My next purchase. What should it be?

Robpr · Mar 3, 2014

I have never had any great glass. I have some Nikon Monarchs 8x 42 binos and Vortex Nomad 20-60x 60 or 65? Or what ever it is. This year I want to get something new that I am going to have for a long time. Money is a concern so I'd like to get the most bang for my buck therefore based on things I've read the vortex razor line is at the top of my list. At some point I would like to add a pair of 15x binos or better yet even the new 20x Kaibabs to my pack. Eventually I'd like to upgrade all my optics. So which should be my next purchase? As far as hunting style goes I like to backpack into areas and glass a lot, but I'll also be glassing from the truck to locate animals.

Let's say I'm working with a $1200 budget.

Should I keep the Nomad and upgrade the binos to some 10xs. or add the 20x Kaibabs to my arsenal? Should I keep the Nikons and upgrade my Nomad to a Razor spotter and not get the Kaibabs? Should I consider a 50mm spotter instead?

dotman · Mar 3, 2014

Binos before spotter, checkout Cameralandny.com they have some great deals on demos. With the savings you might have an op to upgrade more then 1 item this year. Sell your stuff and add those funds to your budget.

Checkout the zeiss conquest hd, vortex razors and Meopta hd binos.

Shrek · Mar 3, 2014

Like Dotman , binoculars first. Meopta 10×42 hd's would be my first choice in that dollar range.

Robpr · Mar 3, 2014

Thanks guys. I do occassionally check out camera lands prices. As far as selling my old optics I could probably unload the nomad but then I'd need to backfill my spotter piece. Not sure id get much for the binos.

dotman · Mar 3, 2014

You could get zeiss conquest hd Binos in 8x32 or 8x42 and a vortex viper hd spotter or 50 mm razor spotter for your budget or close to it.

gr8fuldoug · Mar 4, 2014

There are many excellent optics opportunities. If you find a few minutes please give me a call to discuss different available options

ElkNut1 · Mar 4, 2014

Rob, binos first! Consider the Razor HD 10X42 as those are well under your budget & stay with the Nomad 20X until you save up enough for something in the neighborhood of the Razor HD 65, both the Bino & Spotter Razor are the same price. I used the Nomad myself for 2 years, no it's not the quality of the Razor Spotter line but it doesn't do that bad either. I could check out Deer on a Special draw that we spotted while glassing with 10X binos on a broken snow floor out to several miles & the binos couldn't come close to identifying bucks at that distance but the Nomad did its thing & we could pick out the bucks from the doe's with it no problem, some of the bucks were spikes & you could see them as well at that distance.-- For that reason right there I'd go binos first then Spotter! Upgrade Spotter as funds become available! - Remember for best viewing with a spotter keep eyepiece turned all the way down!

ElkNut1

littlebuf · Mar 4, 2014

10x42 razors. You won't be disappointed

tipsntails7 · Mar 4, 2014

10x42 razors, whenever I decide to upgrade the binos it will be these.

Robpr · Mar 5, 2014

Thanks again guys for your input.

Doug it will be a couple months before I'm ready to buy, but I will look you up when I'm ready

gr8fuldoug · Mar 5, 2014

When you're ready it would be our pleasure to assist you

AZ Vince · Mar 5, 2014

Rob,

Doug and Neal at Cameraland are great folks to deal with.
If you're looking at 15X optics and don't want to spring for Zeiss or Swarovski I'd look hard at the Vortex Kaibabs and the Minox line. I went Minox and the glass, while not top tier, allows me to glass longer without eye fatigue than a comparable, but less expensive, pair of 15X binoculars. Of course my buddy using his Swarovski glass has me beat like I have my buddy that's using lesser quality glass than mine beat. It's all relative.

My last six of seven optics purchases in the past three years have all been from Cameraland and when I get the shekels saved I'll be buying another Zeiss scope from them for my .338 Win Mag. You would be hard pressed to find someone better to deal with than Doug and the crew at Cameraland. The only reason they aren't 7/7 is because I found a discontinued scope I really wanted somewhere else and Cameraland was out of them.

Vince

parshal · Mar 6, 2014

Are you looking to upgrade the glass or add a different magnification to your existing 8's? The jump from 8 to 10x isn't that dramatic although, in Wyoming, I sometimes get mirage with 10x but not with 8x. I'd be looking at keeping those 8's and adding 12's, 15,s or 20's in a good glass. You'll have options then. Upgrade the spotter later.

I've been buying optics for the last few months and have found some good deals on demo/open box items.

gr8fuldoug · Mar 6, 2014

BTW, The new Swarovski 15x56's have arrived. They are as good as they claimed they'd be, but it is a tad pricey @ just under $2500

parshal · Mar 6, 2014

I've got a pair and they are very good. Very close to my 10x50 ELs.

Robpr · Mar 10, 2014

parshal said:
Are you looking to upgrade the glass or add a different magnification to your existing 8's? ms.

This was kind of the advice I was seeking. Should I use available funds to upgrade a piece I had or add a different item to the pack?

Mtnboy · Mar 11, 2014

As everybody else said, I'd upgrade the Binos first...I just went from 10x42 Nikon Monarch 5s to Vortex Razor 10x42....quite possibly the best money i've ever spent on hunting.

As far as the spotter, I'm a believer that unless you care about the difference between a 170" buck and a 180" buck at a Mile away or farther, then the Nomad is plenty good. I've been using mine for 2 years now and it is more than enough to let me know if a buck/bull is good enough to go after...if/when I go sheep or goat hunting or if I draw a "trophy" mule deer tag, I'll probably upgrade.

Just my .02

LaHunter · Mar 11, 2014

Absolutely binos first, and get the best that you can possibly afford. Other than my boots, I probably use my binos more than any other gear that I have.

JNDEER · Mar 11, 2014

How are you using them? Spotter used for out of state hunts, judging our giant CA deer? How often do you use the spotter? Do you feel you have trouble finding game with your current binos?

Robpr · Mar 11, 2014

I would say I use the spotter a lot more than my binos for locating animals. But this past season is where I really noticed how inadequate my glass was during last light. Also the nomad is ok at 20x and maybe 40x but it gets real hard to focus above that. I know for sure the binos need to be upgraded which is most likely what I'll do first but a friend opened my eyes to the benefits of using high power binos for extended periods of glassing. The only disadvantage I saw was not being able to increase magnification when needed.

My next purchase. What should it be?

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