what size bino's

stav

Well-Known Member
hi guy's, right i,m new to furom and new to deer stalking (not been yet lol) but just in the process of doing my dsc1 and applying for my fac. after turning up on my dsc1 with my 25 quid skeggy market bino's i,m after some decent one's. i now know all the makes but was wondering what peoples choice are on size for stalking. cheers stav
 
Hey .. you should have seen Wadas admiring my 4 quid ebay ones in Sutherland the other year.. just before he missed them 3 times!! with his .270 :rofl:
 
Try as many pairs as you can before you buy any, gamefairs are good for this.

7 or 8 x 42 would be a common choice.
 
Hi stav welcome,if I had to be limited to just one size bino for everything I guess I would opt for the 7x42 they are probably the easiest to use on the eyes, wide field of view excellent light transmission and very little in the way of supplementary focusing when in field use, ideal especially for woodland stalking :thumb:
 
7-8.5x 42's

If you buy budget porro prisms you'll get good service out of decent 7x42's if you buy expensive roof prisms (the ones with the straight cans) you can still make good use of 8 and 8.5 power even in failing light.

How good is your scope?

Nothing worse than seeing clearly through the bins and losing out because of the scope.

If it's shooting at dusk we're talking about I'd argue the top bins and scopes are almost too good. You'll be able to see much more through good glass than with your naked eye, so you better have a dog on hand to find any runners, cos it'll probably be too dark to see much yourself 10 mins after you take that late shot.
 
I'd start with your budget. £120 will get you Nikon 10x 25 Sportstar Ex which will do 95% of whatever you are likely to want while their Monarchs in 10x 42 DCF at £320 is about as much as you need to spend to get to 99.9%. You can go to 50mm objectives for low light but with extra bulk and after that it is pretty much chasing marginal improvements for maximum dosh. It is a bit like Hi Fi. How good are your ears?
 
I have just bought a pair Minox 8x42 and I find them great but thats me coming from a pair of Jessop's own brand where I had to shut one eye when looking though! There are some good deals on them now for £120 ish. Sportsman were selling them at £400 at one point I belive.
 
I have some zeiss victory's 10x42 and they are really bright at dusk never has any of my clients seen later than me with these.
Fabulous they are and very light weight to.
regards john
 
The Royal Navy used to use 7x50's as "night" binoculars, but they are a bit big and heavy for every day use. Anything from 7x40 (including the 8x30) up to 10x44 will suit normal stalking use. There are some bargain bino's that perform well, if you look in the Equipment & Accessories section you will find quite a few threads on this subject. This one in particular is well worth a read, http://www.thestalkingdirectory.co....73-Binos-on-a-shoestring&highlight=binoculars

It is easy to say you ought to buy Leica, Swarovski or Zeiss, and some cannot resist seeming to exercise their one-upmanship, but not everyone can justify the expenditure. So have a look at Opticron or my personal favourite, Minox. Do not discount Porro-Prism bins just because everyone is buying Roof-Prism's. Porros are slightly wider and often a little heavier but optically they are supposed to produce a better image according to the scientists. I have just bought a pair of 10 x44 BD-BP Minox bins for less than £150 delivered which, having looked through some, I consider a bit of a bargain :)

Simon
 
cheers for all the replys, been offered some leica ultravid 8x42. picked them up today on trail and i,m very impressed but compared to skeggy market one's that would not be hard lol. £350 is this a good price got afew scratchs on casing but lense's are good.cheers stav
 
I have a pair of Opticron I magics 10 x 42 with Porro prisms I paid 60 of your english quids for :D they are really good and my mate who I was up in Scotland with last year borrowed them to look at a long range deer that sadly his Leicas in 8 x 42 didn't pick up
Excellent low light capability you do not need to pay stupid money unless you stalk every day for a living, the new Minox are awesome, and really light I am saving for a pair now and having compared to the other brands they just do not do it for me now, top money German glass is good and a few years ago they were top of the tree but now as with scopes I just cannot see the difference .. other than a grand or so for the designer stalkers, go really well with french wellies at 200 pounds a pair ...:D
 
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