Are High Power Bino's (15s, 18s) Worth It?

[4th_point]

Has anyone dabbled with the 2x optical doubler? Seems gimmicky but a guy can hope

I don't have experience with the Maven doubler, but have a 2x booster from a different company that I am trying with my 8x42 binoculars. I have found the 2x device handy for a quick look, with my 8x42. Are there downsides? Sure. Do I want to sit and scan with it? No.

However, if you find something with 8x or 10x and need a quick look then adding a 2x booster is a lot faster than getting out a spotting scope and tripod.

As I understand it, the optical quality of modern doublers/boosters is less critical than the quality of the binocular/spotter in front of it. In other words, if you put a doubler/booster behind your optic and it looks like crap... guess which device is subpar? Not the 2x. It's just magnifying problems with the device in front.

 

[ZackP]

I have tried a few low end 15’s. They pair nicely with a set of 8’s but in the end I settled on 12’s and a spotter. It really depends on your hunting situation.

I hunt desert country that’s vast, absolutely HAVE to have a spotter. 12’s are Maven B6 by the way and they’re phenomenal.

 

[Gone4Days]

15x on tripod, 8x on chest.

 

[TheGDog]

10x42 ZEISS Conquest HD on chest usually.
15x56 ZEISS Conquest HD in the pack.

Been very happy with them since finally convinced myself to spend the money. Saved a decent amount buying used here on Rokslide too.

I have to be pretty certain the glassing situation will warrant and need longer distance viewing before I actually bother to bring the 15s anymore. The 10s are just that good and the slightest perceptible bit sharper in the image vs the 15s, (which I'm sure that probably makes sense somehow mathematically too)

Try some top-tier glass in 10x42 first for awhile. Then after you've given it enough time to fully marinate with you... then if need be you can decide between adding 15x vs Spotter... or jumping to only carrying 12x. And I think you'd feel more informed, and more sure about your choice before spending again. If at all.

 

[Pwrhd]

On my Wyoming hunt this year I ran Leica 10x42 geovids, SLC 15 x 56s and an 85 mm swaro spotter. By the end I had put the 15s away. My eyes preferred the Leica glass and the 15s did not add anything for me inside 2 miles. I would prefer a 12x Geovid (if they made them) and the spotter for what I do.

 

[dlee56]

I went with 18s over 15s to be sure to put them in a different class as my SLC 10s. Seems like a lot of people get 15s, don't use them as much as they thought and end up with 12s as a happy medium between 10s and 15s. Hoping the 18s are different enough to put them in a different niche than the 10s/12s.

 

[hunterjmj]

Meopta 10x42's
Meopta 15x's

Always have the 10's on my chest. My 15's are in my pack while mule deer hunting and use them frequently on a tripod. They are easy on my eyes for extended times and I can see a ton of country. I won't hunt without them. I have a Nikon field scope that sits in a tote cause I just can't do the one eye thing anymore.
Can't speak to the mavens but I rented the Swaro 15's before I bought the Meopta. I never had them side X side so I can't give a good comparison but I have zero complaints with either of my Meoptas. They both get a ton of use and are built tough.

 

[hoot504]

Those of you bringing two sets of binos on your hunt, are you carrying a spotting scope too?

 

[TheGDog]

Those of you bringing two sets of binos on your hunt, are you carrying a spotting scope too?

No, not since going the 15s route.

Because my spotter it's a 11-33x50m Vortex angled spotter, and it's a pain lowering everything down, then re-acquiring you target. And w/ the 15s you can scan an opposing ridge hillside nice and naturally since you're still doing so stereoscopically. Covers more area in FOV since you're using two scopes at a time. So you can grind thru terrain twice as fast.

But at some point I may consider buying one of those new Swaro STC spotters, mostly just to save weight. Only because my 10's are that nice, it's amazing, they can handle the great majority of all I'd ever need an optic for. Can hand-hold, or put on tripod and spot deer easily on opposite ridges.

There's a couple of places though that I'll go sometimes, that are DesertHills/PraireHills/OpenCountry that the 15's are just soo meant for though. So those places I'll always make sure to bring the 15s. Otherwise lately most other stuff I just do only the 10s and tripod. It's different with the better upper-mid-or-more tier glass! The greater clarity and especially the depth-of-field! With a pair of Vortex Vultures I had, the depth of field was much more narrow of a band. So if you wanted to see an object in front of or behind the object you're currently in focus on, you're likely going to have to move the focus wheel. The greater depth of field in better binos man... it allows you to already see in front of or behind your point of focus a significant ways and still be in decent focus, so you don't have to fuss with focus wheel as much over the course of the day and this translates into faster times in finding game. That's how you win races man. Little fractional parts of time you shave-off here and there by being more efficient, operating more efficiently. For example I recently switch over to Outdoorsman's pistol grip mount because I realized most of the time I'm just using binos, and it's a significant bit faster to use to whip on target more rapidly in a rush. Much more natural and fast to operate it versus the Micro-Panhead. I did make sure to buy the panner was underneath of it though. And to me this seems like the optimal lightweight setup for somebody that's only gonna use binos and up to like a 65mm spotter. Plus I liked the idea of the slight scooped out notch on one side of the pistol grip for use as a rifle rest because I once used the in-between space on the Vortex 15's in a similar way like a V-notch yoke for the rifle. And you can whip the pistol-grip over to its side to act like a rifle rest stupid quick, so real low lag time in terms of fussing with the device, which I really like.

 

[AZ_Hunter_2000]

Am a firm believer in building an optics arsenal. Never understood why WKRs have safes full of rifles to address every possible hunting situation their minds can dream of, but these same WKRs discover their sense of frugality on their optics and tend to overly compromise on a single pair of binoculars and maybe a spotting scope for 100% of all of their potential hunting needs. I know it is different priorities so the WKRs do not need to get their granny panties all knotted up.

Folks love to talk about this optic for that distance. But they are doing themselves and others a major disservice by not talking about terrain, vegetation, species, lighting conditions, etc. Often times the numbers thrown around are under pretty ideal conditions and do not reflect reality 100% of the time. Optic X with magnification Y may allow you see an animal (ex: bull elk ) at Z miles on a perfectly manicured pasture with awesome light. If that same animal beds down, that same optic may start to let you down. If that same animal is partially to mostly obscured, that same optic may further let you down. Throw in some less than ideal lighting conditions, that same optic may really start to let you down. Now change the animal to a Coues from a bull elk and that same optic may no longer be suitable. Context matters but that tends to be a foreign concept to many people on this forum.

 

[rideold]

Those of you bringing two sets of binos on your hunt, are you carrying a spotting scope too?

No. I just use my 12x50s and a tripod. I don't care about antlers though.....if I was hunting sheep or goats I'd probably want a spotter

 

[hoot504]

Am a firm believer in building an optics arsenal. Never understood why WKRs have safes full of rifles to address every possible hunting situation their minds can dream of, but these same WKRs discover their sense of frugality on their optics and tend to overly compromise on a single pair of binoculars and maybe a spotting scope for 100% of all of their potential hunting needs. I know it is different priorities so the WKRs do not need to get their granny panties all knotted up.

Folks love to talk about this optic for that distance. But they are doing themselves and others a major disservice by not talking about terrain, vegetation, species, lighting conditions, etc. Often times the numbers thrown around are under pretty ideal conditions and do not reflect reality 100% of the time. Optic X with magnification Y may allow you see an animal (ex: bull elk ) at Z miles on a perfectly manicured pasture with awesome light. If that same animal beds down, that same optic may start to let you down. If that same animal is partially to mostly obscured, that same optic may further let you down. Throw in some less than ideal lighting conditions, that same optic may really start to let you down. Now change the animal to a Coues from a bull elk and that same optic may no longer be suitable. Context matters but that tends to be a foreign concept to many people on this forum.

I enjoyed this whole post. What's a WKR?

 

[realunlucky]

I enjoyed this whole post. What's a WKR?

Well known Rokslider

Sent from my SM-G996U using Tapatalk

 

[BBob]

Has anyone dabbled with the 2x optical doubler? Seems gimmicky but a guy can hope

IMO they suck and not a substitute for a spotting scope. I owned Fujinon and Swaro. We machined adapters to put them on Zeiss 15x60's and used the Swaro on the Swaro. As said before they kinda work but after playing with them a little and using them in the field a bit we abandoned them. I'm sure the poor sales after awhile is why Swaro and Fujinon ultimately abandoned them. I did meet that one guy that loved the Fujinon on his Zeiss that my optics dealer buddy sold him.

Those of you bringing two sets of binos on your hunt, are you carrying a spotting scope too?

Most of the time yes. Depends on the hunt. Coues deer absolutely unless twins or btx is involved then no 15's or spotter

 

[Sierra Hunter]

I’ve gone through a few over the years and currently using 18x Mavens. The only way I would get rid of high power binos would be 12x on the chest paired with a Btx or similar. Glassing miles out they’re needed and a mile in they’re nice. That being said I still carry a spotter. Lots of glass and weight

 

[nphunter]

I love my 15's, for me it depends on the hunt, elk hunting I will carry my 10's on my chest, and might actually upgrade to 8's or 8.5's. For deer hunting or antelope hunting, the 15's are awesome, I still carry my spotter as well. This fall we did a week-long deer hunt in big open canyon country and the 15's found more deer than any other piece of glass. Meopta 15's, Swaro NL12's, Meopta S2 spotter, Razor 10's, Razor 65mm spotter.

I actually carried my S2, 15's and my Razor 10's on a couple occasions, even when we spiked in, If I could do it over I would have left the 10's. The only place I used the 10's during the trip was at very first or last light. The spotter didn't get used a lot during the spike hunt but it was put to work more than the 10's. The 15's were used a lot! They are unreal for shed hunting, I picked up a dozen sheds this spring on a property I've had sole access to for years, most were sheds I've been overlooking with my 10's and spotter.

I purchased a chest harness for the 15's and they will be going to NV with me next fall in place of my 10's for a high country deer hunt, it will be 15's and my spotter. The extra magnification of the bino's with the larger field of view over the spotter makes them awesome. I did contemplate selling both sets of my bino's and buying the NL12's but honestly for brushwork on deer the extra power of the 15's is welcomed.

 

[Sierra Hunter]

I love my 15's, for me it depends on the hunt, elk hunting I will carry my 10's on my chest, and might actually upgrade to 8's or 8.5's. For deer hunting or antelope hunting, the 15's are awesome, I still carry my spotter as well. This fall we did a week-long deer hunt in big open canyon country and the 15's found more deer than any other piece of glass. Meopta 15's, Swaro NL12's, Meopta S2 spotter, Razor 10's, Razor 65mm spotter.

I actually carried my S2, 15's and my Razor 10's on a couple occasions, even when we spiked in, If I could do it over I would have left the 10's. The only place I used the 10's during the trip was at very first or last light. The spotter didn't get used a lot during the spike hunt but it was put to work more than the 10's. The 15's were used a lot! They are unreal for shed hunting, I picked up a dozen sheds this spring on a property I've had sole access to for years, most were sheds I've been overlooking with my 10's and spotter.

I purchased a chest harness for the 15's and they will be going to NV with me next fall in place of my 10's for a high country deer hunt, it will be 15's and my spotter. The extra magnification of the bino's with the larger field of view over the spotter makes them awesome. I did contemplate selling both sets of my bino's and buying the NL12's but honestly for brushwork on deer the extra power of the 15's is welcomed.

I thought about the same for the nl12s, glad to know you chose against it.

 

[nphunter]

I thought about the same for the nl12s, glad to know you chose against it.

I'm not 100% certain I won't eventually go that route, the 12's are awesome, but low light sucks for sure with them. I could glass longer with my 15's and way longer with my 10's and Spotter than with the 12's. The NL's were definitely awesome glass and phenomenal in most areas, several times we were hunting and came out on a nice canyon rim where we could setup and glass across. I only carried my 10's when hiking since my 15's were in my pack anyway, now that I have a harness my 15's will most likely be on my chest for everything except hunting elk in the timber.
I do feel like the 12's are so comfortable, the field of view and depth of field is great as well so you can glass a lot of country very effectively with the 12's. If I could have both the 12's would possibly end up getting used more often, for most hunting the 12's would be awesome and they are just as small as my 10x42's which is very nice. The 15's are 14oz heavier which is pretty substantial.

 

[Bassman]

Love my 15x56 SLC's. Keep 10x42's on my chest and the 15x stay at the top of my pack so they can quickly be thrown on my tripod

 

[Where's Bruce?]

I use my 15x56 Swaros almost daily when hunting unless into huge country and then will use my BTX. Typically I will use my 10x42 when I can first see since they gather more light than the 15's. As soon as it it light enough I usually switch over to the 15's from there on out. Wouldn't consider leaving the house where I hunt without my 15's...

My .02

^^^What he said.^^^
For open country hunts they are the bees knees...not so much for densely overgrown areas like the PNW.
If you're glassing big open spaces, using both eyes is the only way to go. Pack my Swaro15 SLC and BTX95.