................................. Binocular help

And by help, I mean, for you.

Buy once cry once, then, you won’t cry the next two times.
Left to right
Swarovski
EL 10x42
EL 10x32
CL 8x30




And to clear up any questions
Vortex is NOT “as good for the money”, that’s a false statement. I get free Vortex and give them away, because they are in any comparison, garbage. Edges are distorted, ergonomics suck, glass isn’t even close to as bright or clear, all they have is a warranty, which you will be using.
The 10x42 above are almost 15 years old, abused and never ever had an issue.

I can own any Bino’s I want, Swarovski, in my opinion are THE Best....

agreed, I'm a Swaro or Steiner guy

Only one way to get good glass, and it hurts, but you will never be sorry after you put some time behind them, Swarovski is the way to go.

I agree completely. My oldest pair are 10x42 SLC’s. I have zero interest in replacing them after 20 years of ownership. Worth every penny!

How do i get on the list for the junk vortex while i save for good glass?

Every once in a while Huppy, I wish you'd just come straight out and tell it how it is. :-)

I agree 100%. I've owned a dozen pair of binocular . . . all the major brands. IMO Swarovski is about as good as it gets. Lieca is a close second but I'm probably just prejudiced. Until you've used them in the field under all conditions its hard to claim what is truly quality and what is just good glass. Mine have been all over the western United States, Alaska and Canada. Never a complaint . . . other than the price, but like you say, just do it once.

I don't know of anything to back the claim Swarovski is better than Leica. Me, I'm lusting after a Leica Geovid, the binocular with a rangefinder.

Jim

Just the experience of comparing them side by side in the field hour after hour in actual hunting situations. Thats all.

I was about to add, "other than personal preference."

Jim

Not downing Swarovski's, never really tried them but I'm happy with my leupold gold rings. Good customer service if needed.

Put me on the list for the vortex giveaway!!

I don't know what to make of the claims about binocular or riflescope comparisons. The common perception seems to be that Nikon and Pentax make less than top grade glass. But both brands are considered high quality in astronomical circles.

Astronomy is the toughest test of glass, imho. When you're trying to find more than the four Galilean moons of Jupiter, or distinguish the two different colors of a binary star system, you tend to see the difference between good and so-so glass. Yes, you can see the color of stars through good glass.

There is a lot of bias and prejudice and personal preference involved in picking astronomical eyepieces, also. Leica and Swarovski both make variable eyepieces for their spotting scopes that can also be used in telescopes. They are pricy and sought after (maybe because they are pricey).

Pentax and Nikon each make top-quality fixed eyepieces that are suitable in both spotting scopes and telescopes. Other sources of glass for eyepieces are Taiwan and other parts of Asia. Japanese glass is very good. Taiwanese can be good or bad, and price is usually a good indicator.

As to binoculars and rifle scopes, it's interesting to me that neither Leupold (and I'm a big fan) or Vortex disclose the source of their glass. The source is not the US. It's probably Taiwan, from one or two of the better glass factories. It's possible both brands use the same source of glass.

So why do you think Leupold and Vortex don't disclose the source of their glass? Because they want to fool buyers into thinking the glass is from US factories?

Jim

It's like riding in cars. If you have always been happy riding in a pinto you wouldn't know what your missing to ride in a royals Royce.

Also, for me, it's about bang for the buck. I use binos quite a bit for glassing deer hunting. And I love my 9x35 leupies. They aren't all that bulky to back, I can pick a deer out good at 500-1000 yards, they were affordable to me. Now, we keep a pair of tasco's in the boat just in case. If they get stolen no big deal, we're out $25. But I can tell an eagle from a crow at a couple hundred yards with the tasco's!

Never could afford such glass for anything, I've been happy with my Nikons, they have always seen the same things when hunting with others who have such expensive glass. Just like trapping, some others will do better, but they all can get the job done !

If your happy that's great, maybe start throwing away them free others to people less fortunate than you so they can share just the foggy part of hunting !!

leica makes some fine glass, and I like their products, however, their customer service and support to me, is lacking, and i choose not to buy thier products (other than the rangefinder). Lecia riflescopes were (i haven't seen the newest ones) some amazing pieces of glass, and are every bit as good as Swarovski, if not a tad bit crisper for me.

But, again, the customer service, and the range in which they offered their rifle scopes, wasn't for me.

as for Nikon, they have picked up their glass game in the past 3-5 years. I think that the Monarch are as good, if not a little better than the leupold VX-III line.
You are correct in that Nikon makes great astronomical as well as photography lenses, but that doesnt seem to directly correlate to rifle scopes.
I assume it has something to do with the price point for their scopes, and what segment of the market they are trying to be in.

Like all top end brands, there just aren't many that sit and battle it out to be the best, which usually means most expensive. Vehicles is one example that comes to mind quick, there just aren't alot of super car brands, but there are plenty in the low and mid-range brands.

Swarovski, Zeiss, Leica are known for top of the line glass and products, and focus mainly on that line, with some smaller lines in the mid-price range.

then you have leupold, vortex, nikon, solidifying the middle ground, and simmons, tasco picking up the crumbs and walmart crowd.

Vortex are over priced for the quality that you get, however, that price includes the "lifetime warranty" which seems to be their best selling point. While it works for a lot of people, failure, no matter the warranty is just not an option for some, like myself.
I'm not flying in or hiking in to a sheep hunt, to have a scope issue, and not be able to hunt. i don't care what the warranty is, failure is unacceptable to me. Perhaps, deer hunting 1/2 mile from the truck or house, and having a glass issue is more tenable for some.

I learned my lesson on a saskatchewan deer hunt. last light, big buck came in, I watched him through my Swaro binos and new i wanted to harvest that deer. When i pulled up the rifle, with the VX-3 3.5-10x50mm scope, it was darker than the inside of a cow and I couldn't see anything, let alone the deer. saving a couple hundred dollars buying a Leupold vs a Swarovski scope cost me a deer on a $3,500 hunt. That's when i made the decision to upgrade all my glass and never settle for anything less than the best again.

long story short, dont impulse buy your glass. if you have a mediocre scope or binos now, dont just buy a new pair thats a little bit better. keep using the stuff you have and save to buy the best. You will not ever regret it....

I have never had a customer who after talking with me, and spent the extra money come back and say they made a poor choice. Instead, they come back, and buy more, upgrading the rest of what they have, because it just cant compare. I have never had a "as good for the money, or bang for buck" exclaimers agree with their initial statement after looking through Swarovski or Leica, most of the time, they parrot something they read on a forum or what their buddy said, and have never even held, let alone used in the field a pair of the high end binos.

I definitely wont argue with Hupurest.

I myself am not brand loyal, I have Zeiss binos, Swarovski spotting scope, Leica range finder and Leupold scopes.
When I was shopping for spotting scopes I lined up all three Euro makes; they all had pluses and minuses. I just preferred the Swaro.

Regarding cost; if you absolutely can't afford the Euro stuff I'd suggest the Nikon binos; pretty good for the money.
If we're talking scopes, I wouldn't even consider anything other than Leupold.

The one thing I do like about Swarovski is that they (along with Leupold) have outstanding warranty service. I know of situations with Leica that have taken over a year to resolve.

What in their customer service don't you like?

(Careful, trick question.)

I have Zeiss binoculars (yes, I know it is a binocular) and have been using Leupold scopes for over three decades. I've spent countless hours glassing and a fraction of that with a rifle held to my shoulder. I've owned Nikon scopes as well. You don't need to spend a grand or more to get a quality scope and I can't think of a single instance where I felt I had inadequate optics.

I agree with Hup on favoring Swarovski over Leica and Zeiss. I personally found the Zeiss to not be as ergonomically fitting and they always "felt" heavier when comparing same size/power glass (binos here). As far as Leica, I had numerous customers share their customer experience and it is very well known in the industry they're absolute sticklers on warranty work...…...if you're NOT the original OWNER, registered your glass within the registration timeframe......you were "up a creek"; and if your glass is registered many have found their customer service to be less than stellar. Swarovski on the other hand has excellent customer service. I've had to replace an eye cup or two over they years and they've always been excellent to deal with.

I've discouraged several customers from buying "right now" and saving up and buying one of the top 3. I've had several come back and thank me for that advice, no one, yet has ever complained following this advice. Look at your glass as a small investment...….you'll own it, use it for 10-20+++ years...…..and be using the VERY BEST. Divide the price out over 10-20 years and most can get past the initial sticker shock.

I'll butcher this line, phrase or general thought...….a dear friend of mine has made the comment several times...…….and it goes something like...…….premium binoculars are not found on a peg and for sure are not in a clam pack!

I disagree with the crying part in expensive binos walk away, your kid leaves them on the hood and drives off losing them, your buddy drives over them or a pack horse discovers they are the one thing to fall on. Expensive binos do make people cry.

In that, I believe in expensive binos named above, but I also have several pairs of Bushnell and Tasco for my shirt pocket to bouncing around in my pickup. I do not need a thousand dollar pair to see if a set has something in it, or to tell me a trash pile is not a deer. Long hours of glassing or nature watching where eye fatigue and the need to see the pretty animals is where the expensive glass belongs. Otherwise, I use my cheap glasses and I have yet had anyone steal them.

Good spotting scope and adequate binoculars and adequate rifle scope. Generally, the people I guide have swarovski stuff and I almost always find the game and hit their wounded stuff with Leopolds.

Since I had cataract surgery I don't need binos, lol

I've had a pair of leica's for 40 years now. their warranty was second to non when a pair was seen by a dealer, a pair was in my hand in 3 days.
It's the difference in seeing a downed duck blinking it's eye for a mercy shot or loosing it. Probably paid for themselves with saved shots and retrived more birds.
With their weight they are always on your neck, not bouncing around and getting lost or such.

For checking sets those 100 yard walk ins saves johnny sneek-up walk-up on the sets especial in the snow.

I may a little slow, but if you need to use a warranty doesn't that mean your product failed?

yes Dirt the Leica's bino's lense something happened internally and binocular vision was distorted on one side, replaced with a new pair.
May have helped that I had published photo's of me wearing them in a DU magazine that helped with the PR. (they were not standard issue)

I swear some guys buy the expensive name brand outdoors gear to look like they belong on a TV show. I've got a friend that lives to shop for the new Sitka, kuiu, or stone glacier gear. Its like a woman shopping for a new pair of shoes. I guess it's proof that marketing does work on some people. I bet hupurest has a $3000 spotting scope to go along with his fancy binos. Vortex trash just won't cut it.

^^^^^^
I use what works best in the environment I work in, that means:
European glass when it comes to binos and spotting scopes.
American (Leupold) when it comes to scopes.
Norwegian rain-gear (Helly Hansen, Grundens) when comes to outerwear.
Any sort or poly/fleece for inner layers.

I have found little need for flashy, almost magical name brand outerwear.

If he is a sheep hunter in Alaska. That's right, I believe he does dabble. The top of the line spotting scope will improve his chances of finding a legal sheep. This is not the lower 48 where any ram is a legal ram. Sometimes you have to age them which means counting growth rings and those 8 year ones are tough to see. You don't want to waste whole day climbing up glaciers and fighting through alders and snaking through cliffs just to find you are an inch shy making full curl. The best sharpness at the most power will really help. Might even help on a moose hunt where you need to figure out if you want to take off after a moose 2 miles away. Just might be able to find those 3 or 4 brow tines that make him worth wasting time on.

After ten days intensively comparing Razors to Swaros on the mountain, you’ll never convince me the swaros are worth double the money. Never.

Better? Yes.

Worth the extra $1000-1500? Not in a million years.

That is why you buy a Ziess, if you need the best and want to save $600.

So what do you glass guys think of the Steiner binocular?

When you are getting paid to sit behind glass all day, I'll pay the extra money to make sure I don't have the headaches and eye strain at the end of the day, and being able to see a slight flick of an ear at 1000 yards because the glass is clear, I've had hunters that couldn't believe the animals I've spotted, and it all had to do with the glass you use.

I do actually have a Swarovski spotting scope as well.

Dirt articulated the reasons for having such good glass. And unless you have used one of the best spotting scopes, you won't know that the $250 one is garbage.

Looking at a ram that is half a days walk away, at 60x and knowing if it needs a closer look or it doesn't is priceless.. as is counting age rings at 200 yards.

or a goat, trying to decide if it is a 9.5" goat or a 10" goat, or if it is an immature 4 yo billy with 9" horns that needs to live, while you leave it to find a better goat.

Unlike alot of people who opine, and i'm going to lump you in there, I have the experience and pictures to back up my experience. I'm not just some keyboard warrior or stooge who read Field and Stream and thinks they are an expert.

also, theres only one show that I am aware of that uses Swarovski products, the rest use the stuff the average guy can afford, like Nikon and Vortex. Put all the brands out on a table and let the guides and pros choose for free, what they want, and I would bet alot of money that the vortex, nikon and leupold pile is untouched.

as for the Sitka gear, again, you must not know what you are talking about and never used it or used it properly. It is by far, the best gear one can buy IMO. Do people need it? No.
Have Dirt and Waterrat klilled huge sheep, moose, et al in green hip boots and blue jeans, you bet. but, they are far tougher than I am.

I like to maximize my chance for success, and the right gear allows me to be out, hunting in weather that most rationale people would try to wait out, or cancel / reschedule a trip in.

Heres an example.. last goat hunt, it rained over 8" in 6 days. the winds were a steady 50mph and gusts over 70, and there we were, in my $1,000 hilleberg tent, sitting atop a ridge, waiting for the weather to clear for a chance at a goat. 3 days we only left the tent to take a crap and get water.
When the weather would clear enough to glass, i would don my Sitka Gear Storm Front set, grab my $3,000 scope and go glass, looking for THE goat i wanted.

on the 7th day, we had a 1/2 day weather window, and I shot a Mountain Goat that is a mere 1/8" shorter than the world record, and would be the biggest ever shot in the U.S.
all of my swarovski glass was working perfectly, i was dry, the tent held the storm, and I accomplished something that no one else has.

one gear failure, and the hunt would have been over. Cheap gear would have made it impossible to stay out that long..

but hey, if you cant afford something, then it isn't that good right?

or you have an opinion, but don't have the experience or results to quantify or justify your opinion. but the internet allows people with zero actual knowledge, or zero accomplishments to voice their own "expert" opinion and feel better about themselves......

I dont buy the most expensive things because they are perceived as the best, I seek out the best gear, that is tested and proven, and the cost is the cost. I personally can't afford to have failures, it is unacceptable to me, and a waste of the time i spend preparing for hunts and fishing trips.....

thats right, fishing trips... I have all of the best equipment for that too, $300 spinning reels, $200 rods, and I catch numbers of fish that most people can't even begin to wrap their brains around. perhaps im onto something with the gear and preparation... or, if it makes you feel better, just keep thinking that I am just lucky.

here is a tip..... Don't hate people that do better than you, emulate them.

Not everybody has to have the world record to feel good about hunting,lol.Sounds like an ego thing.
I bet most couldn't give a crap about a world record.

Did I say I gave a crap? Did i ever post pictures and brag about it? Prior to this, I haven't shared info about this goat publicly. So, Shut your stupid canadian suck hole...

fact is, I put in the work and effort to harvest a mature animal, that happens to be exceptionally big. and, i am proud of the years worth of work i put in to EARN that goat. I did it for me, not for some idiot in Ontario or anywhere else for that matter.

Some people aren't ok with shooting a nanny, or a 3 year old goat. some people aren't about doing the easy thing, to avoid the challenge of something difficult. Some people aren't willing to eat a tag, because they couldn't find a mature animal they wanted to harvest.

deciding what I choose or choose not to harvest is my own choice. My goal is my own goal, not anyone else's. My happiness is derived from my own accomplishments, my life and morals, and it doesnt matter what some NOBODY has to say about it.

The fact is, that, not everybody can shoot a goat that big, as evidenced by the fact that only one other person has, and there are 100's of goats harvested every year in North America. Most people never see a goat over 10", matter of fact, the man at fish and game who seals the goats said that he hears of a lot of 10" goats over the years, but has never seen one in his hand, let alone measured one over 11".

and if you asked any goat hunter, if they would rather shoot a 9 year old, 11 2/8" Billy or a 8" 5 year old billy, none of them are choosing the 8".

But then again, its something you don't know anything about, like most things you feel the need to offer your idiotic opinion on.

There is always some retard like you Boco, who chooses to be a negative fool, and belittle people, rather than offering up something positive, its probably why you are a nobody and always will be a nobody.....

LOL.

Great job on the goat! The right gear and hard work really do make a difference. The fellas who hunt goats and sheep at those altitudes and steep mountains are top notch in my book.

I shot a goat in 1989, before there was such a thing as Sitka rain gear or Hilleberg tents, and when Swarovski was a start-up in the US in optics. I had a cheap Sierra one-man tent and a rain jacket of some non-breathable fabric. The tent nevertheless withstood high winds and gave me shelter in pouring rain.

I did have a Swarovski binocular, 8x32, and a Leupold Vari-X III riflescope. My sheep hunting experience had taught me the need for good optics in the mountains.

My goat is on the wall of my living room. His one horn was 8 5/8" long and 5.5" around at the base, if I recall right. His other horn was lost in a fall from a cliff he took after I shot him. The mount now has a reproduction horn on that side.

Maybe I would have shot a better goat if I'd had better gear. I do know that goat hunting is very dangerous, more dangerous than sheep hunting, in my limited experience. On that goat hunt, I took risks I shouldn't have, and I knew it when I got back, so I swore it would be my last goat hunt, and it was.

Jim

Did I mention that I love my Swarovski bino’s?

Put a swaro and vortex razor spotter on the table and let me pick, of course I’m gonna pick the swaro!

Than I’m gonna sell it, buy a razor, and pocket over a grand!