My quest for "the one"

[Shrek]

Trophyhunt , have you looked at the cameralandny demo list ? I just saw some 10x42 hd slc for @$1850 and a bunch of zeiss and meopta binoculars also. Link in from their add in the classified's.

 

[GrantMan]

Nice write up, very informative. I am glad you touched on the subject of ergonomics and image shake which I think many people do not take into consideration when choosing a binocular. I have found testing a binocular at night viewing a bright star is a good way to see image shake, the star bouncing in your view will give you a good idea on how steady you are holding the binocular. Because of image shake I like to use a lower powered binocular in junction with a scope. My binoculars are Zen Ray ED2 7X36 and Zeiss FL 7x42 and my scope I use for detail is a Vortex Razor 20-60x85.

 

[trophyhunt]

What about meopta meostar b1? There is a good write up on here about them.

I have never heard of them? I will check it out.

 

[Travis Bertrand]

I have never heard of them? I will check it out.

Go to main Rokslide page and look for the article. The guy who wrote the article doesn't know anything about optics though!(joking)

 

[Matt Cashell]

The 10X42 Meostar B1 is a good binocular, but the 10X42 Meostar HD is a very, very good binocular.

And just FYI trophyhunt: Dr. Horsepower isn't really a doctor ... he just plays one on the internet.

 

[Travis Bertrand]

The 10X42 Meostar B1 is a good binocular, but the 10X42 Meostar HD is a very, very good binocular.

And just FYI trophyhunt: Dr. Horsepower isn't really a doctor ... he just plays one on the internet.

It's fantasyland bb! I'm sorry trophy, the hd is what I was referring to. I'm at the point in my bino search where they all blend together.

Zeiss els, swarovski ht's and Leica slc hds.

 

[trophyhunt]

I went and looked at the el's, slc's and the vortex again today. I am more impressed with the slc's, they didn't have the bubble effect like the el's did. I know it's different in a store but reading this topic they sound like a very good choice. I just can't seem to focus the vortex, I have looked at 4 different vortex bino's and only one of them I could get to focus really well. I have a bid on a pair right now at a certain bidding site, they is a few on there.

 

[JNDEER]

Well I'm quoting myself, after looking at the prices of the slc's at cabelas (2,100) I have already dropped them off my list. Which sucks, but I cannot spent over 2,000 dollars on bino's, so now I'm back to where I started. Razor hd's or Zeiss hd both in 10x42?????? I would love your opinon on these two or anything better in the 1,000 dollar range. Thanks again

I looked a lot through the Razors. The Zeiss conquest HD I put back in the store because the diopter and my goofy eyes were not compatible to well. What I saw in the store was not as clear as the others (razor and cableas euro hd/meopta hd).

If you can get your hands on all 3 (razor hd, conquest hd, meopta or cabelas euro hd).....try and use them in your typical hunting terrain and situations. The differences between in store, outside store, my house and actual hunting terrain produced extreme differences in what I was seeing through the glass not only during daylight but also during last light.

if you cannot at least check them out in store, outside of store and see if you can look at them outside of the store at last light. I had even thought about bringing antlers with me to the store and placing them out at "X" number of yards from where I would be useing the binoculars at. Anything to give me the most realistic type situation I could find. Glassing up a rock or branch is not the same as a deer, elk or antler.

Each of the binos has positive and negatives in different areas as far as being stable in the hand, the actual picture you see in the FOV (brightness, contrast, edge to edge clearity). If your going to drop a grand you owe it to yourself to figure out which ones fit you the best....at least this was the approach I took.

 

[trophyhunt]

We have a cabela's by us so I will go and take another look. I've heard from others that the cabelas euro are good but I never looked at them, I will. I have a bid on some slc's 10x42 going on right now, it's over in 4 days and my max bid is around what I want to spend. My only concern is how old are the bino's I'm bidding on, they are in almost new condition but I would still like to know if they are an older model. Is there a year or certain age of slc's that I should stay away from or shouldn't spend too much money on? Thanks JNDEER, you are the man!

 

[JNDEER]

We have a cabela's by us so I will go and take another look. I've heard from others that the cabelas euro are good but I never looked at them, I will. I have a bid on some slc's 10x42 going on right now, it's over in 4 days and my max bid is around what I want to spend. My only concern is how old are the bino's I'm bidding on, they are in almost new condition but I would still like to know if they are an older model. Is there a year or certain age of slc's that I should stay away from or shouldn't spend too much money on? Thanks JNDEER, you are the man!

I believe I found the ones you are bidding on. It is hard to tell, but after looking at them they appear to be the NEU model, which was the model right before the HD version.
I would ask him which model they are, because he is saying they are the HD model. Get a serial number and call Swarovski, they will look it up for you and make sure they are new, unregistered and not stolen.

It was very hard for me knowing that I had the $$ and not trying to bid on some of the high end binos (I saw an EL swaro and SLC HD newly used go for around $1500 on ebay). But after really looking through each of the binos and finding the ones best for my eyes, I am happy I waited. I not only learned a lot about each of the high end binos, but I can honestly say that I have found the best binocular for my eyes that is on the market today.

To answer your question about the version of SLC models ( I think BB knows this one much better), but the WB is the older model, then the NEU and now the HD. There is not much differences between the NEU and HD from what I have read, but there is enough differences that those who have both or have looked through both say they can see a differences.

 

[Matt Cashell]

There have been a number of changes to the SLC WB over the years including the adding of dielectric prism coatings (Swarobright) and hydrophobic coatings (Swaroclean). The NEU included a redesigned housing and different AR coatings. The SLC HD is an all-new design that incorporates ED objective lenses.

The image differences between the early WB and neu were bigger, IMO, than the differences between the neu and SLC HD, to my eyes, due to the neu's more neutral color.

JNDEER's recommendation to check them out yourself is great advice. I have used many of these binoculars side by side under varying conditions myself, and my opinions vary a little bit from JNDEER's. Which makes sense, since we have different eyes. Some optics just seem to agree better with some eyes than others. Finding the best match for you is the trick.

I agree totally with JNDEER that the binoculars in the 1000-1200 range offer the most bang for the buck, but the 2K and up stuff is still at the top of performance.

 

[trophyhunt]

Thanks again guys, very helpful and great points made. I think I will keep my bid up if that guy is selling the neu model, but I will try to make sure first.

 

[trophyhunt]

I pulled my bid on those bino's, the guy has two different numbers on the pair, one say's it's hd and the other says it not. Anyway, I was told Kahles are made by swarovski, do you guys know anything about this brand?

 

[Shrek]

I have had a Kahles KX scope and I was not impressed with it's low light performance. They were imported by the same company that imports Swarovski but they are a different manufacturer . That distributor dropped kahles and another company picked them up and then they dropped them. Very high quality build but lacked the very top performance. I do not know how their newest products are but they finally have a US distributor again. Not an apples to apples comparison so the best bet would be to look through some as the performance was close. Kahles was about a model generation behind swarovski about four years ago .

 

[trophyhunt]

Interesting, thanks. I have never heard of meopta, I did read the article on this forum and they sound very nice and right up with the slc's. Do you know much about these bino's? Thanks

 

[Ryan Avery]

I have a pair of Kahles binos and I love them. I use them more than my SLC.

 

[Shrek]

Ryan , how old are the Kahles binoculars you have ? Nothing is static in the optics industry and I'm wondering how their newest products are. I think their newest distributor is out of California . Maybe you could track them down and get some for review.

 

[Ryan Avery]

They are about three years old. The new distributor is in north Idaho.

 

[Shrek]

They should do a little promotion and advertise on Rokslide and provide a sample or two for review.

 

[Ryan Avery]

They have and we are working on it