same sharpness and clarity and improved brightness, so I could sell CD and keep the Viper. Viper did improve on every feature CD din't have, brightness, ER, bulk and weight, but could't match CD's strong points.

Overall I like CD a bit better and I think I will return the Viper.

I think that conclusion would be, to get same sharpness and clarity but improved brightness I would have to pay double the money. Because these two binos are in the same price range and that means similar performance.
So the search for more expensive bino begins.

burdup said:

Most likely the non-HD version, which is not a big deal since it is the binocular that got the great review anyway!

I am excited for you. Let me know how your Monday ends...

Click to expand...

You are correct, these are the non-HD version but, I knew that when I bought them. They arrived yesterday and, while I have not had a chance to really spend much time looking through them, my first impressions are very favorable. If the HD version is going to provide an improvement, then it will be a very small improvement indeed - not worth (to me) the hundreds of dollars more such an "upgrade" would cost.

In truth, I have had a difficult time reconciling myself to the HD/ED/Flourite glass in binoculars issue. When such glass first starting being advertised as being used in binoculars I distinctly remember reading on numerous forums, in magazines, etc. very technical, "high brow" discussions on how, because of the relatively low magnifications (10x and below) of standard binoculars, this high-end glass would provide no real visible benefit. Then more and more manufacturers started advertising the use of ED glass and now, some of the same people who declared its use as offering little or no benefit have made 180-degree turns and now declare most enthusiatically how important it is to have this special glass as it "really makes a difference" - especially in the case of the writer's personal pet-brand.

I'm sure there is benefit to having HD lenses in a binocular. It might even be a noticeable difference. It definately is not a big enough difference to cause me any worry and both my wallet and my wife are much pleased at the fact that I was able to get a binocular I really wanted at such a steep discount.

unlikely choice

I ordered porro Swift ultralite 10x42 from B&H and it is the best 10x of all the I have owned so far. Image is clear and crisp, sharp and colors are vivid. Swift's overall image is better then either Viper or Fuji CD. One thing where swift performes noticably better than other two is how it penetrates shadowes. i looked at the dirty frame of the window across the street, which was in the shadow. While other two could resolve outer lines, Swift could clearly resolve inner lines left by water. Fuji has bit more magnification than other two but that is only advantage it has over Swift at least as far as I can tell.
Swift is made in China and it has quick focus, only 2/3 of a turn to go from minimum to infinity and it makes that whooshy sound just like Leupold Yosemiti.

I had a Fujinon 10x42 to try out. It was pretty ordinary. Japanese or not.

Nikon SE 10x42

Well, for long enough I've been longing for alpha bin but I couldn't afford it so on Monday I made decision to buy myself alpha bin that is in within my financial abilities so I had WBU in Guelph to order me Nikon SE 10x42 as a replacement for Vortex Viper. Today after compering Fuji CD 10x42 and Swift Ultralite porro 10x42, I returned home and found message that Nikon is in and I can come to pick it up. I came to the store 5 min. before closing and picked them up.
SE is well known and I will not give my impressions but I only tested it by looking at city scenery.
However I will say that Swift impressed me and I think that it is in one class above Fuji CD. As I said CD has little more magnification but Swift beats it with its neutral and vivid color, clarity and crispness, which gives better overall image.
I don't see how can SE be much better than Swift but I did notice that SE is sharp in some 80% FOV while Swift is realy sharp in some 30% FOV beyond that it is marginally less sharp to some 60-70% FOV and beyond that it is noticably less sharp. I will test them side by side in a week or two, but I will not get rid of Swift I will keep it as a spare and Fuji will go to another owner.

The Nikon e2 10x35 is -

Sancho said:

...much smaller...

Click to expand...

- than other high end bins? Ain´t they just "only" as big as the roofs in the high range, though maybe lighter?

Carsten..