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Please explain...

mrklean

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I am a newbie when it comes to binos so please explain or give me your opinions on which power is better for glassing seems like a lot of guys use a 8-10x42 or a 10-12x50 what is the advantage for one or the other. I would think the better the magnification the better but am i missing something?
 
I like 10x42. If you get much bigger in the objective they get heavier. Anything more powerful than 10 power is hard to hold steady without a tripod. JMO
 
I am a newbie when it comes to binos so please explain or give me your opinions on which power is better for glassing seems like a lot of guys use a 8-10x42 or a 10-12x50 what is the advantage for one or the other. I would think the better the magnification the better but am i missing something?

More magnification means its harder to hold steady and its more weight to carry in the field. Generally above 10x isn't really useful without a tripod supporting. More magnification means less light transfer with the same size objective lens so more magnification really means biggers lenses.

Better glass at lower power is often superior to lesser glass with more magnification.

8/10x42 is a pretty good all around set of glass. All optics involve certain trade offs of size, weight and cost and you have to tailor that to what you are doing.

Higher magnification really helps with hard to spot game like mule deer or coues deer when you are glassing for bedded animals with the sun high overhead.
 
I strongly urge you get use a tripod regardless of size of binos if you can. It really does make a world of difference. Right now I use 10x42s but I want to get stronger glass on the tripod
 
Quick question is the 42 the size of glass where you are looking into the binos or is that the end glass of the binos?
 
I use a pair of 10x42 and a spotting scope on the tripod. This seems to give me the highest degree of versatility.
The 42 would be the objective lens which is the lens gathering light the lens at the eye is commonly called the eyepiece.
 
I've got a pair of 10x42 El's and a pair of 12x50EL . I use the 12x50 almost exclusively anymore. I've never had an issue holding them steady enough.

But yes, they are slightly heavier and a little bulkier. But I'm also the guy who has a ATX 95 in my pack so that aspect doesn't bother me.
 
I use 15x60's with out a tripod, but would not recommend doing so unless you use the binoculars every day. It took me about two weeks to get my eyes to adjust.
 
I use 15x60's with out a tripod, but would not recommend doing so unless you use the binoculars every day. It took me about two weeks to get my eyes to adjust.

You must not drink much coffee :)
 
Thanks guys last question i am looking at either 10x42 or 10x50 outside of weight do you think i will see a noticeable difference between the two? Cost is pretty low between the two thats why i wasnt sure which to get.
 
For hunting I like 40/42 mm objectives for weight. I am different than most on here because I prefer 8x. This is because most of my hunting is in the timber and the 10x is just too much. At distance the 8x is steadier when NOT using a rest and are adequate for longer distances. If all my hunting was out west I would go 10x.
 
What are you expecting to glass? Open country, broken country, dense country? Are you really just looking for versatility? I agree with some of the other. Use a tripod while sitting. You will see more and it is way easier on the body, not to mention much steadier.
 
Eight or ten power will both do well. I prefer ten for the most part. The biggest thing is to buy the best glass that you can justify. Unlike rifle scopes, you will be spending quite a bit of time behind the binoculars, so better glass equals less eye strain.
 
Eight or ten power will both do well. I prefer ten for the most part. The biggest thing is to buy the best glass that you can justify. Unlike rifle scopes, you will be spending quite a bit of time behind the binoculars, so better glass equals less eye strain.

I can testify to this. At one time a had a cheapo set of binos and found that after only a few hours I had a terrible headache.
I now have a set of Leoupold binos and I can use them all day for days on end and not have any eye strain.
 
I can testify to this. At one time a had a cheapo set of binos and found that after only a few hours I had a terrible headache.
I now have a set of Leoupold binos and I can use them all day for days on end and not have any eye strain.

I learned the hard way too. I couldn't figure out for a few years why I had a headache pretty much daily all fall. Then I bought a pair of swaros, headaches ended immediately.


even just a couple hours behind the sub par glass each day was giving me a headache.
 
Heatwave distortion is another factor. The higher magnification, the more the heatwaves make images jump around and bend. I pick up heatwave distortion even on low temperature days when is sunny. I suggest if you backpack hunt then go with 8x that are light then get a lighter spotting scope and light tripod.

If you tend to day hunt from a trailhead or the road then cutting weight is not as big of an issue.
 
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