[Otto McDiesel]

So, i have this friend in Turkey and he cannot afford decent binoculars. After many years, i finally can buy a pair for him.
So i went to town to find a decent pair for him, at a decent price.
The local sports goods store has a good selection of decently priced binos, so i went in. I looked through binoculars for two hours, going in and out of the store and looking at birds on a pond across the street.
1. Bushnell 10x42, roof prism, $36, with brushed aluminum accents, they look like Brunton Epoch. If a company puts their name on a product like this, they don't deserve my money. I am not even going to look at the $1000 Elites, just because those and these have the same name and a company that does that is not to my liking.
2. Simmons wilderness, roof, 10x42, $99. I could close focus the right barrel to 80 meters, and the left one to 120. I could not get both of them focused in the same time. I looked at 3 samples, some better, none good. Guys (Simmons), why don't you go and pick tomatoes in California?
3. Kahles 10x42 and 8x42, roof prism, $699. I love them, i love them, i love them, but i have to stop at $500.
4. Brunton Lite Tech, roof prism, 10x42, $150. Heavy, uncomfortable, more glare than birds, ghost images, glare again, lots of it, green things shine in my eyes, and they aren’t hummingbirds. Close focus: about the average shot at a deer (80-90 meters). Good for a door stop (heavy enough and ugly enough).
5. Leupold Wind River Cascade 10x42 and 8x42, roof, $250 or so. Nice, good for birding, but FOV is ridiculous.
6. Leupold Wind River Katmai 10x32 and 8x32. roof, $250 or so. Very nice in the hands, but the 8x32 was not sharp and bright enough for an 8x32, and the 10x32 was the same and it also had no depth of field to speak of.
7. Barska Atlantic, 10x42 roof, $75. I could actually see the ducks, but I would not call these to be good binoculars.
8. Bushnell Discoverer 7x42 and 10x42, roof, $300. The 7x42 was nice, good resolution, no glare and green UFO’s, I liked it, but my friend likes 8x and 10x, and he prefers 8x.
The 10x, was not so good, I got glare, it was not as sharp as I expected, and I did not like the depth of field.
9. Another Bushnell Excursion 10x42, at $180. This one is better than what I saw two days ago, but I am still not happy. PC-3 phase coating my axx!
9. Nikon Monarch 8x42 and 10x42, roof, $299. These were by far the nicest I’ve seen so far (except Kahles). So they went aside for another round of testing.
10. Zeiss Diafun 8x30 and 10x30. I do admit that I am an ugly axx Central European with a big flat face, but I still expect to find enough interpupilary distance when I try binoculars. I might file a discrimination lawsuit. Somehow, these Diafuns were not comfortable to hold, I did not like the eyecups (poor fit to my eye sockets), the edges were blurred as if on purpose, and I could see a nice and well defined reddish-purple fringe around everything. Well, if I want to see nice color fringes around everything, I buy slivovitsa, not binoculars.
11. Zeiss Conquest 10x40. This is the one with ABK prisms, and it sells for $1099. Nice, not better than Kahles, and the FOV could do better, but this one is nice, slightly better than 10x40 Classic C. But it’s out of my price range.
12. Zeiss Conquest 8x30, $499. Cute, light, comfortable, sharp, well defined colors. I sent it next to others for later testing.
13. On the bottom shelf is a pair of Nikon Sporter 8x36 and 10x36. They are on clearance, $99. Ok, it won’t hurt to have a look. The 10x36 gets dismissed quickly for not being sharp enough, but the 8x36 is a revelation. It goes next to Zeiss 8x30 Conquest, and the two Nikon Monarchs.
14. Pentax 8x40 waterproof porro, and Nikon 8x40 non waterproof porro. The Pentax was nicer, better resolution and better colors, brighter, but I expected a wider FOV from an 8x40, and I am looking for a roof prism, because they should last a very long time.

At this point the young guy at the counter had on his face the look of President Bush addressing the Nation on the war on terrorism (“Enough is enough!”). I asked to talk to the manager. I asked if I could take the 4 binos out in the park, return three of them the next day, and have my card charged for whatever pair I decide to keep. I guess he said ok just to see me leave.

So, the following morning, at sunrise, I went to work (I get paid to count birds in the park, how cool is that!!!) with 4 pairs of binoculars: Nikon Monarch 8x42 and 10x42, Zeiss Conquest 8x30, and Nikon Sporter 8x36. Three friends, a wife, and a daughter joined me. We decided to keep our opinions to ourselves, and just cast votes. Two of the three friends have no clue about binoculars (no brand bias). They just looked at birds and decided which binos they liked best. We had hummingbirds, kingbirds, ducks, herons, egrets, kites, swallows, woodpeckers, Swainson’s hawks, turkey vultures, and an Osprey. All binoculars got extensive use on all sorts of birds and under all sorts of lighting conditions for about 5 hours.
The 10x42 Monarch was ok, but I did not like the narrow FOV and the shallower depth of view compared to the others.
The Conquest had the best resolution (i.e., seemed to be the sharpest), but it was also the dimmest, and I did not like the combination of dim and the “hey, those colors should be nicer” feeling– not enough contrast I guess.
Optically, there was very (very) little difference between the 8x42 Monarch and the 8x36 Sporter. I did like handling the Sporter better. My vote went for the Nikon Sporter 8x36. Not perfect by any means, but it was the best of the bunch in my opinion, and whenever I looked at real birds I always found myself reaching for them rather than for Zeiss or the Nikon Monarchs. I found the sporter to have very good balance, nice brightness, well controlled ghosting and flare, very good resolution and excellent handling.

Here are the final votes:
Nikon Monarch 10x42 - 0
Nikon Monarch 8x42 - 1
Zeiss Conquest 8x30 - 2
Nikon Sporter 8x36 – 3

I bought the Nikon Sporter 8x36 and mailed it to my friend in Turkey.

If I were Nikon, I would fully waterproof the 8x36 Sporter (they are only water resistant), I would slap some phase coating on the prisms, I would make the eyepieces and the Diopter adjustment click stoppable, and I would sell them for $250. I would also design the eyepieces interchangeable Kahles and Swaro style (click stops or winged rubber). They would have no competition under $500. Yes, the EII 8x30 and the SE 8x32 are better optically, but it takes more than lenses to make a birder friendly binocular.

[rezMole]

I have the 10x36 Sporters (half price from Warehouse Express) and think they are excellent. They do lack a little brightness compared with some top bins, but for the price they are pretty damn good.

No, they're not waterproof - but i have used them in the rain with no ill effect. They seem to be VERY water resistant - good enough for me - i just make sure i don't drop them in the lake!

[FrankD]

Nice review and thanks for mentioning for me to come over here and check it out. Did the shop not have any of the Legends in stock to try?

I will keep an eye out for Sporters on sale for $100 as I could always use another bit of glass. []

[Richard D]

Originally Posted by Otto McDiesel

...

I bought the Nikon Sporter 8x36 and mailed it to my friend in Turkey.

If I were Nikon, I would fully waterproof the 8x36 Sporter (they are only water resistant), I would slap some phase coating on the prisms, I would make the eyepieces and the Diopter adjustment click stoppable, and I would sell them for $250. I would also design the eyepieces interchangeable Kahles and Swaro style (click stops or winged rubber). They would have no competition under $500. Yes, the EII 8x30 and the SE 8x32 are better optically, but it takes more than lenses to make a birder friendly binocular.

I've been using a pair of 10 x 36 Sporters for 7 or 8 months and have been very happy with them for the money. I've never had a problem with fogging or water penetration despite using them in rain and heavy snow. They're not perfect but superb for the cost.

Richard

[Otto McDiesel]

I guess, my whole point was: make sure that you try before you buy, don't fall for the name and for the label, and yes, the Sporters are excellent value for the price, birdworthy for sure.