10x vs 12x Binoculars – I Went Too Big

[spinninggriller]

Switched from 10x42 to 12x50 last season thinking it’d be better for mule deer in open country. Big mistake. Shaky hands, smaller FOV, and heavier neck strain after glassing all morning.
Sold the 12x and went back to 10x with a tripod adapter. Sometimes “more power” is just more trouble.

 

[sndmn11]

8x for the win

 

[StupidLightweight]

There is no perfect power, but for most applications, people use more Xs than they should. As you found out, that comes with consequences. Where i grew up hunting in the jungles of Western Washington, 6X is better than 10X, and 7X or 8X is likely the sweet spot. Now that i live and hunt in Wyoming, I find 10X to be a pretty good compromise, but there are times where a 12X or 15X makes a big difference.

For years, carried an 8X on my chest and 15Xs and a tripod in my pack. That was heavy but it covered all the bases. If i were starting from scratch today, i'd likely go with a 12X or 14X image stabilized binos. You still have the field of view limitations, but the IS technology eliminates any shake during use. It's amazing.

 

[Kauaihunter]

Quality glass beats higher magnifcation. 8x beats my old 10x42 and a spare 12x50 that I still have.

 

[PathFinder]

Unless they're NLs...
A compact, RF 8x and a 15x on a tripod may be the more optimum combination. But the NL 12s are hard to top with their size, weight, ergonomics, and FOV for a single bino.

Sent from my Pixel 10 using Tapatalk

 

[Steve300xcw]

I was happy with 10's until I got a tripod. Then came the 15's. Now my 10's need to turn into 8's

 

[ElPollo]

My 12x get used mostly off a tripod or window mount with an outdoorsman’s stud. I do use them handheld on occasion but not often free-standing. They work pretty well resting on a hard surface or sitting with elbows on knees. But binos of 12x plus are specialized tools for finding game.

 

[Wrench]

I have about everything and I'm rarely carrying anything buy my 8x42s.

They're everything I need and nothing I don't.

 

[Hnthrdr]

I own NL 12x I love them… but there are times when I wish I 10x or 8x like archery hunting… but for general glassing rifle hunting the 12’s are amazing! Especially off a tripod

 

[Pronghunter]

I must be the opposite. I absolutely love my 12x EL Rnage. And that’s coming from almost exclusively running 8x54 and 8x56 Swaro SLC and Zeiss RF. The 12’s is where it’s at for me.
Rarely off a tripod too.

 

[cjallen4]

vortex viper 10x42 here over the rest of my group running 12x50 diamondback. tried to tell everyone 12x is just to much typically for us here on the eastern side of the US

 

[5MilesBack]

I own NL 12x I love them… but there are times when I wish I 10x or 8x like archery hunting…

Ya, I have a pair of Kahles 8x32's that I take bowhunting. But most the time I just use my 7x Leica RF for the minimal glassing I do.

I don't think I've ever been rifle hunting and said "I wish I had less power bino's". I always use my 10's for that. Even the last day of archery this year, I glassed up a big bull all by himself above timberline mid-morning over a mile away and all I had was my RF. I wish I had had 10's, 12's, or 15's at that point.

 

[Hnthrdr]

Ya, I have a pair of Kahles 8x32's that I take bowhunting. But most the time I just use my 7x Leica RF for the minimal glassing I do.

I don't think I've ever been rifle hunting and said "I wish I had less power bino's". I always use my 10's for that. Even the last day of archery this year, I glassed up a big bull all by himself above timberline mid-morning over a mile away and all I had was my RF. I wish I had had 10's, 12's, or 15's at that point.

My feelings exactly, I feel over gunned trying to still hunt timber but in open country I have never wanted less magnification

 

[mainbeam pursuit2]

I went from 12x42 NLs to 10s, sometimes I think I should have went to 8s. Love 15s on a tripod. Sometimes it seems like I'm always looking for the next best thing.

 

[waspocrew]

12x NL Pure are my favorite by far. Very comfortable in the hand, FOV makes it seem like 10x. Very happy with mine. I’m adding the new Revics to the mix though. It’s nice to consolidate and not carry a separate RF.

 

[Steve300xcw]

Sometimes it seems like I'm always looking for the next best thing.

This is a real thing. I love my 15's but catch myself wondering if a big set of 12's might not edge them out for what I do