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Looking at bino's at RMEF convention

T Bone

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My next planned purchase will be some good bino's in the 10x42-10x50 range. Today at the RMEF convention I parked my butt in front of several optic dealers and got to test drive many different makes and models.

Top bino IMO: Leica Ultravid. Its so bright it, the colors jump out at you. But I can't hack the $1400 price tag......Zeiss Victory II and the Swaro's were close runnerups. I don't know what makes the euro glass better but they are doing something right....

The ones that impress me that are near my price range are the Minox 10x52, Pentax 10x50 SP, and Kahles 10x42. All between $600-$700.

The others that were decent glass and in the $300-$500 range were Windriver Pinnacle 10x42, Nikon Venturer 10x42, B&L Discoverer 10x42, Burris Signature 10x50. All decent glass but not as good as the next step up.

Before big game season rolls around I'm gonna own either the Minox, Pentax, or the Kahles.....

Just my thoughts on glass.
 
The others that were decent glass and in the $300-$500 range were Windriver Pinnacle 10x42, Nikon Venturer

Are you sure you were looking at the venturer glass. Those binocs have a suggested retail of 1500 bucks and usually run about 900 to 1000 ollars at online sellers such as bear basin. The venturer were renamed "Premier" and are = to or better than the swarvos and leicas. The binocs that nikon makes in the 300 range are the monarch atb's.

Check this link out http://betterviewdesired.com/bvd298.htm#Venturer

This glass is definately worth a second look.
 
Feclnogn,

I think you're correct. The monarch atb is the one that was decent. The venturer was better. I should have taken paper and pencil to keep all of the different bino's straight.
 
I spent a long time looking through binos also, and came to the same conclusions you did.
#1 among the top binos was the Leica ultravid. Side by side with even the Swarovskis & Zeiss, it was the brightest and clearst. In the "almost as good for a lot less money catagory, I thought the Minox won for optics, but the Kales were right there, and felt better "egronomicly".
Me & my buddy both have the Nikon ATBs and they are great for the money, hard to go wrong for under $300, very close to the $600 Minox & Kahles.
Did you look through rifle scopes ? I was very impressed with the Kahles with the TDS rectical ( some day, that 2X7 Kahles with the TDS WILL be on my .338 ).
I thought it was just as good as the Swaroviski with the same rectical, and better then the new Leupold with their new B&C rectical.
Sorry I didn't catch up with you, man was that a great show or what !
 
Anaconda,

I didn't go back on Saturday. I was roped into helping a friend of a friend move.....

I didn't look at any scopes. Right now I like the bigger objective of the 50-52 mm. Kahles only makes the 42mm objective. I'm guessing it will be the Minox 10x52's or the Pentax 10x50's.
 
Yukon

I've heard good things about the Eagle optics. I have a hard time seriously considering a pair of glasses if I can't try them out 1st hand and compare them side to side with others.
 
T Bone-
Me too. I've adopted Barsness's idea of stacking one pair on top of another, and comparing the view.
I figure I'll buy a pair of Eagle's best 8x32's, along with their Denali scope, and try them out compared to the best. For a quarter the price, I'm not expecting Swarovski, but what the heck- if they're no good, I'll send 'em back.
Of course, it might be a while- I'm ordering my Kifaru Longhunter next week. So much for my bank account...
 
I have a Pentax DFC WP 10x42 that I like a lot. The main difference that I could tell from my friends' Swavos was edge clarity. They were clear right to edge of the view, while my Pentaxs were a touch fuzzy at the edges. I haven't tried the Eagles, though.
 
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