Cabela's Guide 8x32 First Impressions (1 Viewer)

My first visit to Cabela's was about a week ago at their store just South of Portland, OR. The selection of binoculars (and most everything else outdoors) was a bit overwhelming. I looked through a few mid-range Nikon and Vortex binoculars in 42mm. Most of the Leupold I was interested in had been on sale and were gone. I wasn't sure about 32mm or 42mm, but I wanted a binocular to keep in our other car--I have a Sightron II 8x32 that I keep in my car. I had thought about just getting another Sightron, since I have been happy with it, but what's the fun in that?

When i got home I looked at the Cabela's catalog, saw the Mojave BX-3 8x32 and the Cabela's brand Guide 8x32. The Guide had a larger published field of view and was cheaper, so I ordered it. I believe the field of view published for the Mojave was a typo and they are really pretty much the same. The Mojave has been reviewed and discussed quite often here, the Guide a little less so.

Nothing distinctive about this binocular out of the box, nothing offensive either. First impression is solidly put together, but budget. The hinge is nice and tight, the eye cups are hard plastic, but not uncomfortable. The mechanism for adjusting the eyecups doesn't feel very precise. The focus knob is large and well placed, but the mechanism is not terribly even. There isn't anywhere that is really sticky, but it just feels a bit lumpy. The diopter adjustment is on the top of the focus knob and the binocular is labelled "Made in Japan." The binocular feels good in hand, and the IPD adjustment range is good (I sometimes have a problem with that since I need a narrow IPD). The binocular weighs just under 20 oz without strap, lens caps, or rain guard. I have been primarily using my Maven B3 8x30 binoculars for the past several weeks, so the comparison standard for the Cabela's binocular is tough. The Guide was priced at $165, while the Maven was $500, and I actually think the Maven delivers a bit more than its price point would indicate both mechanically and optically. Tomorrow I will try a side by side between Sightron and Guide, which seems more appropriate.

Now on to the optics. The view through the Guide was considerably better than I expected given the initial mechanical impression. The field of view is certainly comparable to the Maven, and the eye relief is noticeably better. The sweet spot is nice and large, particularly when you consider how wide the field is. The problem at the edges is largely field curvature although other problems appear as you approach the field stop. I'd say the color is a bit warmer than the Maven. The Maven is brighter, at least the colors seem to pop more during a late afternoon test. Both seem quite sharp, but this is hard to test without mounting them on a tripod. For me at least, the ergonomics of the Guide is slightly better. The barrel is a little longer compared to the Maven and it's a few oz heavier too, so I seem to be able to hold it steadier.

First impression is terrific bang for the buck. Perhaps I will get a night time test and then more tomorrow.

Alan

ailevin said:

My first visit to Cabela's was about a week ago at their store just South of Portland, OR. The selection of binoculars (and most everything else outdoors) was a bit overwhelming. I looked through a few mid-range Nikon and Vortex binoculars in 42mm. Most of the Leupold I was interested in had been on sale and were gone. I wasn't sure about 32mm or 42mm, but I wanted a binocular to keep in our other car--I have a Sightron II 8x32 that I keep in my car. I had thought about just getting another Sightron, since I have been happy with it, but what's the fun in that?

When i got home I looked at the Cabela's catalog, saw the Mojave BX-3 8x32 and the Cabela's brand Guide 8x32. The Guide had a larger published field of view and was cheaper, so I ordered it. I believe the field of view published for the Mojave was a typo and they are really pretty much the same. The Mojave has been reviewed and discussed quite often here, the Guide a little less so.

Nothing distinctive about this binocular out of the box, nothing offensive either. First impression is solidly put together, but budget. The hinge is nice and tight, the eye cups are hard plastic, but not uncomfortable. The mechanism for adjusting the eyecups doesn't feel very precise. The focus knob is large and well placed, but the mechanism is not terribly even. There isn't anywhere that is really sticky, but it just feels a bit lumpy. The diopter adjustment is on the top of the focus knob and the binocular is labelled "Made in Japan." The binocular feels good in hand, and the IPD adjustment range is good (I sometimes have a problem with that since I need a narrow IPD). The binocular weighs just under 20 oz without strap, lens caps, or rain guard. I have been primarily using my Maven B3 8x30 binoculars for the past several weeks, so the comparison standard for the Cabela's binocular is tough. The Guide was priced at $165, while the Maven was $500, and I actually think the Maven delivers a bit more than its price point would indicate both mechanically and optically. Tomorrow I will try a side by side between Sightron and Guide, which seems more appropriate.

Now on to the optics. The view through the Guide was considerably better than I expected given the initial mechanical impression. The field of view is certainly comparable to the Maven, and the eye relief is noticeably better. The sweet spot is nice and large, particularly when you consider how wide the field is. The problem at the edges is largely field curvature although other problems appear as you approach the field stop. I'd say the color is a bit warmer than the Maven. The Maven is brighter, at least the colors seem to pop more during a late afternoon test. Both seem quite sharp, but this is hard to test without mounting them on a tripod. For me at least, the ergonomics of the Guide is slightly better. The barrel is a little longer compared to the Maven and it's a few oz heavier too, so I seem to be able to hold it steadier.

First impression is terrific bang for the buck. Perhaps I will get a night time test and then more tomorrow.

Alan

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Alan,

Nice first impressions of the Cabela's Guide! You are on point with "terrific bang for the buck"! I too looked through the 8X32's and was impressed with their optics...not so much with their ergonomics. Still preferred my Mojave BX-3 8X32's with a more neutral color fidelity and excellent handling (IMO). Yes, Cabela's does have their FOV incorrectly listed on their WEBSITE...it is 420ft\1000yds (not 366ft), and now with an additional 10% off coupon[promo code during checkout: 7TENOFF]! :t:

Looking forward to your Sig-B3-Guide side-by-side impressions!

Ted

Spent some time last night with the Cabela's Guide. It appears to be very well baffled and showed little if any glare or scattering from bright object outside the field of view. In this respect it is superior to the Maven B3.

This afternoon I added the Sightron II 8x32 to the mix. The Sightron barrels are a bit longer than the Guide, and both are considerably longer than the Maven. I didn't mention this yesterday, but the Cabela's focus is counter-clockwise to infinity the same as the Sightron, while the Maven is clockwise to infinity. The Maven is a much quicker focus, which I have gotten used to and prefer for birding. The Sightron and Guide have similar focus speed with the Sightron a bit faster. The Sightron also has a shorter close focus. The Sightron is several oz lighter than the Guide. The focus on the Sightron is much smoother and feels more precise than the Guide. Also, the eyecup click adjustment on the Sightron is more precise. Both Sightron and Guide have large ribbed focus knob well placed relative to the hinge, though the Sightron is dual hinged. I prefer the greater hinge tension of the Guide; it hold IPD better than the Sightron. They actually feel quite similar in hand given the similar length, barrel size, and rubber coating. Both have a coating that feels thin and slightly tacky. The focus of the Sightron feels slightly spongey when you reverse direction, but it is much better and more precise than the Guide. Except for the focus mechanism, both Guide and Sightron feel similar and very comfortable in hand. It is not hard to tell that the Maven is the expensive member of this trio, even before you look through it. The rubber coating is soft and grippy without feeling tacky. The fit and finish are superior as is the motion of the eyecups and focus mechanism. Also, the metal finely ribbed focus knob is a nice touch. It is a pleasure to hold and a pleasure to use. It is also considerably more compact and thus easily more pocketable than the other two.

Not only do the two lower priced binoculars feel similar in hand, the view is similar as well, and that is a complement to both of them. I believe that the Sightron is a bit warmer yet than the Guide and though the Guide has a slight advantage in brightness, the Sightron seems particularly good at pulling small differences in browns and reds out of the shadows, as in under a bush or along a bank. Both are quite sharp on axis and have good sized sweet spots; I think the Guide has a slight advantage here. In addition, the Guide has a wider field if you really look to measure it, though it doesn't seem like much difference in casual use. There is certainly no sense that you are getting tunnel vision with the Sightron. Similarly, though I experience no glare problem with the Sightron, the Guide has better baffling if you look for it. Though I haven't tried to measure carefully, I would say the Guide has a bit larger sweet spot as a percentage, and when you consider it also has a slightly larger field of view, that is impressive. OTH, both have sweet spots large enough that the periphery is never distracting. Again I haven't measured, but the eye relief seems similar (really not an issue for me since I do not observe with glasses on), and both are superior to the Maven. If I was betting, I would bet that the Guide had slightly more eye relief than the Sightron. Eye placement is easier with both Guide and Sightron than with Maven. Part of that is the smaller exit pupil, and part of that is ergonomics--I have close set eyes and deep eye sockets, so I find narrower eye cups more comfortable. As I said, Guide and Sightron feel similar in hand, but Sightron gets the advantage with marginally more comfortable (narrower) eye cups and better focus mechanism. In summary, I would say that the Guide has better optics, but the Sightron has better mechanics. If it wasn't for the focus, the Guide would be a pretty clear pick. As a caveat, at this price point, there is enough sample variation that one should be cautious in reaching a general conclusion. As I said in the beginning, both of these binoculars offering surprisingly good views at this price point.

As of this writing, the Guide, the Sightron, and Leupold Mojave BX-3 are essentially the same price and the Maven B3 is more than 2.5x that price. There is a question, sometimes expressed and other times lurking unsaid, "Is it worth paying more for what you get?" My response is that excellent value is available at different price points, and it depends on what you want, what you are willing to pay, and what gives you joy. The Maven provides the best view, is very compact, and has very much better mechanics than the other two. To me this is well worth the price. But I have to say, that while I love the precision feel and outstanding view through the B3 it is more difficult to use because eye placement is more critical, and it's eye relief is probably unacceptable for someone who observes while wearing glasses. I don't wear glasses while observing, and I have figured out the eye placement so I am happy with the Maven.

Along these same lines, for reasons I cannot explain, the Sightron is the easiest of the three binoculars to look through. Part of this is the larger exit pupil and better eye relief relative to Maven. The Guide and Sightron have very similar eye relief and exit pupil, but my own personal equation is such that the Sightron is better even if I don't count the Guide's focus issues. So even though the Sightron "wins" very few of the head to head comparisons, it gives me the impression of being more transparent than the Guide in actual use. I am tempted to order a Mojave BX-3 8x32 to see if the mechanics are different and then I would likely return either the BX-3 or the Guide. Can anyone comment on expecting better mechanics from Leupold vs. Cabela's?

Thanks,
Alan

Quick update: I notice that the focus mechanism of the Guide is smoothing out with use and now has a bit more resistance than the Sightron. Maybe it is just redistribution of some sort of lubricant. This definitely improves the mechanical impression. Now I'm looking forward to getting past the side-by-side comparisons to see how I like the Guide out in the field.

Cabela's Guide 8x32 in the field

I spent several sweltering hours early this morning at a local marsh with the Guide 8x32. This was my second field outing. The first was an evening walk along a canal looking mostly at shorebirds. The marsh was pretty dry, but this allowed us to explore a few new areas. We came across a city of Munias that were nesting and perching in the reeds. It was like a tutorial with great variety of plumage: male, female, young, molting, and so on. We also saw a young Kestrel in perfect plumage, as well as a variety of Warblers, Finches, Red Winged Blackbirds, a Scrub Jay, and a Downy Woodpecker. There were also quite a few interesting insects: butterflies, dragon flies, spiders with their webs abounded, and a grasshopper here and there.

The Guide binoculars were very comfortable over several hours. I didn't have issues with the speed of focus from about 20 feet to infinity, though I noticed the slower focus. However, at shorter distances I was not able to quickly get on flitting butterflies. I also noticed that as my hand became a bit sweaty, I was slipping against the focus knob more than I do on my other binoculars.

I thought the views were excellent. The field of view is nice and wide, the colors seem very natural, and it has a nice snap to focus--I felt I was not hunting for focus as much as I do with the Sightron. I also found them very easy to get on target and hold steady for extended views. I saw no serious CA or glare issues. In fact, for quite a while we were observing under a canopy looking up into the bright sky, and I thought the Guide as particularly good in that situation, better than I expected, which means it is probably at least as good as the Maven B3. Though I mentioned earlier that the eyecups did not seem mechanically precise, in actual use I had no need to adjust or play with them at all. I also thought the binocular was quite comfortable both in hand and against my eye sockets.

With the exception of the speed of focus and feel of the focus knob, I was very happy with the Guide. I never once thought to myself, "I wish I had brought a better binocular." I plan to keep using only this binocular for a week or so, and then see what I think when I switch back to the Maven B3 8x30 or Maven B2 9x45

Alan

Another quick note as I continue to use the Guide 8x32. I believe it is my steadiest non-IS binocular. That is, the weight, balance, and barrel length are well suited to me. Also, I find it particularly easy to find best focus. This combination makes the binocular very helpful for quickly identifying detail in the field.

Time to finish up here since it is a couple weeks now with the Cabela's Guide 8x32 and I am well past first impressions. I have been strictly using the Guide for about two weeks and now that I know it better, I wanted to see how it compared to my other binoculars. I had a good range of lighting conditions through the day yesterday from quite overcast to fairly sunny. I compared the Guide primarily with the Sightron II 8x32, but also looked through the Celestron Nature DX 8x32, and Maven B3 8x30 to provide a broader context.

I had decided some time ago that the $179 Sightron was considerably better than the $89 Celestron and that the $500 Maven was considerably better than the Sightron. I would now place the Guide as marginally, but noticeably better than the Sightron.

• It is a bit brighter
• My issue with the focus mechanism has resolved sufficiently that I now prefer the focus on the Guide
• I can hold it a bit steadier than the Sightron
• The baffling is better than the Sightron
• The sweet spot is larger and the field is wider
• The edge maintains brightness better

The Guide is a half inch shorter, making it marginally more pocketable, though it is several oz heavier than the Sightron. I still marginally prefer the feel of the Sightron in hand, but the Guide puts me more into the scene because of better snap to focus and better brightness.

The Sightron and Guide are closer to one another than either is to the Celestron and both are much better. The Celestron is as good or better than either Sightron or Guide mechanically and it feels substantial though it is compact. However, its optics are not nearly as good. While the Celestron is quite sharp on axis, sharpness falls off quickly toward the edges is easily noticeable in causal viewing. There are also issues with internal reflection and baffling that hurt its contrast performance and glare issues are noticeable. Both and Guide and Sightron have sweet spots that are large enough that I really have to look for degradations toward the edge. And both are well enough baffled that neither glare nor bright artifacts are a problem. Both are a pleasure to use.

The Maven B3 8x30 is a better binocular than either the Guide or Sightron both mechanically and optically, but it is certainly not perfect. While I can't really say that the Maven is noticeably brighter than the Guide, I seem to be able to see color differences much more easily. In the past, comparing the Maven to the Sightron I called this color dynamic range--it seems that I see more shades or that the colors are more saturated. On axis contrast is the best of any binocular I own in this range of objective size. The field of view of the Maven is similar to the Guide, and the edges of the Maven are better, but I really had to look for it in side by side comparison to decide. I don't think I would notice it in the field. The focus of the Maven is very much better, both in terms of speed, smoothness, precision, and general feel. The Maven is more compact and more pocketable. Though I prefer the feel of the Maven armor and mechanism, eye placement with the Guide is easier due to larger exit pupil. I also find the slightly longer barrels of the Guide make hand (finger) placement more natural. The Guide is also better baffled than the Maven and has better eye relief.

So though I am very fond of the Sightron II 8x32, I prefer Cabela's Guide 8x32. Both Guide and Sightron are excellent value for <$200, I would have no trouble recommending either as an entry level binocular that will provide excellent views in the field. The Maven is still my best compact binocular and very impressive considering it has a 30mm objective. It is the binocular I reach for when I take a walk for pack for a trip. I also consider it to be good value at $500.

I enjoyed following your posts. Thanks for the first hand, in the field experiences. Glad you like them.

jgraider said:

I enjoyed following your posts. Thanks for the first hand, in the field experiences. Glad you like them.

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I also, Alan. Wonderful hands-on in-field observations and comments...Thanks!

Ted

A Couple Months Later

The Cabela's Guide 8x32 and Sightron II 8x32 race goes on. As I mentioned earlier, neither of these is my primary birding binocular. I most often use either a Maven 9x45 or a Maven 8x30. Yet I do regularly use either the Guide or Sightron, since I always carry one of those in the car for those pop up opportunities. I hadn't used the Sightron for almost two months since I keep it in my wife's car. Two days ago after a brief visit to a local marsh, I decided that I was now sufficiently used to the Guide, that it would be interesting to swap and start carrying the Sightron in my car. I made way between bouts of last minute shopping to try out the Sightron at a local woodland park yesterday.

Call me fickle, but right now the Sightron is ahead by a nose. I don't recant any of the details that I reported earlier. Optically, on a point by point or feature by feature comparison the Guide is a little better. Yet as a total package I am just more comfortable using the Sightron, and that includes feeling more confident in my identification of birds using the Sightron. It was like meeting up with an old friend. I guess I would have to call it ergonomics, but it is more than just the feel in hand. It is also the eye to eyepiece interface, the general feeling that I am never fighting the binocular, and the sense that I always know where focus is. It's odd, but the optical advantages of the Guide don't seem to compensate for the comfort advantages of the Sightron. As I said, call me fickle, your mileage may vary, etc. I don't think you can go wrong with either one of these at the price point, though at this price point there can be significant variation unit to unit.

Happy Holidays,

Alan

Seven Months Later

Last week I swapped back from Sightron to Guide for my binocular of opportunity in the car. While I prefer the handling of the Sightron, the Guide is better at glare control. I noticed the contrast improvement in backlit conditions. The Sightron is pretty good at controlling glare, but there is an internal reflection if there is a very bright source about 20 degrees out of field. This results in some veiling glare if the sun is in just the right (wrong) spot. Maybe it's just the Hawthorne effect--whenever I change from one to the other I think it's an improvement.

It is still neck and neck with these two, and as I said before I don't think you can go wrong with either one in this price range. The Guide has better optics and the Sightron has better ergonomics. I'm glad to own both.

Alan

Alan it has been a pleasure to read about your blossoming relationship with these binos. It is pleasant to discover that you can enjoy different binoculars for different reasons. If you ever get the chance to try out Opticron's Traveller ED 8x32 it would be great to hear your opinion of it.

Lee

Great posts and review. I love the Sightron. I've owned three now lol. I've moved to some better optics but it still gets used once a day when I take the dogs out for their morning walk to do their business. That's a 15-30 minute walk. I really admire what it can do for about $180. It's really easy on my eye and the center optically is really very nice. It's a classic in its price range. Another bin in that price range that I greatly admire is the Celestron Trailseeker in either 8x32 or 8x42 or 10x for that matter. I've never seen the Glide but it sure gets talked about here.