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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jack Speer" data-source="post: 3622344" data-attributes="member: 143695">Out of curiosity for the 50mm models, I went to my local Cabela's last night (or is it Bass Pro now?) and tried both the 10x and 12x. It has been a long while since I tried a 10x. From my 20 minutes of viewing I noted a couple things:1. Objects seen through the 10x were not much larger than through my 8.5x, though the shakes were surprisingly much higher. Much shakier than I thought it would be from a mere 1.5x difference. Depth of field was also much lower than I would have anticipated.2. Objects through the 12x were shockingly bigger. If there were some [live] birds around to watch I bet the experience would have been stunning. Going back and forth between the 10x and 12x, I could not detect a difference in the amount of shake, but then again, the longest I held them to my eyes was only 3 or 4 minutes at a time. The 10x would probably be stabler overall in a longer viewing session.Depth of field in the 12x was shallower of course, but it also seemed easier to get things in focus. Getting things in focus with the 10x seemed more finicky; it wasn't clear what was in focus and what wasn't. With the thinner depth of field of the 12x I could tell easily when something was exactly in focus.If I had to choose one to complement my 8.5x, it would be the 12x. The amount of power added was impressive. In reality though, I came to the conclusion I came to a few years ago: I like 8x binoculars much more. The extra power is nice, but the shake would really take some enjoyment out of birding. For my style of birding, I would always just grab the 8.5.</blockquote>

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