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2nd Pair / Upgrade for Birder - Advise Needed (1 Viewer)

lmans66 said:
Still, take the Opticron Verano.... assembled in Japan....I would take that over assembled in the US for now. Price wise, better than the Maven..... Optic wise, better than the Maven, the Monarch, etc...as I listed prior. Also, $ wise when compared to the Conquest or the Monarch HG....sure, they are better but the whole point of this thread is to show the best value for the money at that $500 price point. Heck if money isn't an option, go to a $2000 bin. So, for the money, the quality, the value...take the Verano.


They have it listed for $609 but at B and H etc...you get it for $490. https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1696759-REG/opticron_30780_8x32_verano_bga_vhd.html
Click to expand...

Opticron Verano punches WAY past its price point. For 500$ it is a steal - and is a far superior view to the Maven.
 
lmans66 said:
Still, take the Opticron Verano.... assembled in Japan....I would take that over assembled in the US for now. Price wise, better than the Maven..... Optic wise, better than the Maven, the Monarch, etc...as I listed prior. Also, $ wise when compared to the Conquest or the Monarch HG....sure, they are better but the whole point of this thread is to show the best value for the money at that $500 price point. Heck if money isn't an option, go to a $2000 bin. So, for the money, the quality, the value...take the Verano.


They have it listed for $609 but at B and H etc...you get it for $490. https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1696759-REG/opticron_30780_8x32_verano_bga_vhd.html
Click to expand...
Hmmmmm....most interesting! The Opticron BGA 10x50 is only $500 and 28 ounces. It looks an awful lot like the Maven 10x50. A 28-ounce 50mm is right up my alley, maybe I'm not done with buying binos just yet :)
 
iseegeorgesstar said:
Your comment carries with it the implicit assumption that you're getting double the performance for double the price, which may or may not be true. Conversely, a $1k instrument might be able to do 80% of what the $2k instrument can do. That may or may not be true too.
Click to expand...
I agree....there is no 'double' performance...unless you are tossing in a Tasco vs Swaro... :) Personally I am being turned off by the Alpha's and the $ cost and find easily binoculars such as the 'used to be' Meostar B1.1 for under a $1000, or my 'at the time' price of $1200 Leica Retro 7x35 or my $500 Opticron Verano. Forget the Zeiss SF's and the Swaro NL's....
 
lmans66 said:
I agree....there is no 'double' performance...unless you are tossing in a Tasco vs Swaro... :) Personally I am being turned off by the Alpha's and the $ cost and find easily binoculars such as the 'used to be' Meostar B1.1 for under a $1000, or my 'at the time' price of $1200 Leica Retro 7x35 or my $500 Opticron Verano. Forget the Zeiss SF's and the Swaro NL's....
Click to expand...
Sorry, that was not my intention. I suppose I was looking at allbinos rankings and landed on the top ranked model in the 8x32 category. But, as a novice - and coming from the Zen-Rays - the Meostars likely would wow us even if they aren't the 'best' - and save some $ at the same time.
 
Maljunulo said:
Can you share the reasoning that led you to conclude that is what his comment conveys?
Click to expand...
Their comment reads:

"What about this crazy thought? Go big or go home.

Zeiss Victory SF 8x32

Take the budget of the two I was considering and just buy this one."
Click to expand...

They (1.) experience the upgrade as "crazy" and "big" and (2.) talk about merging the budget of two binoculars to get one. Which tells me they expect the one binocular to be the "crazy" and "big" upgrade and potentially even carry the performance or value-contribution of two binoculars (hence merging the budget). This expectation may prove to be true or may not be true.

For the record, my own personal experience of high-end glass is limited to SW Habicht GA and my entry level hands-on experience includes celestron skymaster, kowa b2, and oberwerk deluxe. I was just articulating the thought structures as I saw them to help in making a choice.
 
lmans66 said:
Still, take the Opticron Verano.... assembled in Japan....I would take that over assembled in the US for now. Price wise, better than the Maven..... Optic wise, better than the Maven, the Monarch, etc...as I listed prior. Also, $ wise when compared to the Conquest or the Monarch HG....sure, they are better but the whole point of this thread is to show the best value for the money at that $500 price point. Heck if money isn't an option, go to a $2000 bin. So, for the money, the quality, the value...take the Verano.


They have it listed for $609 but at B and H etc...you get it for $490. https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1696759-REG/opticron_30780_8x32_verano_bga_vhd.html
Click to expand...
I too have a Verano. It performs well.

I have also been looking at 8x32 Conquests, 8x30 Monarch HG and a Canon 10x30 IS, as I very much like flat field and IS.

Comparing the optical performance categories on allbinos, it is swings and roundabouts ..... the Canon is a flat field and has the added bonus of IS thrown in for "free"; coupled with good optics and a transmission equivalent to the Conquest, it is looking like the best optics option. The FoV is the key area where it falls down. However, because the full field is useable with low levels of coma, astigmatism and bluring at the edge of field, it is 'winning' at present, even if IS is not used.
Nikon Mon HGZeiss ConquestCanon 10x30 III IS
Transmission90.1% +/- 1%88.1 +/- 1%87.5 +/- 1%
CA6.8/106.8/106.8/10
Astigmatism7.5/109.5/108.7/10
Distortion50% +/-2%49% +/-5%43% +/-4%
Coma6.2/108.2/109.3/10
Blur at edge FoV4/106.5/109.0/10
Darkening at FoV3.3/5.04.4/5.04/5.0
Whiteness of image4.3/5.04.1/5.04.5/5.0
Intern Reflections2.6/5.04.6/5.04/5.0
Vignetting7/8.03.5/8.06/8.0
Coatings5/5.05/5.05/5.0
and my rating for IS0/100/108/10
Price(Wexphoto today)£899£799£422
 
Last edited:
I took a Kowa BDII42-10XD binocular on Alaska cruise from Vancouver to Seward June 2023. The 10-power worked great for seabirds on water, whales and otters, eagles in trees, and wildlife on shore. It did not work well onboard for seabirds on the wing at distances where naked-eye identification would not work. Even a large cruise ship has some swaying motion to complicate acquisition of, and staying on, image.

I have used 10-power binocular commonly for years, but would caution that experience with them prior to voyage would be most helpful in making decisions. The Kowa I took has a 378 foot field of view at 1000 yards, the Swarovski NL Pure 10x42 I normally use has 399, so the two are pretty similar. A 10-power binocular can be shaky to get clear image and have a narrower field of view than lower powers, which then makes getting onto the bird more difficult. One of the things I like about 10x binoculars is they are heavier, which makes stable usage a bit easier. At the same time, 10x weight means I don't enjoy carrying them on my neck for long periods. I use a harness usually for 10x. For the Alaska cruise, I took the Kowa for shipboard and short-period usage and an 8x25 Zeiss Victory Pocket for day-long use onshore.

In closing, while I enjoyed the use of a 10-power $450 binocular, others may well be suited by great views seen with 7- or 8-power from a swaying ship along with land excursions.
 
Snuffleupagus said:
I just bought Opticron Verano BGA VHD 8x32, Meopta MeoStar B1 Plus 8x32, and Zeiss Victory SF 8x32 to test out. We shall see. Thank you, all, for your input!
Click to expand...
All right...have fun.... I imagine, and pretty much due to optic quality, that the most expensive one is better optically, followed by second and then third. You get what you pay for in Optics. But is the SF really worth $2100 measurably over the others? Will be interesting to see what your decision is although optically, I know what it will be.
 
lmans66 said:
All right...have fun.... I imagine, and pretty much due to optic quality, that the most expensive one is better optically, followed by second and then third. You get what you pay for in Optics. But is the SF really worth $2100 measurably over the others? Will be interesting to see what your decision is although optically, I know what it will be.
Click to expand...
I’ll have bias, so my plan is to take them out with my wife and see what she likes best. She’ll have no idea which is the most expensive.
 
If money is not an issue, then obviously the SF will most likely win optically. But if you stick to your initial posting of under a $1000, then the Meostar or Verano will be just fine.
 

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