Hoosierguy & Bruleke:
I'm in agreement with your sentiments. I also have 8x Nikon Monarch's for dusk/shadow reach, but for daytime use I carry a Vortex Fury 8x28 (ER: 20mm) on a standard strap around my neck. Also a Vortex Hurricane 8x28 (ER: 19mm) in the glove compartment. I find the 28's at approx 4.75" height to be about as short as I can convienantly handle. As I wear eyeglasses, both also have the excellent eyerelief that I REQUIRE. Truthfully the image quality is not much better in the more expensive Fury's, but the handling is better. They are both 28's, so long distance detail resolution is about the same, brightness is also about the same, but the Fury's seem to have a touch better contrast and a bit more color "enhancement". Colors look just a bit more vivid - through the Fury. Additionally, the Fury's are faster to focus (3/4 turn min to max focus); greater depth of field and of course the Fury's at 11.8 oz are lighter than the Hurricanes (14 oz). Both are excellent as one handed binoculars and both have very good controls.
The 8x28 and 10x28 Hurricanes have been folded into the Vortex Diamondback model line, so they have both been deeply discounted at EO ($80/each), but it looks like the 8x's are all gone. Last time I looked the 10x28's were still available at $80. The 8x28 Fury's are not deeply discounted and sell for $230 with the 10x28's going for $240. Are my 8x28 Fury's three times better than my 8x28 Hurricane's? Absolutely NOT! But I like the Fury's better than the Hurricanes.
I've tried most of the little ones (8x20, 8x25, 8x26, 10x25, etc...) including the Zeiss but the are all too small for my hands and for my widely seperated eyes. Plus their tiny EP's mean they have to be positioned just so... Maybe they are OK for others, but I want to bring my binoculars to position as quickly as possible, focus quickly and then see what I'm trying to see as oppossed to playing with a tiny toy. I've tried both the 8x30 and 6x30 Yosemite's and perhaps the store demo pairs that I tested were defective, but neither pair opened wide enough for my eyes, the 8x's had very poor eyerelief, both had terrible focus control and the 6x's did not compare to my 8x28 Fury's in detail resolution (reading a sign out in the store's parking lot). Additionally I did not like the small poro feel/handling - at least in my hands. I've never had a handling issue (other then not being able to hold 10x's steady) with my old 10x40 Pentax Poro's. So, I assume the small poro design just does not appeal to me. Nearly everyone at birdforum seems to love both the Yosemite's so find a pair to tryout for yourself. As far as 8x32's, the only one with good ER (19mm) that I've found was the Burris Signature Selects. I ordered a pair from EO then returned them as I had handling issues: too short at 4.1" for my hands (gave them poor balance - to me) and the strap attachment bit into the web of my hand, thus they were uncomfortable to use with one hand. Additionally, their depth of field was disappointing and they seemed to be difficult to focus (not turning the knob but achieving focus)? So, back they went (EO has always been great to deal with!). All other 8x32's that I've seen, have inadequate ER or are excessively heavy. The 8x36 Nikon Monarch's are OK, but almost as big as the 8x42's, so why bother?
I like the Vortex 8x28's, but that does not mean that they will be best for you. You MUST tryout little binoculars. Find what you like. Good luck.
Bearclawthedonut
