Anyone Regret Going from 15x56 to 12x50?

[Beendare]

Yeah the 8x is a poor choice for AZ. Your best option for a primary bino will be a good quality 10x or 12x And good tripod.

Im lucky to be able to afford any setup I want. I use my 10x Swaros paired with a Meopta 15x and Sirui CF tripod and wouldnt change.

I for sure wouldnt swap the meoptas for the vortex 12x.....maybe yes if its the swaro 12x And I didnt already have a good 10x.


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[Hatchet Jack]

Man I’m in same boat right now. I’m either going 12 ELs or 15 SLCs. I primarily backpack hunt highcountry so the weight savings of the ELs is nice. In general seems most people like the 15s over the 12s.

I spent a week with both the 12 ELs and 15 SLCs comparing in the field in a variety of conditions and light. I determined that you can't go wrong with either. The ELs have better color and edge clarity, the SLCs are bright but almost have a bit of washed out look to me compared to the ELs, but it's minimal. The 15s are obviously going to reach out just a bit farther. In the end I stayed with the ELs as my all purpose bino. I also like not having to decide which pair i'm going to glass with when i'm up on a glassing knob; i just throw the 12s on the tripod and get after it, near or far they do great.

 

[Hoodie]

I went from 15x56 Kaibabs to 12x50 Meostars at one point (I wouldn't call them apples to apples glass quality wise). I'm packing 10x42 and a spotter now, but I like 12x50 way better than 15x56. Better FOV and noticeably brighter at last light. Not to mention you can get by with just 12s and cut weight. Hard to freehand 15s so most need an additional bino for chest carry.

 

[Tmcgarrigle]

Man I’m in same boat right now. I’m either going 12 ELs or 15 SLCs. I primarily backpack hunt highcountry so the weight savings of the ELs is nice. In general seems most people like the 15s over the 12s.

It all depends what kind of country you are hunting. A lot of the guys commenting that they would never give up their 15's are coues hunters. It also depends on if you are going to pack a spotting scope. When you want to save weight, 12's are a hard option to beat. Extra magnification especially when put on a tripod.

 

[Smokey12]

I used to soley carry 15 meoptas. Went to 12 meoptas because I like to hold them and use a tripod. Has anyone switched 18s? I wanted to sell the 15s and buy 18s for my pack but thought fov would be too narrow. Now I am thinking of going back to 15s..Anyone have any advice?

 

[Turkeygetpwnd38]

It’s funny this got revived because I was having the same thoughts while in AZ this week. I was swapping between my 10 ELs and the 15 SLCs and really like the ELs better. I was debating about possibly selling the 15s and getting the 12x50 ELs. Then, i spotted antler tips sticking a few inches out of the grass at 500 yards. I don’t think I would of found this buck in his bed without the 15s. I think i’ll stick with what I have!
I do agree though if you aren’t a Coues hunter or desert mule deer, you’d probably do just fine with the 12s.

 

[100%DIYazCOUES]

8x32 and 15x56 for me, mostly spot and stalk coues hunting. I spent years using only 12x50, and found a ton of deer. Having said that you just can’t beat the 15s for glassing up coues. The 8x32 are shockingly effective on a tripod for scanning with wide field of view. Most importantly, the 8x32 are PERFECT for one handed glassing while closing the distance within bow hunting distances

 

[Fins_N_Tines]

It all depends what kind of country you are hunting. A lot of the guys commenting that they would never give up their 15's are coues hunters. It also depends on if you are going to pack a spotting scope. When you want to save weight, 12's are a hard option to beat. Extra magnification especially when put on a tripod.

Yeah man I’m Leaning towards EL 12s. I hunt mostly highcountry backpacking and having only one piece of glass is huge for me. I am not looking to count inches so in a lot of situations I will only pack the 12s and tripod them up. I can always pair with a spotter.

 

[Dhicklin]

Yeah the 8x is a poor choice for AZ. Your best option for a primary bino will be a good quality 10x or 12x And good tripod.

Im lucky to be able to afford any setup I want. I use my 10x Swaros paired with a Meopta 15x and Sirui CF tripod and wouldnt change.

I for sure wouldnt swap the meoptas for the vortex 12x.....maybe yes if its the swaro 12x And I didnt already have a good 10x.


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I had some 15x for coues hunting paired with a chest set of 10x. I use the 12.5x50 GPOs with the 85 vortex spotter. I think I ended up gaining weight with going to the spotter but I am digging the 12s
and spotter combo. Would be tough for me to go back to 15s.


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[Fatcamp]

Traded my 8x for 10x and 15x for 12x. All Meostar.

Digging those 12x. I just don't want to carry a bunch of stuff.

 

[Str8shooter]

Ive used my 12ELs side by side with my brother using 15 SLCs for a couple seasons now for elk, mule deer and pronghorn from the Alpine zone down to sagebrush flats. I was sure at first that Id be giving up my 12s to go the 15 route. While he can pick out the occasional far off animal that I cant quite make out, total numbers of game spotted from the tripod between us over 3 seasons are about equal. The improved color, clarity and field flattened lenses of the 12s have allowed me to better discern parts of animals by seeing subtle texture or color changes like a muley rump or antler reflections a bit more readily. With the 15s he is admittedly able to see elk at stupid distances, like 6 miles or bedded muleys at 2 miles, but he is also often looking past areas Im dissecting with the 12s. But he is also carrying low tier 10s and so walking and spot checking areas, I usually outspot him there. For a 90% tripod, 10% handhold user, in a diversity of environments in the intermountain west, the 12x50 ELs are at or near the peak optic for me. If I was a 100% tripod user or just hunting desert/sagebrush Id possibly go with the 15s but again, would need another optic for handheld checks.

 

[Blue72]

15x and 12x have two distinct advantages and are hard to replace the other. You have to pick what works best for you

big views in binoculars start at 15x but you need a tripod

12x can still be handheld, work great mounted, smaller form factor, and is great for someone who only wants to bring one optic for everything. But it won’t have those big views 15x has