Help - upgrade my binos

lmeyer

WKR
Joined
Jan 9, 2019
Messages
549
Location
LOUISIANA
Currently have nikon monarch "x" 10.5 x 45, chinese glass, probably 10 years old. It's the best glass I've owned, I've only had other lower end nikon and bushnell's in the sub $200 range before that. I'm thinking about upgrading. They are old enough and the "x " in the name make research of comparisons pretty difficult on a web search. I know the buy once cry once mantra but top tier glass isn't doable right now. Primary use is whitetail In The woods but will be used for occasional western mule deer and elk hunt in the future. Budget is Definitely sub $1000, prefer to be lower than that. New or used. What would be a noticable upgrade in that range?
 
Joined
Sep 23, 2018
Messages
1,936
Location
Santa Rosa, CA
Used Meostars or maven B2s would be my pick. Think I paid $750-800 for my 9x45 mavens and couldn’t be happier. Compared them to 8.5x42 ELs this weekend and while the Swaros were better, the difference is not significant enough to justify the cost for me.
 

revcwood

FNG
Joined
Sep 22, 2015
Messages
42
I recently upgraded to Leupold Pro Guide BX-4s. I had a pair of nikon sport 10-50s that my 13 year old inherited, and a pair of vortex diamondback that I used for a few years in the interim. Very noticeable upgrade to the leupolds.
 
Joined
Jan 3, 2021
Messages
70
$500-$600 gets you a fairly decent pair of binoculars. Think Vortex Viper or equivelent as the baseline. If you want to spend more than that, skip the $1000 level, and save up to buy Swarovski or other tier 1 optics for a little more.
 
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lmeyer

WKR
Joined
Jan 9, 2019
Messages
549
Location
LOUISIANA
Any idea of what I could get for my Nikon's if I sold them? That might make that budget stretch a little. Haven been able to find price info on a pair that's sold.
 

Deadfall

WKR
Joined
Oct 18, 2019
Messages
1,526
Location
Montana
Just about anything would be uvrade from nikon...lol...10x50 leupold about as good as anything you going to buy. They work in hardwood whitetail or West mule deer. Tough as nails. Bx4 or little more and get the santiam. Santiams are real good glass.
 
Joined
Jan 14, 2021
Messages
22
I’ve used Leupold BX4 and was happy with them. I can’t compare them to others (Vortex, Maven) so don’t know relative value but overall the Leupold worked well
 
Joined
Jun 12, 2013
Messages
676
I ran the Meopro HD's for a few years until
I upgraded to SLC's and thought they were great. The other ones I would consider under 1k would be Conquest, Nikon HG's, Razors in that order. The BX-4's get a lot of great reviews, but I have never looked through them
 

thinhorn_AK

"DADDY"
Joined
Jul 2, 2016
Messages
10,341
Location
Alaska
Ive been beyond happy with my zeiss conquests. If you look around you can usually find a good used pair for a good price. I got a great deal on mine for about 550.00 but Ive seen lots of them in the 700 dollar range.

I have vortex viper HDs that are also decent, those are closer to the 500 dollar price range.
 
Joined
Jan 15, 2021
Messages
74
Location
Heart of sheep country British Columbia
Currently have nikon monarch "x" 10.5 x 45, chinese glass, probably 10 years old. It's the best glass I've owned, I've only had other lower end nikon and bushnell's in the sub $200 range before that. I'm thinking about upgrading. They are old enough and the "x " in the name make research of comparisons pretty difficult on a web search. I know the buy once cry once mantra but top tier glass isn't doable right now. Primary use is whitetail In The woods but will be used for occasional western mule deer and elk hunt in the future. Budget is Definitely sub $1000, prefer to be lower than that. New or used. What would be a noticable upgrade in that range?
check out Carson binoculars 10x32 3d ed they are exscellent binocs and the price less than 300 dollars new dont let the price scare you they are great optics
 

Bacwest

FNG
Joined
Nov 21, 2017
Messages
59
Maven 9x45 or you can go w/ the maven b1 if looking for cheaper option.

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JonnyB

WKR
Joined
Jan 10, 2018
Messages
614
Location
AK
I just picked up a pair of meopta meostars as a backup pair of 10x binos to my SLC 10x42s and let me tell you, the meostars are neck and neck with my SLCs. I got a smoking deal on my meostars ($350) but they pop up at the 500-600 range. They are honestly your best bet IMO.


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