BirdForum is the net's largest birding community dedicated to wild birds and birding, and is absolutely FREE!

Register for an account to take part in lively discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="kabsetz" data-source="post: 3478131" data-attributes="member: 10167">There was a time when, arguably, the best reasonably compact and robust binocular available was the Zeiss Dialyt 10x40. Other models by Zeiss were not as good overall, and none of the other brands were yet a match. So, birders here preferred a 10x.Then came Leica's original trinovids, where the 8x32 was the most successful overall design, and now folks started to prefer 8x.Then the Swarovski EL's were introduced, and the 8.5x42 was, arguably, the better of the two principal models. Now 8.5x was most popular.Today, there are more really good options, and it is easier to base a choice on magnification rather than on other characteristics or perceived overall quality. Nevertheless, among top makers' lines, some designs are more successful than others, and when one compares, the better ones in general get favored.For me, since I bird with IS bins, my choice is either a superb 10x42, a plasticky 8x25 or a 10x30 with good but not stellar optics, or a very good but not very universally useful 15x50. Therefore, I would be considered a person who "favors" 10x, although I did not choose the binocular on the basis of its magnification.Kimmo</blockquote>