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boomchakabowwow said:
i have one regret in life. (hahha)

i bought some great binoculars. i bought some Leica Ultravids. 10x50. the regret? i should have gotten 10x42's. the 42's are much smaller and lighter. the tiny bit of light gathering is probably not even noticiable at that level.

i used them for hunting. so have humped many many up/down miles with those things strapped to my chest. at the end of the day, those ounces get painful. i did modify my binoculars with a hunting accessory. i added a post so i can clip my binoculars to a tripod. if you have never put binoculars onto a tripod, i recommend you do. without the hand jitters, binoculars turn into HD-TV. you can stare a mountain side and see nothing. then in a blink you see the tail-flick of a deer. hand held binos, make this an impossiblity.

i dont bird watch, but i imagine you can probably see a bird with your naked eye first, then home in on the details with the glass later. in my backyard, staring at a tree, i caught the movment of a hummingbird nest, on the tripods.
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buy a pair of used 10x42's and sell yours, if you're lucky those should trade almost equal...
 
No love for Fujinon? For sailing they were the obvious choice over Steiners in terms of value for money. 10x50s with a compass though.
 
dunno, I haven't sailed in like 30 years....I can well imagine the key aspects for sailing bins are quit different !
 
High end optics will hold their value as well. Had some Leica Ultravids 10x50 for years, and sold them for more than I paid for them years later.
 
Mytola said:
I'm not surpised! We also sell Leica binoculars, and in my experience Swarovski is vastly superior!
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vastly superior? VASTLY?

i chose the Ultravid from Leica because you can focus each eye individually. the Swarovski, dont have that feature. you focus one eye, the right..and then gang adjust the entire optics to suit both eyes. i can get my Leicas down perfectly for my eyes. both eyes.
 
boomchakabowwow said:
vastly superior? VASTLY?

i chose the Ultravid from Leica because you can focus each eye individually. the Swarovski, dont have that feature. you focus one eye, the right..and then gang adjust the entire optics to suit both eyes. i can get my Leicas down perfectly for my eyes. both eyes.
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The Leica Ultravid & Noctivid are top of the line binoculars.

My 10x50 Steiners & 8x40 Pentx were both poro binos. Bought in 1970's. The Steiners Used when worked on charter boat looking for birds many trips hauled those big things when would go to national parks. Bought the Pentax to put in my truck to check out the surf.

They were subject to salt air. The glass is not as good as new, got plenty use out of them. Individual eye focus.

Much later got top of the line Pentax ED glass, great coatings on lenses. Roof Prism. Relief twist eye cups I like alot. One set lens. To me it works great. Set the center ring first on telephone pole transformer letters half a block away. Then adjust the lens for other eye. Then all you need for focusing at different distances is moving center ring. The Pentax has a smooth action on ring.

I've been looking for good mid range Bino's for my sister she has cheap pair. Doing research either Nikon Monarch M7 8x42, or Vortex Viper 8x42. Both have ED glass and are rated highest in clarity & brightness not too far down from the Zeiss Victory, Swarovski EL 8.5x42, & Leica Noctivid. These cost in the thousands have highest clarity & brightness.
 
yup. the Pentax ED glass is sick!!

I was crawling after an AZ couse deer. about the size of a large dog. belly crawling. my Leicas were on my chest harness. (see where this is going?). I would crawl, peek at deer, crawl, peek at deer. all the time the binos would droop like a bungee jumper - up and down. I got back to camp, looked at my binoculars and saw where they hit a rock. right in the middle of the big front lens. I almost vomited.

I got home and showed the guy that sold them to me. he said, "what did you do!?"..we both calmed down, and he told me he sells a lot of Leicas and for him to send them in for me. he made me pay for the shipping insurance and that was it. I got them back a few months later, brand spanking new looking. some tech put a note in there telling me everyone was grateful I was out there using the binoculars as the company intended..but to be more careful. I was SOOOO happy.
 
that is the level of service one should be expecting at that price level. and what makes the initial price tag well worth it ...IMHO!

We just had a similar experience with my GF's high end Bernina sewing machine that got damaged in shipping.
 
Keithpaints said:
The Leica Ultravid & Noctivid are top of the line binoculars.

My 10x50 Steiners & 8x40 Pentx were both poro binos. Bought in 1970's. The Steiners Used when worked on charter boat looking for birds many trips hauled those big things when would go to national parks. Bought the Pentax to put in my truck to check out the surf.

They were subject to salt air. The glass is not as good as new, got plenty use out of them. Individual eye focus.

Much later got top of the line Pentax ED glass, great coatings on lenses. Roof Prism. Relief twist eye cups I like alot. One set lens. To me it works great. Set the center ring first on telephone pole transformer letters half a block away. Then adjust the lens for other eye. Then all you need for focusing at different distances is moving center ring. The Pentax has a smooth action on ring.

I've been looking for good mid range Bino's for my sister she has cheap pair. Doing research either Nikon Monarch M7 8x42, or Vortex Viper 8x42. Both have ED glass and are rated highest in clarity & brightness not too far down from the Zeiss Victory, Swarovski EL 8.5x42, & Leica Noctivid. These cost in the thousands have highest clarity & brightness.
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one word of advice; check them out in person....I was amazed by the difference in clarity despite the numbers, and yes of course budget restrictions do apply, but do check them out...you know wat to expect and what to look for so you'll be done in 10 minutes and then will be able to tell them what is best within their budget.
 
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I've been looking to find a good deal on high end bino's 8x40 range.

Got my sister Nikon Monarch 7
with ED glass 8x42. Good field of view, user friendly focus setup. Optics very good at price point.

Got her air blaster & Nikon lens pen with soft brush & pad to safely clean lens. Gave her other tips for keeping lens clean.

I found the exact binoculars that I've been wanting. I took a gamble they were a thousand dollars off retail, very lightly used. Sold by a guy not in business of optics. Had ebay money back guarantee so bought it. My main concern was optics how if ever lens had been cleaned.

Came in today Binoculars & case with Vortex chest harness. It is overcast today windy conditions. The lens look like new. Set left eye focus first with center ring pulled ring back to set right eye focus pushed ring forward to lock it. Optics are pretty spectacular even in overcast windy conditions. 1,350.00.
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We had heavy rains last night, flood warnings. Rolling blackouts to conserve energy as one of main transformers went out because of heavy rain. We have solar so no loss of power Tesla backup battery.

I know now that you get what you pay for in optics. MrHiggins started this thread ended up going over his budget to get Kowa Genesis 8.5x44. They are upper end in price. The Nikon Monarch 7 are ED glass highly rated in mid tier range 489.00. They are nice sharp & bright.

However my Top of line Pentax Z Series ED glass are better binoculars edge to edge sharp. Highly anti reflective lens so no glare like you get in cheaper bino's. Just clear bright image. You can view for long periods without getting tired eyes & head.
Paid 700.00 for them on sale 3 years ago. They sell now almost 1K.

Cranked the Pentax Z Series & the Swarovski to closeup range across my room at 700PM was very low light raining outside. Reading letters on a surfboard. Both could pick up letters in low light darkened room. A true test of lens. The Swarovski won by small margin.
 
Keithpaints said:
I've been looking to find a good deal on high end bino's 8x40 range.

Got my sister Nikon Monarch 7
with ED glass 8x42. Good field of view, user friendly focus setup. Optics very good at price point.

Got her air blaster & Nikon lens pen with soft brush & pad to safely clean lens. Gave her other tips for keeping lens clean.

I found the exact binoculars that I've been wanting. I took a gamble they were a thousand dollars off retail, very lightly used. Sold by a guy not in business of optics. Had ebay money back guarantee so bought it. My main concern was optics how if ever lens had been cleaned.

Came in today Binoculars & case with Vortex chest harness. It is overcast today windy conditions. The lens look like new. Set left eye focus first with center ring pulled ring back to set right eye focus pushed ring forward to lock it. Optics are pretty spectacular even in overcast windy conditions. 1,350.00.
View attachment 292072View attachment 292073View attachment 292075View attachment 292074
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hand held, those are the sharpest binos, I have ever looked thru.

I was told it was because of the 8x. there is much much less hand vibrations.
 
Here is how I get HD views from my binoculars. I installed the post up front which allows me to hold them with my tripods. It’s nuts how much I can see. You can read the number off a$1 bill at max distance
It’s the human hand jitters that blur distance objects.

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Nice Leica 10x50. I remember when bought first good bino's poro prism Steiner 10x50. I wanted to go everywhere with them. Found out years ago leaning against a tree or rock any man made structure could steady for better imagery. I set the focus on roof bino's leaning against post on our lanai. Telephone Pole transformer half block away getting letters on it in sharp focus. From Lanai can see large trees on our side of the valley ridge. Punchbowl crater with American flags blowing in the wind several miles away. Much more distance reef runway planes taking off & landing.
 
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