Entry - Midrange Binocular Recommendation ($500) (2 Viewers)

[dries1]

I find the marketing overboard, LOL. And as far as chinese glass, I will defer to my European and Japenese glass. I have no need or want anything optic related from them, enjoy.

 

[albie...]

And as far as chinese glass, I will defer to my European and Japenese glass. I have no need or want anything optic related from them, enjoy.

I feel the same way for a number of reasons , one of them being perceived build quality , fit and finish . My main binocular will never be MIC . I do have a MIC Papilio though , that binocular is inexpensive and loads of fun . My 15x70 is MIC (Kunming BA8) and I almost replaced it with a Nikon Astroluxe . The Astroluxe didn't have enough eye relief for my glasses so I kept the BA8, "shrugs" .
I've had many made in Japan bins such as the Nikon SE's 8x32 and 10x42 , both the E2's , a made in Japan Celestron Ultima 7x50(pebble skin) , the Bushnel Elite Custom Compact and a few others . The made in Japan bins and a few European bins always gave me the impression of better build fit and finish AND they seem to feel better in my hands .

 

[Binovehje]

I would go for used high end bins for 500$ budget. My first good bino was at that price and I ended up upgrading within a year. You seem to notice small flaws easily and they irritate you. Welcome to the club. You probably will not be happy with anything available new for 500$. But a few years old bino from 800-1200$ class will still be just as good when new.