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What prefer? Burris, Leupold, Bushnell (all 8x32) (1 Viewer)

Vadimka

Member
I'm looking a compact roof models 8x32. Price not more than 300 USD.
I found these models:

-Leupold Katmai 8x32
-Burris Signature 8x32
-Bushnell Legend 8x32
-Bushnell Excursion 8x32

I wanna have length of binocular not more 4.3 inches (11cm).
Please give me a advice, I wanna buy most bright, sharp and most field binocular.
 
If you have a chance look at the Bushnell legend. Excursion..no idea if they are any good, but probably pretty average. Very much in same weight class and a pretty good deal are the Monarch 8x36s.

I went for Eagle Optics 8x32. They are pretty good in the middle, but useful part drops off and edges are typical for this price bin. I think the cost is some 280. Celestron has an 8x32, they may be identical. I am comfortable with them, but I am not pushing them for anyone. I like the wide view despite the soft edges.

If this is to be your only binocular, I would spend a bit more. Or go for 8x42 where fov is less, but 300 will buy you a good pair.

I only have the one pair, and gave up reseraching 8x32. You will get more opinions. Someone will come and say get the Leupold 8x32 described here
http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?p=798505#post798505
 
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I tried a pair of Bushness Legend 8x32 last week. It offers a very sharp image field. Although Leupold has been hailed by many people, I would rather spend half of what Leupold costs and get 99% of this quality. Haven't found a pair of Burris in local store yet
 
Thanks for answer!

I read what Katmai's scopes made from BK-7 material, it's not good (( But may be Leupold's BK-7 scopes better than Bak-4 in other models?...

The key phrase: "I wanna have length of binocular not more 4.3 inches (11cm)."
I see a longe time at Burris Signature 8x32 (4.25 inches length) But can't find reviews about this model. Somebody used it?
 
Don't understand what comes to Bushnell's mind when they designed Excursion. They have a mid-upper end of Legend and lower end/value oriented Trophy. Then, where does the excursion fit in? It has Phase coating and waterproof. How does consumer differentiate it from Legend? :stuck:
 
Bushnell has too many models. Maybe all lines from different plants.

The 8x28 Excursion is apparently almost OK, the 10x28 Excursion is really poor. I have no idea on the others. Nobody here reported on 8x32.
 
I prefer only "original" optic companies - world leaders.
Now I'm looking Bushnel Legend 8x32 and Burris Signature 8x32 and thinking.....
 
Vadimka said:
I prefer only "original" optic companies - world leaders.
Now I'm looking Bushnel Legend 8x32 and Burris Signature 8x32 and thinking.....

I don't understand--are you saying you'd rather buy these from the original Chinese manufacturers than Bushnell or Burris (which just stick their label on other companies' products). Or are you looking to buy binos for which the label and manufacturer names are the same, like Leica, Zeiss, Swarovski, Meopta...?
--AP
Edit: What I wrote above is perhaps an over-simplification. Bushnell, for example, may also design binos and then contract out their manufacture. That may be how Nikon does things too.
 
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No, I'm looking to compact 32mm binos from powerful and time-proved brands for some price.
Leica, Zeiss, Swarovski - it's other class, not good comparison. New Zeiss has lost former glory and deutsch quality to the point. IMHO.
 
Vadimka said:
I prefer only "original" optic companies - world leaders.
Now I'm looking Bushnel Legend 8x32 and Burris Signature 8x32 and thinking.....

With dollar so weak, I don't think I will touch any of those old european name with 9 ft pole, no matter how great they are.. :D Just way too expensive. I do know the saying of What you paid is what you get. But the dimishing return for those high-end products definitely hold me 2 steps back, again with help of weak dollars..
 
NWBirder said:
With dollar so weak, I don't think I will touch any of those old european name with 9 ft pole, no matter how great they are.. :D Just way too expensive. I do know the saying of What you paid is what you get. But the dimishing return for those high-end products definitely hold me 2 steps back, again with help of weak dollars..
Yes, you are right. Just therefore I'm looking at american optic.
 
Vadimka said:
Yes, you are right. Just therefore I'm looking at american optic.
Well, again, those American brands are made by Chinese and Japanese manufacturers. I prefer the Nikon 8x36 Monarch over the Bushnell 8x32 Legend, both optically and especially ergonomically.
--AP
 
normjackson said:
Have seen lots of 8x32 clones that look like this :
http://www.uttings.com/Categories/Optics/Binoculars/Browning
which probably tick the right boxes. Very petite. Good review in Outdoorlife mag for one that actually bears the Browning label.

Browning Sports Optics is owned by Bushnell. I'd be suprised if there is any difference between the optics of the Browning and the comparable Bushnell.
 
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Wuchak said:
Browning Sports Optics is owned by Bushnell. I'd be suprised if there is any difference between the optics of the Browning and the comparable Bushnell.
Ah right, thanks Wuchak. So the above actually represents a pretty good offer this side of the pond. I've seen discounts on "the comparable Bushnell" ;) too which perhaps suggests these models are being discontinued or overhauled. Just checking, does seem to be rather a lot of overlap with the Excursion series.
Welcome to BirdForum :t:
 
I have looked at the Brownings in the past and was fairly impressed with their optical performance for the price. They definitely are kin to the Legend series. I noticed the same cold-(blue/green) color bias in the Brownings as I did in the Legend series.

I think the key to the original question/post is the length issue. I may be mistaken but I believe the Legends are longer than what he is looking for. I can only think of the Katmais and Pentax XPs as 8x30-36's that are right at or above the 4 inch mark. However, both have fairly narrow fields of view for their configuration. That would dissuade me but might not be an issue for you.

Out of the group in question, and ignoring the length requirement, I would probably opt for Legend in terms of a combination of optical and build quality. I like the Nikon Monarch 8x36s as well but they weren't in your group. I was fairly satisfied with the Katmais when I owned them except their image was a tad less sharp than what I preferred. I am not sure if that was because of the BK7 prisms or the lack of phase coating (at the time). Now the Katmais are phase coated so they should compare more favorably.
 
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