Mid Range Priced Binos

[83mulligan]

Hey everyone,

Been looking to upgrade my Leupold Mojave Binos for my Wyoming trip. I'm not going to spend the coin to go to alpha glass at this point. I'd like to. I can't afford the divorce. I'm not an expert in binos and don't care too much about splitting hairs over CA, Rolling Ball, Pincushion, etc. I'm looking for a solid pair that is not a lateral move from my 5 year old BX-3 Mojave from Leupold.

I looked through quite a bit of glass and narrowed it down to two I really liked. The Vortex Viper 10 x 42 impressed me outdoors. It was nice and bright and clear glass. The other pair I really liked and was going to purchase was the Zeiss Conquest. However, I stopped at another two stores and the Conquests I looked through outdoors had a "wavy" view that I could not focus out and it concerns me that two of the three pairs of conquests I looked through had this. I'm not sure if its in my eyes or an alignment issue. On one pair the diopter setting was nearly maxed out in one direction. I have good eyes and do not wear glasses.

Anyone have field experience with either of these? Thank you.

 

[rileybassman]

I have both, my wife uses the vipers and I use the conquests. The Zeiss are the better binos, but not by a huge margin. I have not had any wavy issues with either... My Zeiss diopter is just barely off center and I can focus near and far with it. They have a five year no fault warranty, I had a small scratch on my lens and I had a new pair within two weeks.

We like both pairs a lot... We agree the conquests are better - clearer and slightly better at low light, again not by a huge margin. You can find open box demos for a couple hundred off to make it more cost effective as well.

Either pair will be a nice upgrade. I went from a monarch 5 to the Zeiss and it was a pretty significant step up and don't feel ill really have a desire to upgrade anytime soon.

 

[RCA Dog]

My thoughts basically echo rileybassman's. A friend of mine has the conquests for hunting, and the vipers stay in his truck all year. I have a bit of time behind both, and personally, I like the ergonomics of the vipers, but the view through the conquests is a bit better. Low light is where you start to notice differences though, and we tested it. As the sun was setting, we picked a target area and decided to watch until we couldn't see detail anymore. We had his vipers, conquests, and my swaro 8x42 slc. (Granted, that's cheating a little, as the exit pupil is larger on the 8x42, and all the others were 10x42) The binos got put down in the exact same order. There were 4 of us looking through, rotating, so I think it's a pretty fair comparison. But we all thought that for the money, the vortex was hard to beat.

 

[rileybassman]

Out of curiosity RCA Dog, since I have not spent much time behind the SLC, how do the conquests and SLC compare at low light... Meaning how much longer could you glass with the SLC for example?

 

[83mulligan]

Thanks guys, good info. I'm going to get another look at both in an outdoor setting. I'm not sure what the deal was with the conquests I checked out the second time. maybe just a bum pair. I was surprised the diopter setting was maxed out in one direction. Perhaps that's an indication something wasn't right. I want to make sure before I make my choice. I appreciate the feedback you have given me.

 

[WRO]

Meopta meostars, nikon monarch 7s are 2 good options or used alpha glass..

 

[charvey9]

I think the Leupold are a great value for the money. I've owned a few different pair.

 

[MuleyFever]

You mentioned Vipers and there is a set in the classifieds in a sealed box.

 

[NVCHUKAR]

You can get a pair of vortex razors open box for 950 from elknut, i just placed an order last night. Should be a nice upgrade from my diamond backs

 

[jim thorpe]

Looking very hard at Vortex. I'm not that familiar with them but I have been hearing a lot of positive feedback.

 

[Clarktar]

I had a pair of vortex razors. They got stolen while I was in portland. Just realized they were missing from truck yesterday. I liked them, and plan on replacing them with the same when I get some disposable funds.

 

[shaun]

Don't throw out the cabelas Euro series made by meopta. Great glass to be had for a great price. They are Meopta Meostars with different badges

 

[rileybassman]

Don't throw out the cabelas Euro series made by meopta. Great glass to be had for a great price. They are Meopta Meostars with different badges

They Euro HDs are very nice glass... a little better then the Zeiss I would say, but HEAVY and look crazy
I almost went with them over the Zeiss, but the ergos, weight, and sale kept me with Zeiss.

 

[hodgeman]

I've been using the Talon HD 10x42s for a couple of years. Love them. Great optics for a price I'm not afraid to get out and hunt hard with.

 

[eagle#eyes]

Not sure if I missed it or not but is there a specif dollar range? I have some Monarch 7's that are awesome for the price and to me were better than the Vortex Vipers, cheaper also. They aren't as good as my SLC HD's, but are great for the price. I also looked at the Conquest and thought those were great as well.

 

[RCA Dog]

Rileybassman.... Honestly, only a few minutes, maybe 10 ??? as the sun was already long gone. The detail was still there, right up until the end. I should point out, too, to the OP, that I was not wearing my contact lenses, and my buddy was wearing his glasses, and we had no trouble adjusting the diopters of any of the three binos we were playing with.

 

[WestNE]

Another vote for the Meostar/ Cabelas HD. I just picked up a pair of Cabelas HD 8x32's, if budget is at all a concern you can save $300 with the 32's and they had the same warm easy to focus view as the 42's. I could have gone with a 10 in the larger model but I likely won't miss the magnification.

I compared them to the 42mm conquests and razor, to me for the savings in size the decision was a no brainer, especially at the lower price.
Nick

 

[pyroducksx3]

I think the khales binoculars are some of the most underrated binos on the market. I have a set that is like 5 or more years old and I have yet to find anything that blows them away.

 

[83mulligan]

Not sure if I missed it or not but is there a specif dollar range? I have some Monarch 7's that are awesome for the price and to me were better than the Vortex Vipers, cheaper also. They aren't as good as my SLC HD's, but are great for the price. I also looked at the Conquest and thought those were great as well.

I want to spend less than a grand. Otherwise, I'd just pony up and get a set of Swarovskis.

 

[83mulligan]

I think i need to take all your suggestions and look through a few pairs again, in an outside environment. I appreciate all the input! I am going to call Elknut as well and see what he has in stock. I think his stock is pretty low right now according to the website.

Question: Is the "wavy" appearance I saw on a couple binos what experts call "rolling ball"? It was kind of annoying and ruined the sharpness of the view.