Bino Upgrade - hunting.

[HBroomfield]

Good binoculars will always be the answer.
That said, what kind of budget are you looking at?
Swarovski and Leica are both better than your Nikons but better enough for you to spend the money?
I love my little Swarovski 10x32 ELs but I'm not hunting with them or I would probably have a pair of 10x42s. I almost bought a pair of Leica 10x42 Silverline after I had the Swarovski just because they were so nice, but cooler heads prevailed.

If you can go touch them to compare it will help you a lot.

If you are near Red Deer, come see me at McBain and I can show you some to compare. I don't have any Leica here, but can get them to see easily enough with a heads up.

Hope it helps.

[Rickster123]

You have probably not heard of them but Kowa makes great binoculars. I have the 10x33 Genesis Prominar XD and I would put them against Swaro, Leica and Zeiss. They are a a bit lower cost for equivalent high end optics. I also have a Kowa spotting scope, which is very highly rated by birders.

If you're in Calgary, we can meet and you can compare my binos to your Nikons.

[Sundog57]

My experience... Swaro EL = "Who turned on the lights"?
This after a side by side comparison of Pentax, Nikon, Leica and Swaro - all looking at the same animal.
I like 'em
Buy once, cry for about a week, get over it.

[Arctic]

I always told clients that if they didn't have a good pair, to buy Swaro and they'd never have to replace.
I have a couple pair that are 30 years old and still doing a fine job of spotting.

[birdseye]

I went with Leica after trying swarovski,Zeiss.Leica was the clearest and sharpest contrast with me left eye stigmatism.Ive had bushnel,vortec,nikon and leupold and will never purchase lower end glass again.Sure the lower end glass all have great waranty,problem is they need it

[stob]

X 2 on the Kowa...I forgot about them...idk why nikon cannot put out binos on par with the big Europeans...they know to make glass you would think

[jayquiver]

I've have owned a pair Kowa's, 6.5x32mm BDII-XD PROMINAR. They were "ok" but they were only $500. Bought them for bow hunting and sold them, edge to edge clarity wasn't what I was after. Not sure what models from Kowa would compete with Leica or Swarovski.

I am interested in Kowa spotting scopes when the time comes for that purchase.

Right now I am leaning heavily towards Swarovski el 8.5x42, retailing for $2400 which seems like good value compared to the NL Pure's and Leica Notovids...without giving up too much, from what I understand.

The other model i am considering on the used market is the Leica Ultravids HD (not the HD+). But from the online reviews it seems the EL's are better then them.

Hard to tell without seeing them all in one place.

[Dean2]

Kowa is good glass but it is Nikon grade not Leica or Swaro. You can buy Steiner or Nikon for quite a bit less and have equal or better glass, bino or spotter. I have used their spoters and binos side by side with the top three. Good, but not as good, especially at distance or in the dark. Their is a good reason most European hunters use Swaro or Leica for night hunting, manty places night vision for night hunting isnt legal.

You never see Kowa on the night hunting guns or in binos used at night, and if it was better, it would be there. For these guys, price is absolutely no object or consideration it really is all about performance. Hunt with guys that can afford whatever they want and who will change out multi thousand dollars of gear for the last sintella of delivered performance and you get to see what really workks. Many of these guys hunt 200 days a year in all conditions, they aren't following trends or other peoples opinions, they are buying on delivered results.

[jayquiver]

My new binos arrived today. Swarovski EL 8.5x42.

Thanks for all the replies. I think these will be a perfect fit for how I hunt.

[elkhunter11]

Originally Posted by Dean2

Kowa is good glass but it is Nikon grade not Leica or Swaro. You can buy Steiner or Nikon for quite a bit less and have equal or better glass, bino or spotter. I have used their spoters and binos side by side with the top three. Good, but not as good, especially at distance or in the dark. Their is a good reason most European hunters use Swaro or Leica for night hunting, manty places night vision for night hunting isnt legal.

You never see Kowa on the night hunting guns or in
binos used at night, and if it was better, it would be there. For these guys, price is absolutely no object or consideration it really is all about performance. Hunt with guys that can afford whatever they want and who will change out multi thousand dollars of gear for the last sintella of delivered performance and you get to see what really workks. Many of these guys hunt 200 days a year in all conditions, they aren't following trends or other peoples opinions, they are buying on delivered results.

You don't see Kowa riflescopes , because Kowa doesn't make riflescopes. Their binoculars are more mid range, not high end, but their top line binocular is a level above Steiner and Nikon. They do make top end spotting scopes that compare very favorably to the best Swarovski , Zeiss and Leica. I bought a Kowa spotting scope instead of Swarovski or Leica, after comparing all three, because I preferred the Kowa, and it was a bit cheaper. Many target shooters are now using Kowa, and they are very popular and very highly rated by birdwatchers, who are even fussier about spotting scopes than most hunters or target shooters.

[Big Lou]

Originally Posted by jayquiver

My new binos arrived today. Swarovski EL 8.5x42.

Thanks for all the replies. I think these will be a perfect fit for how I hunt.

Excellent selection. Those are very nice eyes. I’m on my second set of 10x42 ELs. A buddy has exactly what you purchased and think I almost prefer the 8.5x. I really want to look through a set of 8x56 SLCs. I think those might be the perfect eyes. But, I have to buy a pair just to try them.

[TBark]

I might dive into some pricey high-end and glass some day.
But I’m just the middle of the road glass guy for now.
I have the vortex viper 10x42.

Previous to that, (12 yrs ago now) I had a pair of Celestron granite 10x50s.
The focus went out on them last year and just on the offhand chance that they were covered, I sent out for some help and believe it or not they replace them with a new pair of Celestron Regal ED 10x50s.

The Regals are worth a few hun less than the Vipers, but I was quite impressed with them.

So I have a pretty good second set of binoculars now.

TBark

[waldedw]

I still use my 40 year old Bausch and Lomb 8 x 42 that the wife bought for my 30th birthday from Smoky's Sports on Argyll Road in Edmonton before John sold the store to Wolf and it became Wolf's Guns, they will do me for the rest of my days

[Ray Ray]

I used to use Steiner Binos until a few years back .I had a Buck bed down 300 yards from me in some brush . I could not determine brush from antler unless he moved his head . All good in the end when he finally got outa bed. The experience lead me to purchasing Zeiss HD . I now have clearer glass with defined separation and leaps ahead in low light

[H380]

I've had my eye on conquest 10x42 from Zeiss for a couple years now , Cabelas reg price $1499 but every few months they go to 1299 on wild Wednesday.. checked Amazon and they are 1250 -1499... Flash came over the FB ad site that one of their sellers on Amazon was at $500 , a savings of 61 %.. after placing my order I received and e mail from Amazon saying my purchase had been canceled because of fraudulent claims by the seller ,never lost my money ..somethings are too good to be true . Seller still has them on there for same price ,i would think the ad should have been taken down

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