After owning some 15 binos I noticed that brightness and sharpness are probably most important to me, most of these bins are 6x-8x binos and they gave me good performance for the money. Best I own is Pentax DCF WP 8x42, but I wanted more power so I went for 10x and bought Minox IF 9.5x42 which was not satisfactory: colors appear pale, terrible stray-light suppression, in some situations you see circle of white light at the edge, and bad eye-releif, which was supposed to be 19mm, constantly press bino against eye-glass. My next 10x was Fuji CD which gives very good performance in middle of sunny day, bright and sharp but as soon as bright day turns to overcast bino turns noticably and distractingly dim. I actualy get impression as though bino is not FMC and phase coated, image turns from bright to yellow.
I have never owned alpha bino and I doubt I ever will, so my question is what mid-priced 10x bino can you suggest me. How much diffrence is there supposed to be in terms of brightness between 8x42 and 10x42?
Thanx.
The Vortex Viper 10 x 42 is often considered to be the brightest and sharpest midpriced 10 power binocular out there. Check out the comments in this thread:
http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=68081
But an 8 x 42 is going to be brighter. I recall one thread here in which it was reported that the Viper 8 x 42 was noticeably brighter than even the Swarovski EL 10 x 42.
I use the Viper 8 x 42 myself. I prefer eight power binoculars. The 8 x 42 has excellent eye relief, but I am not sure about the 10 x 42 -- it is listed at 16.5 mm. Reviews recommend even the 10 x 42 viper for eyeglass wearers though.
Hope this helps,
Jim
Hi Buff, if you really want to treat yourself to top-class 10x optics at a lower than middle range price, get yourself a pair of Nikon EII 10x35. I got a pair a few months ago and can only agree with all the wonderful things that have been said about them. Optics as good as "top of the range" 10x bins I have owned, much smaller, much lighter, equally as sharp and bright, much wider FOV. The downside is they're not waterproof, they're porros (if you consider that a downside!) and they aren't widely available anymore. But there are a few online stores that still have some, Acecameras of Bath in the UK is one. Apparently they are also still on sale in Japan. They cost me about 370 euro.