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Message: <blockquote data-quote="FrankD" data-source="post: 1563008" data-attributes="member: 18544">Forest,Glad to see you back. I think you are going to get some varied answers to at least questions one and two...and possibly threed.1. My preference is for between 1.5 and 1.75 turns from close focus to infinity. A bin that is "too fast" (around .75 to 1 full turn) is just as bad as one that is too slow (2.25 or greater).2. I would be interested in a 6x/12x binocular. The key would be the objective size. If you are going 12x then I would prefer a full 42 mm objective. It would give a whopping 7 mm exit pupil on the 6x side and a respectable 3.5 exit pupil with the 12x. I think the hard part, based on what I have seen of other variable/zoom binoculars is that it is difficult to maintain the average, not to mention the wider, field of view. At 6x I would hope for over 400 feet...420 would be better. At 12x something around 225 feet would be needed to continue to fall into at least the average range.3. 8x is usually considered the best "all around" magnification for general use. 10x is still highly recommended for shorebirds/raptor watching though the lower magnifications...both 6x and 7x have really been coming on strong in a variety of models from different manufacturers over the last year or two.</blockquote>