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Alpha Binoculars - Are they worth it ? (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter bh46118
- Start date
I am by no means a bino expert...
Few years back I bought a pair of kite petrels 8x32, then I got a good deal on some minox Hg 8x33 and liked them over the kite... Then about a month ago I tried a friends 20year old Leica 10x42 Ba... Maybe not fair comparing 8x33 to 10x42... But viewing through these 20year old alphas blew away the other... Especially in low light in forest or looking at a bird sitting in the shrub... Details and clarity of colours were much much better, not that either minox or kite were bad... But i need alphas now lol
Few years back I bought a pair of kite petrels 8x32, then I got a good deal on some minox Hg 8x33 and liked them over the kite... Then about a month ago I tried a friends 20year old Leica 10x42 Ba... Maybe not fair comparing 8x33 to 10x42... But viewing through these 20year old alphas blew away the other... Especially in low light in forest or looking at a bird sitting in the shrub... Details and clarity of colours were much much better, not that either minox or kite were bad... But i need alphas now lol
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Those older Leica BA's and BN's are still better than a lot of the newer mid-priced Chinese binoculars.
Indeed and in this case Japanese and belgic binoculars...
Maybe just get a pair of those 10x42 ba, they are quite cheap second hand
jurek
Well-known member
Yes they are. Especially that binoculars last for decades. Speaking as somebody who owns alpha bins.
However, there are dozens of sellers of mediocre binoculars on the internet who will try to convince you otherwise.
edwincjones
Well-known member
but if I were buying today
a Zeiss SF vs Meopta HD
is there a $2000 difference
edj
a Zeiss SF vs Meopta HD
is there a $2000 difference
edj
Off course it is a completely personal question. But for me, alpha binoculars are completely worth there price for me.
I don't care for my television, every euro/dollar is one to many.
I don't care for my car, it just has to bring me from a to b and should carry our campingequipment.
But I do care about having good optics when I'm in the field.
Already some years ago I bought the best optics I could afford (Swarovski Habicht 7x42) and had to sell them because I needed new glassed which made distance eye to oculair bigger and the Habicht didn't work anymore for me.
When I sold them I bought a pair of Bushnell Legend Ultra 8x42. Nice bins, but never gave me the WOW feeling the habicht gave me. Also the weren't as nicely build as the Habicht.
So I went to the stores recently I bought myself a new pair Swarovski SLC 8x56.
I had a moment I was thinking I might spent to many of my money, until I went into the field. Every cent is well spent and love to use them and enjoyed every moment looking trough them.
I consider Swarovksi as the alpha of the alpha's because of their outstanding service they provide if you compare this to other alpha's (at least in the country where I live. A friend).
I don't care for my television, every euro/dollar is one to many.
I don't care for my car, it just has to bring me from a to b and should carry our campingequipment.
But I do care about having good optics when I'm in the field.
Already some years ago I bought the best optics I could afford (Swarovski Habicht 7x42) and had to sell them because I needed new glassed which made distance eye to oculair bigger and the Habicht didn't work anymore for me.
When I sold them I bought a pair of Bushnell Legend Ultra 8x42. Nice bins, but never gave me the WOW feeling the habicht gave me. Also the weren't as nicely build as the Habicht.
So I went to the stores recently I bought myself a new pair Swarovski SLC 8x56.
I had a moment I was thinking I might spent to many of my money, until I went into the field. Every cent is well spent and love to use them and enjoyed every moment looking trough them.
I consider Swarovksi as the alpha of the alpha's because of their outstanding service they provide if you compare this to other alpha's (at least in the country where I live. A friend).
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bh46118
Well-known member
Outstanding. You only live once, on this earth anyway, enjoy all of your endeavors to the fullest. :t:
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Marksmann3006
Member
I'm new on this forum but ultimately this is why I purchased a TSN-883 instead of an alpha pair of binos. It will be here next Friday. I started a thread on this in the binocular forum. I believe an alpha spotter is more discernable from its beta peers. I'm still new to optics tho so take with a grain of salt. My opinion is solely research based.
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NDhunter
Experienced observer
Welcome to the Birdforum. The Kowa 883 does have great reviews
from the posts I have seen about it on the "Spotting scope subforum"
under Kowa. If you have not been there yet, check it out.
Jerry
A few days ago I compared Conquest HD 8x42 to Victory HT 8x42. The latter is twice the price.
I perceived Victory HT as a tad sharper than Conquest HD. Inside the warehouse I had hard to see difference in brightness, though. So the difference is there but is it worth it?
Conquest HD is a mid-priced binocular with performance very close to the best. Sharpness can't be much better. But as we know when it comes to higher class optics: achieving a very small noticeable improvement it demands a large cost.
I am a bit tempted to get Victory HT, even if I am very satisfied with the Conquest HD. The price is high for the small improvement, but there will probably never be made a noticable sharper and brighter binocular...
I perceived Victory HT as a tad sharper than Conquest HD. Inside the warehouse I had hard to see difference in brightness, though. So the difference is there but is it worth it?
Conquest HD is a mid-priced binocular with performance very close to the best. Sharpness can't be much better. But as we know when it comes to higher class optics: achieving a very small noticeable improvement it demands a large cost.
I am a bit tempted to get Victory HT, even if I am very satisfied with the Conquest HD. The price is high for the small improvement, but there will probably never be made a noticable sharper and brighter binocular...
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bh46118
Well-known member
You need to compare them outside. Inside the Gander Mountain store, the EL 10X42 SV looked very little better than a Monarch 3 10X42. Outside, now that's a different story altogether.
Yes, I understand the noticable difference is larger under real low light conditions outside.
There is also a larger difference under real bright light conditions outside.
In the store it is quite bright with all lighting, and there I didn't noticed a significant difference. And that's not strange: 5-6% brightness difference(90 vs 95% light transmission between Conquest HD and Victory HT) is a very subtle difference for the eye to see at all conditions.
Torview
Well-known member
I find the difference to be more noticeable under poor light outdoors, given a bright sunny day with my pupils stopped down to around 2mm even a modest bin can look quite good alongside the best, but when the light is poor and you need all 4-5mm ep and all the objective lens can offer, then the top bins show their worth, JMO.
I mainly use my bins in dusk for my badger watching. This also is a reason to buy a Alpha bins. Non alpha bins costs me minimal half an hour of observing time per session.
But also CA on a weaving field of reeds and spotting that tiny bird in those reeds makes me nauseous.
But also CA on a weaving field of reeds and spotting that tiny bird in those reeds makes me nauseous.
edwincjones
Well-known member
I do not agree with that.
Buying a pair of bins is more then the optical quality.
You also should consider the build quality and the service.
When a binocular scores highest om optics, build and service, then your talking about a true alpha binocular or a premium binocular.
Buying a pair of bins is more then the optical quality.
You also should consider the build quality and the service.
When a binocular scores highest om optics, build and service, then your talking about a true alpha binocular or a premium binocular.
