Don’t buy Binos made for bird watchers

[JGRaider]

And all this time I thought Vortex was the only optics company that had a customer service department......

FYI, FOV was mentioned with regard to Vortex binoculars, I own all of these:

Swaro SLC 10x42 FOV is 330ft @ 1000 yds
Vortex Razor HD 10x42 is 362
Meopta Meostar HD 10x42 is 330

 

[S.Clancy]

LOL. A used pair of 10X42 Meostars have been dropped out of my harness and tipped over on a tripod several times with no issues.

They may be heavy, but the glass is good and apparently they are tougher than most.

That's been my experience as well. I complain all the time about how heavy those little brick 10x42s are, but I don't know how many times I have dropped them, fell off a tripod, out of the truck etc and they are still going. I guess I should stop complaining

 

[JGRaider]

Those are ones I haven’t used. How is the FOV, eye relief, etc?

Vortex Razor UHD FOV is 346ft, eye relief 16.7mm. They are superb glass, really great, but very big, bulky, and heavy.

 

[Formidilosus]

Vortex Razor UHD FOV is 346ft, eye relief 16.7mm. They are superb glass, really great, but very big, bulky, and heavy.

I appreciate the specs, however there is a lot lost in translation. Paper specs are one thing, then there’s looking through and using them. Often there is a delta there.

 

[JGRaider]

I appreciate the specs, however there is a lot lost in translation. Paper specs are one thing, then there’s looking through and using them. Often there is a delta there.

You asked, I gave you the specs. What you do with them is your business. As you previously mentioned, optics opinions are highly subjective and brand bias always comes into play no matter who you are. I had the luxury to guide hunters over 16 years and saw tons of great glass, and sorry ones. That's why a guy needs to try them out personally and see what works, and how it "fits" your facial features.

 

[hereinaz]

The 18 Razor UHD are very good, and fall in line with what you expect with their other Razor uhd models in their line.

I used to run Leica 12x ultravids as my only bino, plus a sig kilo mono rangefinder. I handheld and glassed off a tripod with the 12s. Clarity for glassing coues trumps magnification IMO for most purposes. I sometimes carried my Kowa 553 if I wanted the magnification.

When I switched to 10x Sig Kilo RF binos and then Vortex Fury, I eventually sold the Leica. So, I needed magnification for glassing on the tripod. I picked up a pair of the 18x UHD, barely used at a great price to run while I saved up for some Swaro.

The 18 uhd are good enough to glass long hours and do have anything that bothers me. But, they are not as nice to get behind as the Swaro. I would much rather sit behind Swaro. Sounds like the Maven model are now a possibility.

I am not in a huge hurry to upgrade, there are other pieces of kit that I am upgrading first.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Kenn]

Back to the birding forums…. I have never tried the Vortex UHD’s but on those forums they say the clarity compares to the Swaro ( much to my surprise).

 

[roosiebull]

I wanted a pair of top notch binos. I like a 12x50 so I picked up a pair of Swaro EL 12x50’s. The glass is as good as you would expect. However I like to run the outdoorsman Bino adaptor. I had to send them off to get the adaptor installed. That was $100 plus about $100 for shipping when you add insurance for $3,500. Then I had to buy some lanyard adaptors to attach them to my Bino harness. I was ok with that investment since I figured they would be a lifetime set of binos. On my first hunt I got some dirt in the focus knob. I could not get it cleaned out. It was so gummed up it was hard to turn. Now I just shipped them back to Swaro for service. Another $100 in shipping. I’m kind of disappointed at this point.

Yeah, some camo bushnells would have saved you a lot of dough, since they’re camo, you know they’re for hunting and not bird watching.

Binos are just one of those things, good ones are very expensive and fragile, I just accept it and try to be careful… if that is not acceptable, buy cheaper binos that have the accessories you want, some even have a no fault warranty, but you are going to compromise elsewhere, nothing is ever perfect unfortunately

 

[Reed104R]

Back to the birding forums…. I have never tried the Vortex UHD’s but on those forums they say the clarity compares to the Swaro ( much to my surprise).

In this case, the birders are correct. Vortex has come a long way.

 

[roosiebull]

Back to the birding forums…. I have never tried the Vortex UHD’s but on those forums they say the clarity compares to the Swaro ( much to my surprise).

Maybe it is subjective, but I used a pair of the 10x uhd for a season and hated them, they were big and heavy and was disappointed in the view.

They were clear, but it was like they lost contrast, the color was not there. I was using older slc’s prior to that, and from those went to kowa genesis 10.5x44… also big and heavy, but liked the view a lot… big improvement for me.

My wife uses them now, and my main binos are 12x NL, and it will be hard to change from them. I have heard a lot of good about the 18x uhd, but I would have to see it to believe it considering my 10x uhd that I used for a spring bear season through the end of the year

The little decal on the focus knob fell off on day one, so I got that warm vortex feeling right off the bat

 

[100 others]

Maybe it is subjective, but I used a pair of the 10x uhd for a season and hated them, they were big and heavy and was disappointed in the view.

They were clear, but it was like they lost contrast, the color was not there. I was using older slc’s prior to that, and from those went to kowa genesis 10.5x44… also big and heavy, but liked the view a lot… big improvement for me.

I had the 10x UHD's for a little while too. Same exact experience prior to returning them. They're possibly the best at CA control I've seen and sharpness was there, but it was just a boring image with no contrast pop or unique color hue. Plus the weight... no thanks. I can see why AK prisms aren't popular in the alphas.

 

[Weldor]

I've had Leica's , Swaro's and Zeiss. Even bought a pair of Bushnell rf bino's once. All I can say is the Alpha glass is very good and there is no going back for me. I am currently using Zeiss Rf 10 x 42 and they are very great. As I get older I'm probably looking at 12x50's probably will be Swaro's..

 

[BXB77]

This must be where the “bird watcher” part comes in. What cheap bino harness requires a lanyard purchase, unless one wants some 3’ retractable lanyard, when he puts it on the tripod. All the decent bino harnesses I’ve used had the easy to use quick disconnect buckles.

The reason I say they are designed for birdwatchers is they are not designed for use with a bino stud, and the lanyards I am talking about are the straps that keep your binos from falling out of your harness. Typically these just thread in the side of your binos. You have to buy a special adaptor for the Swaros. These are things that most Western hunters use. If you were designing a bino for hunters I would expect that to be considered in the design. The fact that they can't take a little dirt doesn't help the cause.

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

My Meopta B1 Plus 15x56 have been through hell and keep on functioning. Significantly more durable than my Swaro SLC 15x56. I’ve owned 2 pairs of each and the Meoptas are what I’d recommend to anybody who actually uses their gear.

That recommendation does come with a weight and general ergonomics penalty versus the Swaros, but it’s 15 power binos, they are on the tripod 95+% of their life.

I’ve written up a couple direct comparisons between the Swaro 15x56 and Meopta B1 Plus 15x56… I actually favor the overall Meopta image (mainly color tones and how they handle CA) also long range edge to edge clarity favors Meopta. Pair that with them being on an another level durability wise it’s an easy choice for me.

Still curious to give the NL Pure 12x42 a chance to show its stuff. They’ll be going head to head with the Meoptas on a coues hunt in two weeks.

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

Maybe it is subjective, but I used a pair of the 10x uhd for a season and hated them, they were big and heavy and was disappointed in the view.

They were clear, but it was like they lost contrast, the color was not there. I was using older slc’s prior to that, and from those went to kowa genesis 10.5x44… also big and heavy, but liked the view a lot… big improvement for me.

My wife uses them now, and my main binos are 12x NL, and it will be hard to change from them. I have heard a lot of good about the 18x uhd, but I would have to see it to believe it considering my 10x uhd that I used for a spring bear season through the end of the year

The little decal on the focus knob fell off on day one, so I got that warm vortex feeling right off the bat

It can be subjective for sure… I used my cousins UHD 18 power Vortex binos on a tripod last year on a coues hunt in AZ. Used them side by side with my Meopta 15s.

I was very disappointed in several aspects of that particular pair of Vortex 18s. The Meopta was superior in every single aspect of trying to find deer. But my cousin is great with them and glasses up a lot of animals.

I had 4 different very experienced Coues hunters look through both sets of binos while hunting. 4 out of 4 preferred the Meopta on that particular day on that particular mountainside.

 

[JGRaider]

I'd trust a coues' hunter's experience well before a birdwatcher dude. YMMV.

 

[svivian]

The reason I say they are designed for birdwatchers is they are not designed for use with a bino stud, and the lanyards I am talking about are the straps that keep your binos from falling out of your harness. Typically these just thread in the side of your binos. You have to buy a special adaptor for the Swaros. These are things that most Western hunters use. If you were designing a bino for hunters I would expect that to be considered in the design. The fact that they can't take a little dirt doesn't help the cause.

The adapters your are referring to comes with every pair they sell….. I’ll bet it’s in the box if you kept it.

 

[JohnJohnson]

I'd trust a coues' hunter's experience well before a birdwatcher dude. YMMV.

I used 10x50 ELs for coues hunting last month and they did great.

 

[Fatcamp]

That's been my experience as well. I complain all the time about how heavy those little brick 10x42s are, but I don't know how many times I have dropped them, fell off a tripod, out of the truck etc and they are still going. I guess I should stop complaining

Last weekend I dropped my Meostars several times out of my harness and used them, lens down for a rear rest to take my shot.

Haven't checked them since then. At least the shot was on grass and soft ground.

 

[4th_point]

The reason I say they are designed for birdwatchers is they are not designed for use with a bino stud, and the lanyards I am talking about are the straps that keep your binos from falling out of your harness.

The tripod exit design has been around for awhile, and I'm not sure it was ever designed for any particular user whether hunter, birder, spectator, etc. Some models have it and others don't. I bet most never get put to use, except astro binocs.

I like the bino stud for tripod mounting, but Swaro reps that I have talked to don't recommend it. They told me that they have seen it cause collimation issues.

Swaro released an open bridge with the EL and a lot of people loved it when it came out, right? It looked different and felt different. I don't recall tripod mounted binocs being all that popular with hunters back then, but could be wrong. It seems more popular now.

Anyway, I do recall Swaro marketing the SLC for hunters though. Primarily a slower focuser and slightly yellow cast for low light contrast with big game in mind.

And, if I recall correctly, the EL were marketed towards birders. Faster focus for rapidly moving objects and more neutral cast. Plus field flatteners.

So in a way, I think that you are correct. Your EL was designed for birders in a sense. But I don't think it has anything to do with the tripod exit or lack of.