Hung up on bino power: 8 vs 10

[Bluto]

I have Zeiss Victory 10x56, several Japanese mid-tier 8x56, Several Japanese and Chinese mid to low tier 10x42 and 10x50, and a pair of 8x42s that are mid tier Chinese Bushnells.

For anyone over 40 an 8x42, 8x50, 8x56, 10x50 or a 10x56 is a better optic than a 10x42. If you have 20-20 vision and don't wear glasses it doesn't matter as much.

Eye relief is brutally rough for someone who is heavily near sighted. We are limited to some 8x42 and almost all 8x50, 8x56, some 10x50's, and the 10x56.

Over 40. My eyes were 20/15 my whole life until within 48 hours of turning 40. Boom. Near vision is smoked. It was like a switch. Maybe that the reason the 10x42’s haven’t really floated my boat? High quality glass has, but not necessarily magnification.

On archery hunts I carry 8 power. That hunt is typically in deep timber where you are looking tops 50 yards and usually much closer and trying to pick out parts of the animal
Or find them bedded. Gives me a bigger FOV and exit pupil to gather more light.

On rifle I carry 12 power as it’s usually in more open terrain and I’m looking further with more brightness already.

Yeah low light performance and FOV are pulling me towards 8’s.

It’s elk country. 10! I have no problem in timber with me 10x42ELs. Take your time. Even in timber you should be looking as far ahead as possible. I have 8s. They’re for whitetail deer back home in Pa. But guess what… I don’t use them there anymore either. 10!

Hm. Well, based on the last advice you gave me about elk hunting, I guess I should just go with 8. Thanks.

 

[Bluto]

I use 8X for archery in timber. 10X for more open country rifle hunts. Even use my 8X a lot for rifle hunts. I have a pair of Leica 10X42 rangefinding that I never use. I found that I prefer a separate bino and rangefinder combo. Anyone want a pair of Leica rangefinder binocs? I haven’t listed them yet in the classifieds.

I hear this a lot, and couldn’t agree more in principle.

The question being - getting to the timber. Finding the elk. Is the 8x a limiting factor, even in archery season, in finding elk to go after?

I know, the answer is “it depends.” Just thinking out loud.

 

[Rooggvc]

I picked up an 8x pair of bino's on sale a few years ago. I have never felt like I needed more. That being said I use a spotter also.

 

[butcherboy]

8X’s are not a limiting factor. I hunt a lot the same way you do. I don’t care about trophy quality, just knowing it’s an elk is good enough for me. In the timber you won’t be able to see much more than 80-100 yds if it’s typical pine or aspen. Thicker stuff will be more like 40 yds.

 

[Elkangle]

Elk lay down alot during the day, a bedded elk can be tricky to see with lower powers at distance..but you need to be able to one handed hold them while on a stalk and see if your being watched when in the red zone and that's different for everyone. for me 10s are awesome for elk

 

[Eastonsgrandpa]

Yeah low light performance and FOV are pulling me towards 8’s.

Over 40. My eyes were 20/15 my whole life until within 48 hours of turning 40. Boom. Near vision is smoked. It was like a switch. Maybe that the reason the 10x42’s haven’t really floated my boat? High quality glass has, but not necessarily magnification.



Yeah low light performance and FOV are pulling me towards 8’s.



Hm. Well, based on the last advice you gave me about elk hunting, I guess I should just go with 8. Thanks.

That FOV is critical for me. I have to force myself to focus on a specific area for a while before moving on. Much easier with a tripod than handheld. But with the bright picture and large FOV, much easier to catch that random ear flick or simple body adjustment when they are tucked in that thick stuff.

 

[LostArra]

Archery hunter here. Maybe one rifle hunt per year.
8x works best for me (with alpha or near-alpha glass, which is more important than magnification):
Easier one handed use.
LIghter weight
Wider field of view
Better depth of field (less focus adjustment)
Better low light /exit pupil but alpha glass and coatings are the real difference maker in low light
The math: an elk at 1000 yards will appear to be at 125 yards with 8x and appear to be at 100 yards with 10x.
That 25 yards doesn't make up for the benefits of the 8x for me.
I can a) determine it's an elk b) determine if it's a spike vs cow

I own both. I hunt with 8x and glass deer from my kitchen table with 10x.

Glassing elk is a skill that comes with experience and some people are just better at it regardless of binocular magnification.

 

[Bluto]

Archery hunter here. Maybe one rifle hunt per year.
8x works best for me (with alpha or near-alpha glass, which is more important than magnification):
Easier one handed use.
LIghter weight
Wider field of view
Better depth of field (less focus adjustment)
Better low light /exit pupil but alpha glass and coatings are the real difference maker in low light
The math: an elk at 1000 yards will appear to be at 125 yards with 8x and appear to be at 100 yards with 10x.
That 25 yards doesn't make up for the benefits of the 8x for me.
I can a) determine it's an elk b) determine if it's a spike vs cow

I own both. I hunt with 8x and glass deer from my kitchen table with 10x.

Glassing elk is a skill that comes with experience and some people are just better at it regardless of binocular magnification.

Great points, especially the math. I also dove off into the optic nerd rabbit hole for a day. Still leaning toward 8’s although if I decided on something like a Zeiss V SF, weight and size are the same so I guess it doesn’t matter much other than exit pupil for low light. (Might be my biggest factor, though.)

On to shopping for the best deal, I suppose. The EL 8.5x42 is an interesting avenue as well. I lean towards Zeiss as they fit/feel better to me but I wouldn’t avoid EL/NL by any means. I wish I knew anything about Leica.

 

[Mojave]

NL 8x42's have 1mm less eye relief than EL 8x42s. I notice it with my coke bottle glasses, others may or may not.

 

[Jkuhn22]

This is coming from a guy who has never spent money on alpha glass, but the image stabilized binos are amazing. I have the early pair of Sig Zulu bions and the stabilization feels like and extra 2-4x of power.

They just upgraded their glass into an HD version, but I have not tried them. Sig had a booth set up at TAC this year if you want to get your hands on them to try.

 

[birdhunter17]

I like the 8's in the smaller 32mm for weight reduction.

 

[N2TRKYS]

In thick timber or open spaces with archery or gun, I won’t use anything below 10s. I’ve never felt that I needed less magnification in binos.

 

[birdhunter17]

Both and both. Just got 15's for close to the truck but find weight reduction is important as I age. Had some 10x32's but seemed too shaky and dark.

 

[Jakerex]

8 is the trendy thing to do. Just get 10’s…..unless you’re into being trendy


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[db.cannon]

8x fan here. I bet you could find a great deal on some mint 8.5x42 els if you're patient. A lot of people unloading those on various forums since the nls came out.

 

[BDDFC]

The 8x will do better in low light if that’s one of the deciding factors.

 

[calfroper81]

Im more for the 10X but that could be because I dont have the best vision.

 

[Tman24]

I have Zeiss conquest 8x and Swaro SLC 10x. I use the Zeiss 8x during archery. Hand holding is much better with the 8x and with archery I’m moving more, static glassing less.
SLC 10x on a tripod during rifle is great.

 

[Beendare]

I use both, mostly my 8x. They are better in thick country.

If I hunt more open country, I take the 10x

 

[Bluto]

The 8x will do better in low light if that’s one of the deciding factors.

It’s maybe the biggest factor to me.

Almost exclusively archery, and I’m not scoring anything. I need to know if that’s elk or not elk. Also have older eyes, but I’m not sure if 8 or 10 actually helps more with that.