# BINO'S ??????



## dark_cloud (Oct 18, 2010)

I am looking at buying a pair of new binos (8x42) and was wanting to see what everybodys opinion was. I am not set on brand yet but was thinking either the cabela euros, or the meoptas. What one is better and why? Or any other ones to suggest in that price range? Thanks


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## timberbuck (May 19, 2010)

The meopta and euro are the same binocular. Pretty good but becoming increasingly dated compared to new designs. (no ED glass, silver instead of the brighter diaelectric prism coatings). and they are much heavier than the newer designs.

Vortex has a new Viper HD out that should be a good bet for $600.
Nothing wrong with the Zen Ray ED2 or Theron wapiti ED for around $400
The new bushnell elite ed for around $450

You can pick up a lightly used swarovski SLC neu for $1000, a lightly used Zeiss victory FL for around $1200-this is the route I would go if you are going to spend more than $600.

The gap between $400 and $800 binos is so small now performance wise its better to go all out for a german bino or stay at the $400-500 price point and enjoy a bino that is 90% of the german glasses.


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## The Naturalist (Oct 13, 2007)

I use bino's a lot, and I am really hard on them. Because of that there is no way I would be paying 400-1000 dollars for a pair. If you want the name brands like swarovski go ahead, but there are other less expensive ones out there that can get the job done and a lot of them have all the fancy coated prisms, etc.


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## proutdoors (Sep 24, 2007)

The Naturalist said:


> I use bino's a lot, and I am really hard on them. Because of that there is no way I would be paying 400-1000 dollars for a pair. If you want the name brands like swarovski go ahead, but there are other less expensive ones out there that can get the job done and a lot of them have all the fancy coated prisms, etc.


I usually agree with your words of advice, but I do NOT agree with you on this. The difference in $200-$400 glass and $600+ glass is HUGE. The weight is a factor, the clarity is a factor, the durability is a factor, the eye strain is a factor, waterproof is a factor. Now, if you are only going to use binos to do a quick check of a basin, then get the 'cheap' glass, but if you're going to spend an hour plus glassing at a time, get the better glass. I used to get headaches from glassing with the cheap stuff, since I upgraded I can sit behind glass for an hour or more with no eye strain and no headaches. Also, you will spot more game with the better glass. I have been side by side cheap glass and expensive glass, and what you can locate with the high end stuff is **** near, or completely impossible to see let alone find with the cheap glass.


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## bullsnot (Aug 10, 2010)

What ever you choose to get why not go with a 10x42. Everyone's eyes are different but I much prefer 10 power than 8 personally. Simply put you get better magnification.....and you still have plenty of field of view with a 10.

Just a thought.


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## proutdoors (Sep 24, 2007)

bullsnot, I agree, the only draw backs to 10's over 8's is weight and light gathering ability. But, if you get quality bino's these two things are minimized, but you get several benefits of the higher power.


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## wapiti67 (Oct 2, 2007)

I love my Euros!!! I have the 10x42s an they were absolutely vital in my Hunting success this last year.


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## dark_cloud (Oct 18, 2010)

Sorry I ment 10X42


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## Bo0YaA (Sep 29, 2008)

Nikon Monarchs are great for the money and you wont be devastated at only $250.00 if something happens to them unlike a 1500.00 pair of the Zeiss. I love mine


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## dark_cloud (Oct 18, 2010)

Bo0YaA said:


> Nikon Monarchs are great for the money and you wont be devastated at only $250.00 if something happens to them unlike a 1500.00 pair of the Zeiss. I love mine


Sorry my dad has those and has had to get them fixed twice. And I am honestly on the mountain 10 days to his 1. I am not impressed with them.



proutdoors said:


> I usually agree with your words of advice, but I do NOT agree with you on this. The difference in $200-$400 glass and $600+ glass is HUGE. The weight is a factor, the clarity is a factor, the durability is a factor, the eye strain is a factor, waterproof is a factor. Now, if you are only going to use binos to do a quick check of a basin, then get the 'cheap' glass, but if you're going to spend an hour plus glassing at a time, get the better glass. I used to get headaches from glassing with the cheap stuff, since I upgraded I can sit behind glass for an hour or more with no eye strain and no headaches. Also, you will spot more game with the better glass. I have been side by side cheap glass and expensive glass, and what you can locate with the high end stuff is **** near, or completely impossible to see let alone find with the cheap glass.


I agree with pro on this, thats why I have ruled out anything in this price range. They would be the same as what I already have.
On the other hand a pair of swaros are out of the question. If you research the glass in the swaro slc's its the same as the meoptas and the euros and their $400 more :shock: You cant tell me your not paying for their name. Just because you pay more doesnt mean they are better, just a better brand.

Thanks for all the posts, keep them coming.


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## goofy elk (Dec 16, 2007)

Here's a set of Euro's,,,10x42. Retail $700.
Call him,,,,offer $500.

http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=218&ad ... =0&search=


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## gwailow (Jan 20, 2008)

Actually, the glass in the Euro's and the Meostars are slightly different. Though Meopta makes both, Cabela's has a few different specs that are different from the Meostars. The meostars are slightly better, but not $100-$200 good of a difference. Once you buy European glass you wont go back.


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## Guest (Feb 26, 2011)

vortex makes great glass. ive got a pair of their viper 12x42 and love them. i also have a pair of leica 15x56. while i would way rather pack the leicas everywhere with me when i go, i cant. they are too heavy to take everywhere. thats why i have the vortex vipers. light wieght, great clarity and i can sit and glass for an hour with no strain on my eyes. ive had several vortex glasses, ive been extremely pleased with all of them. just like what others have said, i cant stress enough how important quality glass is. if you really want to know what youre looking at, spend the extra money. i killed a buck 2 years on the muzzy hunt that another hunter called a "doe" because he couldnt tell what he was looking at. i was walking up the same trail he was. he was about 50 yards ahead of me, walking down the trail towards me. i saw him stop to look at something on the hill, so i stopped and started glassing. i found 3 deer on the hillside 175 yards away. 1 was for sure a buck. i looked at the guy to see if he was going to shoot. i saw him put his glasses down and continued walking. i stopped him and asked what he was doing? he replied the 3 deer on the hill were just does, no bucks. i asked him if it was ok if i shot the buck with them. he laughed and said go for it. i sat down with him standing right there, set up my sticks and slammed a 160" 3x4 "doe"... the next year when i ran into the same guy sittin at camp the night before the opener of the muzzy, he had a new pair of leicas with him


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## creature (Feb 26, 2011)

The best part about the vortex binos are that they have a lifetime warranty.


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## Guest (Feb 26, 2011)

creature said:


> The best part about the vortex binos are that they have a lifetime warranty.


+1


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## Huge29 (Sep 17, 2007)

I have the 12x50 Euros and love them, but with Cabela's return policy change two years ago I would not buy them now. I upgraded my Monarchs to get them and they are at least 3x the quality. If I had to buy them now I think Vortex would get my vote. KNowing that you are buying something that should last you 20 years I think it is pretty easy to justify spending more money, but if the warranty is only a year, Vortex ends up making a lot more sense, it seems. 


kill_'em_all said:


> creature said:
> 
> 
> > The best part about the vortex binos are that they have a lifetime warranty.
> ...


+2


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## UWN admin (Sep 7, 2007)

This is not really a big game thread, so I'm moving it to the General Hunting and Gear forum.


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## dark_cloud (Oct 18, 2010)

UWN admin said:


> This is not really a big game thread, so I'm moving it to the General Hunting and Gear forum.


But someone asking about a spotting scope 2 weeks ago is different :roll: Sorry my bad, I thought all big game hunters owned a pair of binos



Huge29 said:


> have the 12x50 Euros and love them, but with Cabela's return policy change two years ago I would not buy them now.


I talked to cabelas today, and they still have a liftime on them, you just cant return a pair of them that you ran over with the truck. If they go foggy or out of adjustment they are covered.



creature said:


> The best part about the vortex binos are that they have a lifetime warranty


I am still not convinced on the vortex brand, I have looked at their optics and think that the only reason why they sale is because of the warranty. Warranty might be good, but that doesnt make them clear and good. I thought they are low grade compared to most, but maybe its my eyes. I dont want a good warranty on low grade glass. I want good glass and then think about a warranty.


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## The Naturalist (Oct 13, 2007)

proutdoors said:


> I usually agree with your words of advice, but I do NOT agree with you on this. The difference in $200-$400 glass and $600+ glass is HUGE. The weight is a factor, the clarity is a factor, the durability is a factor, the eye strain is a factor, waterproof is a factor. Now, if you are only going to use binos to do a quick check of a basin, then get the 'cheap' glass, but if you're going to spend an hour plus glassing at a time, get the better glass. I used to get headaches from glassing with the cheap stuff, since I upgraded I can sit behind glass for an hour or more with no eye strain and no headaches. Also, you will spot more game with the better glass. I have been side by side cheap glass and expensive glass, and what you can locate with the high end stuff is **** near, or completely impossible to see let alone find with the cheap glass.


I guess I need to fork over some big money to see what I've been missing? :shock:  
What I'm saying is for me personally. Others are welcome to spend as much as they want, but for me I feel I do just fine with the less expensive. Now if you're talking spotting scopes, telescopes, or microscopes then I would go with the better optics.


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## UWN admin (Sep 7, 2007)

dark_cloud said:


> [quote="UWN admin":3dnqkp75]This is not really a big game thread, so I'm moving it to the General Hunting and Gear forum.


But someone asking about a spotting scope 2 weeks ago is different :roll: Sorry my bad, I thought all big game hunters owned a pair of binos.[/quote:3dnqkp75]
In response to your passive-aggressive complaint...

Your thread is about general hunting gear, so I moved it to the forum section devoted to hunting gear. If there was a similar post in the big game forum two weeks ago, it probably should have been moved too, but I don't analyze every post on the site.

Posts about all kinds of things tend to congregate in certain popular sections of the forum. We like to keep all the forum sections active, so we sometimes move posts to forum sections better suited for them. When we move threads to more appropriate forum sections, we generally leave shadow threads in the original forum - as I did with yours.


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## Guest (Feb 27, 2011)

UWN admin said:


> [quote="dark_cloud":s6fbkzvn][quote="UWN admin":s6fbkzvn]This is not really a big game thread, so I'm moving it to the General Hunting and Gear forum.


But someone asking about a spotting scope 2 weeks ago is different :roll: Sorry my bad, I thought all big game hunters owned a pair of binos.[/quote:s6fbkzvn]
In response to your passive-aggressive complaint...

Your thread is about general hunting gear, so I moved it to the forum section devoted to hunting gear. If there was a similar post in the big game forum two weeks ago, it probably should have been moved too, but I don't analyze every post on the site.

Posts about all kinds of things tend to congregate in certain popular sections of the forum. We like to keep all the forum sections active, so we sometimes move posts to forum sections better suited for them. When we move threads to more appropriate forum sections, we generally leave shadow threads in the original forum - as I did with yours.[/quote:s6fbkzvn]i told a hunting story with my post in this thread when it was in the big game section!!  doesnt that count and make it a big game thread?! :mrgreen:


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## TEX-O-BOB (Sep 12, 2007)

Back on topic... I'm with Pro on this one. Don't go cheap you'll regret it. The Vortex Glass has been mentioned several times and I'll give one more shout out for that brand. I own several pair of high end binoculars, Steiner 25X80, Docter 10X42, and I just bought a lighter more compact pair of Vortex Fury (their middle-of-the-road quality)7X32 for use when treestand hunting. In fact, I liked them so much I bought a pair for my wife too.  Sportsmans had them on sale for $289 at Christmas time but I found them on ebay for $199


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## UT Elk Stalker (Apr 17, 2009)

This is easy!! If you don't want to spend 1,000 or more on a pair of bino's, DON'T look through a pair. Once you do you will have a new standard on which you will judge all others. Zeiss get my vote.


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## xxxxxxBirdDogger (Mar 7, 2008)

The Euro's are on sale this month for Cabela's Club members. I just noticed that on the flyer that came in the mail today. It made me think of this thread. 

On the warranty thing- I bought a rangefinder last summer that broke on opening day of the elk hunt. I didn't speak to customer service until November because I plumb forgot to do it. Cabela's gave me a 100% refund without batting an eye. I was impressed.


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## dkhntrdstn (Sep 7, 2007)

wapiti67 said:


> I love my Euros!!! I have the 10x42s an they were absolutely vital in my Hunting success this last year.


+1


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## Dekashika (Oct 23, 2007)

A few years back, this same topic was discussed on the previous forum. At that time, Tex recommended the Docter 10x42, and provided a link to a site that was selling them. Based on that, I purchased the Docter binos. They have been great! Extremely clear, bright glass, that compares to Swaro in my opinion. They have been used and abused over the last 3-4 years, and hold up great. I too am hard on binos. I cannot remember what I paid, but it seems like it was around $650. I would buy them again in an instant if I were in the market for another pair. So far, they are still serving me well.


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