Post by: c.jones on May 15, 2014, 03:37:31 PM
Post by: Bean Counter on May 15, 2014, 03:52:17 PM
Post by: BKMFR on May 15, 2014, 04:04:04 PM
Post by: MtnMuley on May 15, 2014, 04:24:08 PM
Post by: c.jones on May 16, 2014, 09:58:02 AM
Post by: andersonjk4 on May 16, 2014, 10:33:46 AM
Post by: Bean Counter on May 16, 2014, 01:57:28 PM
Thanks for the input everyone..I have a spotter to use (again nothing fancy) I know enough to hold the "best optics" I can buy mantra in high regard, but in all seriousness budget wise I just wont be able to crack the $1000.00 mark for new glass..still weighing the options. I had/have some 10x42 Vortex vipers on layaway and was considering the jump to 12 or 15's..?
I did a check of a few local CL pages and here is the 15x56 consensus I have developed. Median listing price for Vortex Kaibabs: $900, Swaro SLCs: $1,200. You can probably talk the Vortex owners down $100-200, swaro owners, maybe a little less so. Higher end glass is going to hold its value better.
If money is really tight for you I would make this your summer project. I would even prioritize it over scouting. Check the CL, eBay, and other classified sections on a daily basis and be ready to pounce on a good deal. Know what you're willing to go for and the difference between a good deal and a great deal. The good thing is that you're asking this question in mid May and not mid September--you have time to be patient and find a good deal. Plus save up a few bucks here and there in the mean time. You can also list up your current binos and spotter on CL and since you have time to sell those, try to milk a few bucks out of them. Since they're lower end you can expect to lose some money on them, and you can count that as a life lesson for buy once, cry once. Maybe you can make one less scouting trip for your fall hunts and with the money gas money saved you can also throw that in the pile, as well.
My spotter and binoculars together retail for a total of about $3,000. They were bought on the used market but both in brand new condition. I paid a total of $1,400 for both of them--less than 1/2 retail. Years later I can still unload them for at least as much as I paid for them, if I had to (but I won't!). Try to beat that 8)
Post by: jjhunter on May 16, 2014, 02:33:01 PM
After owning and hunting with about every piece of glass made, I prefer a 10x42 for "around the neck" and a 15x56 SLC in my pack. If could have only one binocular, it would probably be a 10x50 - Swarovision for me. On a budget, a used or demo SLC or Leica Ultravid.
With any piece of glass that I packed, I would make sure that I could attach it to a tripod. :twocents:
Post by: b23 on May 16, 2014, 04:41:15 PM
BUT, with that much magnification, to get the real benefit of their power, they need to be on some type of rest. Whether it's a tripod, window mount or whatever, it makes a huge difference over trying to just freehand them. Since I bought my Kaibabs, I bet I don't use my spotting scope half as much as I used to.
If I could only have one set of binos and a spotting scope, it would be a no brainer, 8.5 x 42 Swarovision binos for me. If I had to keep the budget a bit tighter I'd go with either the Vortex Viper or Razor 8x42 HD.
Post by: Bob33 on May 16, 2014, 05:23:56 PM
Larger objective lens result in larger exit pupils. More magnification results in smaller exit pupils.
The average human eye constricts to around 3mm in daylight. In very dim light, a good eye can dilate to as much as 7mm.
When looking through an optic, your eye absorbs the lesser of the exit pupil and your pupil size. In broad daylight when your eye has a 3mm pupil, an optic with an exit pupil of 7mm will not provide more light to your eyes.
What is significance to a hunter is this: game is often most active in low light conditions. Glassing for game in the early and late hours of the day is when you need the larger exit pupil of a binocular or spotting scope. During midday, the use of an 8x20 binocular (with an exit pupil of 2.5mm) will provide just about as much light as your eyes can use. However, the use of that same 8x20 binocular in low light will limit what you could see through an equivalent optic with a larger exit pupil.
A 10x42 binocular has a 4.2mm exit pupil. A 12x42 has a 3.5mm exit pupil. If your eye's pupil is 5mm, both will limit the light your eyes receive, but the larger 12 power will limit it more and essentially produce a dimmer image.
For all-around use when planning to glass at all hours of the day, a 10 power is at the upper end of what I would prefer to use. For anything greater than 10x, I would prefer to have a separate optic like a spotting scope. Larger optics are generally heavier, have a significantly reduced field of view, have smaller exit pupils and thus can be dimmer, and produce more noticeable movement when handheld.
For my money, I would buy an alpha glass binocular that was either 8x42 or 10x42. If I couldn't afford alpha glass, I would wait until I could. A binocular is, in my opinion, the single most important item that any big game hunter should have. Nothing else even comes close. I am always amazed at how much more game is seen through top quality optics. The guy with the $100 binocular and $1000 gun has it bass akwards
After buying a binocular, I would buy a reasonably priced spotting scope in either 50mm or 60mm: small and light enough to tote in the backpack. Even a lower end scope with 20x magnification will generally show you far more detail than a 12x binocular.
:twocents:
Post by: c.jones on May 20, 2014, 08:47:40 AM
Post by: bearpaw on May 20, 2014, 09:13:22 AM