Keeper binoculars (1 Viewer)

I have lots of 'keepers', not necessarily because they're the best of their kind, but just because I like them. My all-time 'best ever' is a Carl Zeiss Jena 8x50 BGA Octarem; just wonderful, seldom equalled, never surpassed in my own personal experience, although I have never paid more than £425 for a binocular in my life (a Zeiss 10x40 BGAT* Classic, which is still one of my favourites). My Swift 10x50 Kestrel will see off most competition, and my Pentax 6.5x21 Papilio has its endearing close-focus qualities. I'm fond too of my Swift Audubons, of which I have three, from the original Tamron-made big body model to the later HR/5 and more compact types. I also wouldn't part with a mint Hensoldt 7x42 Dialyt, forerunner of the Zeiss Classic, and a beautifully made Kern 8x30 Pizar which has impeccable build quality, and looks pretty much like a Nikon E or Zeiss Deltrintem. Also, I am fond of my Nikon 7x20 III Travelite and an even smaller Minolta 8x20 Compact porro from the 1970s, a little gem. A recent 'find' is a Pentax 8x36 DCF HS which I've taken to immediately, perhaps harkening back to the days when you'd "just hold a Pentax". But if I had to have just one binocular, it would be the Zeiss Octarem, despite its weight and size, because it's the best view I've had. Each to his own, and I'm happy with mine...

Tero,

I believe your beloved 8x42 Legend Porros are going to be keepers for me. The more I use them the more I like the optics and overall handling. They are a bit "fat" overall but I have big hands and find them easy to hold onto.

On a side note, here I thought I was getting a free GPS with them but it turns out that it is only for select Bushnell products.

OK, I had to come back after awhile and re read this. It blew right over my head the first time. Are we actually talking about our very own FrankD keeping a binocular? |8.| Not too long ago, you were keeping the Promaster, or was it the Hawke, and selling the Swarovski EL, or was it the Zeiss FL? Now it seems Kevin has both the Promaster and Hawke and you still have the Zeiss. Just pulling your chain here guy. ||

I agree it is nice to have an inexpensive binocular like that good enough to be a keeper. Now you and Tero have me looking at it. Mosly because it would not much dent the budget. However, I'm more interested in the new Vortex and Pentax stuff. Plus whatever new is announced at the upcoming SHOT show.

Steve C said:

Not too long ago, you were keeping the Promaster, or was it the Hawke, and selling the Swarovski EL, or was it the Zeiss FL? Now it seems Kevin has both the Promaster and Hawke and you still have the Zeiss. Just pulling your chain here guy. ||

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And those Zeiss ... well, not for too much longer. FrankD: the Binocular Superstore!

Of course in the bang per buck stakes the porros always stand a better chance.

I have been selling Kevin quite a few binoculars in recent months so I guess the title fits me.

Steve,

Yes, I know....I am fickle at times. The Promaster and Hawkes both went to Kevin as did the Bushnell Discoverers, the Zeiss Conquests and a myriad of other binoculars. Still, I really do think the Bushnell Legend porro 8x42s are keepers. I took them out hunting with me yesterday morning and I was entirely pleased with their performance in that application. What shocked me the most was their low-light level performance. I was checking out a small opening in the understory very early...well before it was light enough to clearly make out anything with the unaided eye. Putting those Legend porros up to my eyes clearly revealed what I was looking at. I was genuinely shocked.

Today I took the Legends out with my Meostars for a bit of a morning of waterfowl birding. We found several great birds including some lifers for me (Long Tailed Duck, White winged Crossbill, etc..) and it really surprised me to find that I ended up using the Bushnell 95% of the time. The wide field of view coupled with the clarity of the porro image just made it a pure pleasure to use.

I readily admit that, in the past, I had a bit of a bias against Bushnell products (minus the Discoverer and Elites). I mean how could a $100 Bushnell product really appeal to anyone that is discriminating when it comes to binocular performance? I admit I was wrong and I thank Tero for continuously pointing out the excellent performance of this binocular. Strictly from an optical standpoint these are now my favorite $100 and under binoculars. For me I prefer them to the Yosemite, Ultima DX and even the Pentax HS.

Ergonomically I enjoy using them as well but I can see where some folks might find them a bit heavy (30 oz) or a bit bulky. Still, these will be the model I recommend to anyone looking for an extremely solid performer optically at an extremely reasonable price.

My EO 8x32s are now for sale. I got some 50 lifers with them, on trips I had only those with me and no scope. But they lasted with me longer than my 10x42 Monarchs.

They were very sharp in the middle. I just do not need three 8x32s. No birders in the family either. Very casual eagle watchers.

postcardcv said:

I have a pair of 8x30 Es and love them (definite keepers for me) and fancy adding a pair of EIIs. Other keepers for me are my 8x20 Ultravids (great image and so handy) a pair of 8x42 Opticrons (my first decent bins) and my 8.5x42 ELs (my choice binocular on most occassions).

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I was just re-reading this thread and was surprised to see that I still have all four of these bins (I have a habit of changing a lot)! These days the ELs are used almost all of the time, having been through Leicas and Nikons too I really have convinced that these are the ones for me, I an't see me ever changing them. The 8x30 Es will not go either as they are stunning optically and were a gift from my wife. The 8x20 Ultravids have almost gone twice in the last few months, they are excellent but I give them so little use that it's getting tempting to replace them with something like the Opticron 8x25 Taiga and free up some cash.

Tero said:

Looks like the 10x42 Monarch was not a keeper after all. It is almost gone.

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And I almost own it... I bought these off of Tero and got them sent to my brother who lives over in the States, he's still got them! I guess I'll see them when he next visit but I reckon he'll put a few miles on them first

And when I got the SP Pentax, I was surprised how the optics were like the Monarch, only sweet spot was wider. Since they are not ED, still have some CA.

The 10x42 Promaster is my almost ideal 10x, but the focus IS a bit slow. And stiff in cold.

Not keeper, but one that got away. I regret selling my old Leica 8x32bn.

Mike

Well I still have the Bushnell Legend porros...and the Zen Rays...and the Legend Roofs...and the Meopta.

Have I finally settled down?

FrankD said:

Well I still have the Bushnell Legend porros...and the Zen Rays...and the Legend Roofs...and the Meopta.

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Do you have only four bins right now, Frank?

Aside from kids bins and the like.

Do you have only four bins right now, Frank?

Aside from kids bins and the like.

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No. I have 10 that I regularly use with a few more laying around which could see regular duty for some reason or another.

FrankD said:

No. I have 10 that I regularly use with a few more laying around which could see regular duty for some reason or another.

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Let's see. Two around the neck, one compact in pocket, two spares in the back pack..one maybe a 12x with Finn Stick. One in the trunk, in case the 5 get stolen. One at home in case the car gets stolen. What do you do with the other 3?

Tero said:

Let's see. Two around the neck, one compact in pocket, two spares in the back pack..one maybe a 12x with Finn Stick. One in the trunk, in case the 5 get stolen. One at home in case the car gets stolen. What do you do with the other 3?

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Bury at least one (properly wrapped of course) in case the house is burglarized or burns down. Or if you don't believe in stashing stuff in the ground, you could resort to a safe deposit box.

Steve C said:

Bury at least one (properly wrapped of course) in case the house is burglarized or burns down. Or if you don't believe in stashing stuff in the ground, you could resort to a safe deposit box.

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I've been reading this thread with ever-increasing enjoyment, and first up I have to do this;
:clap::clap::clap::clap::clap:


Time to stick my oar in - I feel kinda inadequate saying this, but I've only ever owned 4 pairs of bins! [Gasp!] I still have and use 3 of them, though.
My first ever were a pair of 8x30 porros, given to me when I was about 6 - I can't remember the make, all I can recall is that they had 'gold-coated optics', which I thought was very impressive.
I donated them when I upgraded [age 10 or so] to Ranger County 8x30 wide-field roofs - two little grey-armoured tubes of some near-indestructible metal. Those bins have been dropped, trodden on, fallen off mountains [with me attached...], covered in dust, immersed in water, you name it, and they still work just fine.
Following them, Bresser 10x42 Dialyts - bought second hand for £100 and worth so much more than every penny. If they hadn't developed the habit of steaming up in even light rain I'd still be using them [despite a fairly narrow FOV and 'close' focus of about 5m] being incredibly light, superbly balanced, and only being beaten optically by alphas and the newest betas.
Newest are Leica 10x42 Ultravid HDs, which beat all-comers last year, and are just exquisite...
I haven't buried any of them though - it'd take too long to get them out when something flies over!

Well, my current list of "keepers" is way longer than it should be....but I've had several over the last 10yrs or so that I really liked and kinda didn't wanna part with, but did. 1st was a Celestron Nova 10x50 that I literally wore out (pebble finish worn completely smooth, all anodizing on prism cover edges gone, hinge and diopter had almost no friction left....used it constantly....and the case was held to together w/electrical tape). It had that great 8* fov and was really sharp and bright, even with most of the coatings worn off the ep's due to constant cleaning. Then the Nikon 7x35E (that would have been a keeper if it had wider fov and pop-up eyecups) and Swift 10x50 Kestrel (only fault was the stiff eyecups). Others in prior posts here have sung their praises, too.

But the one instrument I really regret selling was a Kowa TSN662 scope with both 20x & 30x WA ep's. That was a great scope, but I got the idea I needed an 80...dumb move.