Best Binos for $1000

[Stingray]

i Got the Maven B2 11x45 and love them. Realistically, to my eyes, I see few differences between the best $1,000 glass and the alphas. Maven, Nikon HG, Zeiss Conquest, Leupold Santiam, Vortex Razor, Tract Toric, GPO, Stryka, Leica and Steiner are all very good and very close. Some are better than others and will work with different eyes. To me the incremental difference between these $1,000 binos and the alphas is too small for me to notice.

I do like th Maven as I needed a bit more magnification than the Monarch HG and wanted more light. But they come with a weight penalty. So far, great choice for me. If I had gone 10x42 it would have been Monarch or Zeiss. They just worked well for my eyes.

Good luck.

 

[Sewall]

i Got the Maven B2 11x45 and love them. Realistically, to my eyes, I see few differences between the best $1,000 glass and the alphas. Maven, Nikon HG, Zeiss Conquest, Leupold Santiam, Vortex Razor, Tract Toric, GPO, Stryka, Leica and Steiner are all very good and very close. Some are better than others and will work with different eyes. To me the incremental difference between these $1,000 binos and the alphas is too small for me to notice.

I do like th Maven as I needed a bit more magnification than the Monarch HG and wanted more light. But they come with a weight penalty. So far, great choice for me. If I had gone 10x42 it would have been Monarch or Zeiss. They just worked well for my eyes.

Good luck.

I’m leaning towards the b2 11x45 mavens. They are actually lighter than the cheap vortex diamondbacks I have now so I’m not to worried about the weight. Another thing I like about them which is stupid but the looks of their binos are nice


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[bmanb940]

You absolutely can not go wrong with Nikon's MONARCH HG bino's. Incredible clarity and the filed flattener really makes images pop. You are in luck in that it is curretnly under a Nikon Promo for $100 off when you buy from an Authorized Nikon Dealer. A heck of a deal on a heck of a bino. I picked up a pair last year and they are always with me in the blind or scouting. Some great independant reviews on them as well. Don't wait to long, the promo expires soon.

 

[BRWNBR]

Cabelas euros 10x42 I have been sitting behind for several years now, six or seven I’d guess. Couple thousand hours of glassing. Paid 850 bucks for them I think. Amazing. I’d buy another pair in a heartbeat. Swarm is a shade better when you have one of each on hand for a couple hours. Otherwise you may never notice a difference.

 

[nexus]

Cabelas euros 10x42 I have been sitting behind for several years now, six or seven I’d guess. Couple thousand hours of glassing. Paid 850 bucks for them I think. Amazing. I’d buy another pair in a heartbeat. Swarm is a shade better when you have one of each on hand for a couple hours. Otherwise you may never notice a difference.

X2.

These are the same as the Meopta MeoStar HD. Incredible value for top quality European (Czech Republic) optics. Some folks do not like the weight and compact nature of the bino, but I actually think it adds to the stability of the optics when glassing freehand. The best thing I can say about any optics is that your eyes are relaxed and feel fresh after a long day of glassing in the mountains or desert; I can readily say that about the Meoptas.

 

[JeffRaines]

If you absolutely cannot go over 1k I’d be looking at the cabelas/meopta offerings.

I’m surprised at the lack of vortex fanboys in this thread, I honestly got on here thinking I’d see 10 people suggesting some vortex crap.

 

[Torrey in Tahoe]

I recently compared old zeiss dialyts, zeiss conquests, maven B1's, nikon HD's and swaro slc's. Ended up getting a pair of mint condition slc's off ebay for about $1200. The mavens were great but too heavy. The nikons were phenomenal as well but liked the swaros the best.

 

[Azdbllung]

Id say for the money, Leica is hard to beat.

 

[timberbuck]

I am most impressed with the Meostar HD overall in its price range. As mentioned the weight and ergonomics make for a stable, great handling 10x42 with a very comfortable view. Picked up a pair for my father and have been very impressed.This is coming from someone who has had Leica,Zeiss and Swarovski glass for years.

 

[hunt1up]

You absolutely can not go wrong with Nikon's MONARCH HG bino's. Incredible clarity and the filed flattener really makes images pop. You are in luck in that it is curretnly under a Nikon Promo for $100 off when you buy from an Authorized Nikon Dealer. A heck of a deal on a heck of a bino. I picked up a pair last year and they are always with me in the blind or scouting. Some great independant reviews on them as well. Don't wait to long, the promo expires soon.

I just ordered a pair from Cabelas to try. If you sign up to the Active Junky website there's always Cabelas cash back between 7-15%. I also bought $775 worth of discounted Cabelas cards from Raise.com to the tune of 12% off. Ebates gives 1% cash back for purchases from Raise.com. It sounds like a pain but it's really easy.

So I essentially knocked off another 20%. If you buy those gift cards and use Active Junky you can expect a routine Cabelas discount of 20%.

 

[KHNC]

I love my Maven 10x42.

Avoid Vortex, they suck.

This is absolutely TERRIBLE info about Vortex. The Razor HD 10x42 is top notch, every bit as good as SLC's .

 

[PantherCity]

This is absolutely TERRIBLE info about Vortex. The Razor HD 10x42 is top notch, every bit as good as SLC's .

I'm not going to argue with you, But you sound like someone who owns razors and has never looked through Swaros side by side under same conditions. Vortex Spends lots of money on marketing and warranty claims and apparently that is very effective business model for them.

I've owned plenty of Vortex glass (including the Razor HD 10x42) and I've had to use their warranty on multiple occasions. Going forward I will not be buying any Vortex products.

 

[KHNC]

I'm not going to argue with you, But you sound like someone who owns razors and has never looked through Swaros side by side under same conditions. Vortex Spends lots of money on marketing and warranty claims and apparently that is very effective business model for them.

I've owned plenty of Vortex glass (including the Razor HD 10x42) and I've had to use their warranty on multiple occasions. Going forward I will not be buying any Vortex products.

I do own razors, and have compared Razors to Swaro SLC's on multiple occasions. Plenty of western guides i have met over the years owned them. I have also had SLC's in the field myself next to Razors and Vipers to compare. Not as good as the EL's for sure, but every bit as good as SLC's in my opinion. Owned Viper HD's for 5-6 years with no issues as well. They do plenty of marketing, and some of the products go bad. But in my experience, the Razor is a top notch optic in the 1k range.

 

[WRO]

This is absolutely TERRIBLE info about Vortex. The Razor HD 10x42 is top notch, every bit as good as SLC's .

How?

They're worse than the slc in every category that matters but price.



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[KHNC]

SLC vs Razor - S&S Archery Backcountry

Here is an unbiased review. I still stand by my assessment of the Razors. Although, i have not had as much time behind both glass as this reviewer has. " The average person will not tell a difference without a tripod" holds true in my opinion.

 

[WRO]

SLC vs Razor - S&S Archery Backcountry

Here is an unbiased review. I still stand by my assessment of the Razors. Although, i have not had as much time behind both glass as this reviewer has. " The average person will not tell a difference without a tripod" holds true in my opinion.

5 minutes and I can show anyone the differences. If one has any skill reviewing optics, they're very noticeable.

 

[manitou1]

I was in the same boat earlier this year. I bought the Meostars... 10x42 and am very happy with them. Actually headed to Wyoming this morning to wring them out on a hunt!
BTW, Meopta gives a heck of a military discount if you are mil.

 

[JeffRaines]

But in my experience, the Razor is a top notch optic in the 1k range.

I thought the Zeiss Conquests looked better than the Razors. They were/are very underwhelming for their price point.

The SLCs blew them away.

As far as warranty, all of those manufacturers carry a good warranty. I don't care about the "no fault" BS Vortex is offering. If my optics break on a hunt, the hunt is likely going to be ruined. A warranty isn't going to supply me with more time off, more gas money, etc. to make up for what the failed optic ruined... so with that, I go with a product that isn't known for breaking sporadically, and I urge others to as well.

 

[Steve O]

I thought the Zeiss Conquests looked better than the Razors. They were/are very underwhelming for their price point.

The SLCs blew them away.

As far as warranty, all of those manufacturers carry a good warranty. I don't care about the "no fault" BS Vortex is offering. If my optics break on a hunt, the hunt is likely going to be ruined. A warranty isn't going to supply me with more time off, more gas money, etc. to make up for what the failed optic ruined... so with that, I go with a product that isn't known for breaking sporadically, and I urge others to as well.

Everything here is exactly correct. It should be starred and copied and pasted in every high end optics thread...and pack thread, and insert any product with a 10x price range from available products thread...

 

[Newtosavage]

Yesterday, I was at Cabelas and had an opportunity to compare four pairs of bins all in the $1K range, outdoors in the fading light of dusk. Things were very slow, and the salesperson came outside with me to compare them. We had the Cabelas Instinct Euro (Meopta), the Nikon Monarch HG, the Vortex Razor and the Leica Trinovid HD. The only pair missing were the Conquest HD's (which I went there to buy) but I have looked through them plenty of times, so I feel I can rank them among the other four pretty easily.

To MY eyes and hands, the Leicas were the winner. Ergonomics were head and shoulders above the rest, and the image was just flawless. The Conquests are a close 2nd to the Leicas and I would be happy with either quite frankly. The Leicas are just a tad bit more compact, smoother to focus and quicker to point.

The Nikon HG's were tied with the Cabelas Meopta's for third, mostly due to the feel and function and brightness not quite up to the Leica/Zeiss standard. But both are still very good.

The Razors came in last, mostly because the body didn't feel that good in the hand compared to the Leicas or Zeiss, and for whatever reason, I could never quite get the diopter set correctly on the Razors. Every time I thought I had it, it was off again. I think the right barrel on those was just soft in general, indicating a QC issue (which didn't surprise me on a pair of bins made in China).

So that was my ranking for $1K bins:

Leica Trinovid HD
Zeiss Conquest HD
Nikon Monarch HG / Cabelas Meoptas
Vortex Razor HD