Oh, no. Where did this thread come from?
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How about a thread on anything optics related,,
from binoculars/monoculars, hunting scopes, spotting scopes & everything else.
What you have, what you are looking to get, what you used them for or adventures, reviews, general questions and tips.
~all welcome
pictures = :thumbsup:
I fell into the optics rabbit hole over a decade ago.
I'd had cheap 7x35s when I was a kid, and had used Steiner 7x50s in the military. They were the only "real" bins I'd used, so I suppose it was natural that I bought Steiner Military/Marine 8x30s for personal use. Had those for maybe 15 years, and at some point became interested in upgrading.
Getting into optics had a lot in common with flashlights, but if you want to see people freaking out over binoculars, you go to a birding forum.
Much like with flashlights, cheap is cheap, no matter what. There were lots of budget options that got rave reviews, but didn't hold a candle to higher quality products.
In barely a year, I went through:
Browning 8x32(Bushnell Legend)
Eagle Optics 7x50 and Ranger 8x32
Pentax PCF WP 7x50
Pentax DCF SP 8x32 and 12.5x50
Steiner Safari 8x22
Vortex Razor HD 8x42
Meopta Meostar 10x42
Pentax DCF ED 8x32
Vortex Stokes DLS 10x42
...and escaped before springing for Meopta's new-at-the-time 8x32s, which were touted as being competitive with Swarovski's EL(Meostars actually *are* competitive with Swaro SLCs, IMO, but the ELs I checked out were like the Holy Grail).
And two spotting scopes:
Leupold 15-30x(ehhh), then Pentax PF65 EDII and a couple of XW eyepieces(awesome), as I briefly flirted with the idea of digiscoping.
I sold off almost all of it, upgrading along the way. The EOs weren't very good, the Razors had quality issues(tried twice), both 7x50 porros had wide FOV, but narrow AFOV, the Safaris were small and light, but sucked(like most compacts-I don't even like the high end ones), while the Meoptas were fantastic, but seemed big and unwieldy, at least as I recall, and suffered from too much CA.
Tripods went to a photographer girlfriend, while the Browning 8x32s(surprisingly good, just needed better coatings like the DCF SP to deal with glare), and a pair of 10x50s I don't remember the specifics of, went to my parents.
The DCF ED and Stokes DLS were maybe "too good" for me(?). Lots of detail, great color separation, much less CA than any of the others. I imagine the problem was me, something to do with my vision or brain, but "glassing" for any length of time was fatiguing for some reason. Like I got sensory overload from my eyes trying to focus on too many things at once. I don't know, it reminded me of looking into a kaleidoscope after a while.
The Pentax DCF SPs always felt comfortable, relaxed, and "right", even if they were inferior to the ED glasses in optical quality, so those are what I kept.
The 12.5s(and a monopod with a binocular rest) live in my kitchen, and are mostly used for watching birds, squirrels, and the expressions on the faces of my neighbors' dogs.
I often take the 8x32s places I'm being touristy, sporting events, out on open water, and occasionally when dayhiking in certain places.
Sometimes I still wish for a compact 20-22mm bin when backpacking out West, like when I see a mountain goat or bighorn sheep, but that's rare enough to keep me from buying any.
It's hard when you're constantly reading about things that are "better" online, then going and auditioning bins with quadruple digit price tags, but I probably should have stopped with the DCF SPs, as I was mostly content with them.
I'd still like a pair of those $900 8x32 Meopta MeoStars, though.
Thanks for the reminder...I think:ironic:
^^not happening!
