Help me with my bino purchase…

[LonghairDontcare]

So I’m planning a sheep hunt in a few years and I’m looking at Zeiss Conquests HD pretty seriously. My reservation is that 1) I have bad luck and 2) I’m tough on gear. After reading all the negative stuff about Zeiss’ warranty dept as of late I’m rethinking the conquests. I’ve started to look at the Mavens and the Tract Toric. I feel like Maven is going to give me a better warranty. The Tract there isn’t too much info on their warranty work to go off of but it does come in a touch cheaper. I’m trying to be sub-$1000. The conquests have a $200 rebate right now putting them at $800. The Mavens I know I’d be around $1000 and the Toric around $700. People always say “is that company going to be around to warranty them in X years?” But I’m having trouble believing Zeiss will warranty anything past seven years anymore.

I’m also completely open to any other manufacturer as well. This is just what I’ve zeroed in on. Thank you.

 

[hereinaz]

Maven

 

[handwerk]

If that was my budget I would look at Leica Trinovids.

 

[hereinaz]

Buy used and get more for your money. What power are you looking for?

 

[4th_point]

FYI - Tract has 10% off and free shipping until the 10th.

And I saw someone post at another forum that Doug has demo Kowa 10.5x44 for $850.

I have no experience with the Kowa 44 but had the 8x33 and preferred it over the 8x30 SLC. I did get blackouts with the 33 but sold it for different reasons.

I also owned the Toric 10x42 and MHG 10x42, both at the same time. I preferred the MHG, but didn't care for the loose diopter. The MHG was stunning to my eyes but I could see the same detail with the Toric. The Toric build quality didn't inspire confidence especially the eyecups though.

I used to own the 10x42 Conquest HD too. I thought it was fine and didn't have any issues with the eyecups like some people do, but never felt that it was remarkable in anyway. Eventually sold it but have tried different ones on occasion and they still seem very competitive. For example, I recently compared a 10x42 to a Trinovid 10x42 and the Conquest was noticably brighter to me.

The Conquest used to have a reputation for being extremely rugged. And there was a "torture test" awhile back that you may be able to find on the u-tubs.

I have 8x42 SLC now and compared it to the Toric, MHG, and Kowa mentioned above. Guess what? I could see more detail with it than the 10x binocs even with 2x disadvantage. The MHG and Kowa were surprisingly good in low light though. Overall, the SLC were hands down the most enjoyable to use in terms of image quality and were not much more than the others.

Good luck and happy shopping.

 

[hereinaz]

FYI - Tract has 10% off and free shipping until the 10th.

And I saw someone post at another forum that Doug has demo Kowa 10.5x44 for $850.

I have no experience with the Kowa 44 but had the 8x33 and preferred it over the 8x30 SLC. I did get blackouts with the 33 but sold it for different reasons.

I also owned the Toric 10x42 and MHG 10x42, both at the same time. I preferred the MHG, but didn't care for the loose diopter. The MHG was stunning to my eyes but I could see the same detail with the Toric. The Toric build quality didn't inspire confidence especially the eyecups though.

I used to own the 10x42 Conquest HD too. I thought it was fine and didn't have any issues with the eyecups like some people do, but never felt that it was remarkable in anyway. Eventually sold it but have tried different ones on occasion and they still seem very competitive. For example, I recently compared a 10x42 to a Trinovid 10x42 and the Conquest was noticably brighter to me.

The Conquest used to have a reputation for being extremely rugged. And there was a "torture test" awhile back that you may be able to find on the u-tubs.

I have 8x42 SLC now and compared it to the Toric, MHG, and Kowa mentioned above. Guess what? I could see more detail with it than the 10x binocs even with 2x disadvantage. The MHG and Kowa were surprisingly good in low light though. Overall, the SLC were hands down the most enjoyable to use in terms of image quality and were not much more than the others.

Good luck and happy shopping.

Clarity trumps magnification.

 

[4th_point]

Clarity trumps magnification.

Resolution and contrast trumps magnification

 

[Eastonsgrandpa]

Used Meopta Meostars

 

[Clrems77]

Second vote for Meoptas. I have compared them next to my Swaros and they are damn close! Cant beat their pricing for the clarity and warranty.

 

[LonghairDontcare]

Buy used and get more for your money. What power are you looking for?

10-42. Used is a no from me. Not that I don’t trust binos. I don’t trust the people that owned the binos.

 

[neil.hansford]

I've got the 8x32 Zeiss Conquest and they're great. That said, consider is the Nikon Monarch HG. They're very lightweight, excellent optically, and I've beat the hell out of mine and never had an issue. You can get them well undwr $1000 if you shop around.

Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk

 

[Rob2d]

I've had pretty good luck with vortex products. The razor line of optics hasn't really let me down and their warranty is pretty much second to none. Just as long as you don't lose it somewhere....it'll be covered. I've had 2 scopes covered under warranty after a decent whoops in the field and it was as simple of a process as could be.

 

[gr8fuldoug]

Take a look at the GPO Passion HD Binoculars. Lifetime No Fault Warranty, excellent optics, all round great option under $1,000.00

 

[SCHUNTER73]

I was in the exact same boat and had a pretty bad case of analysis paralysis. I ended up getting a pair of open box Trinovids from Doug at Cameraland A few weeks ago. Shipped out immediately. Im very happy with them, especially at low light. I was stuck between them, Zeiss and Leupold.

 

[NickT406]

Meopta MeoStar 10x42 are great binoculars. I have compared them side by side tripod mounted to the latest slcs and els and the meoptas left nothing to be desired for me. Also I feel the eye ups are the best quality out of everything in that price range. They are very similar to slcs to my eyes. Really great low light performance even compared to els side by side. I picked a new pair up for 850 but this was 4 years ago.

 

[Stache Attack]

Kowa, meopta, or Trinovids from my experiences personally. In that price range of course!