If you had $1000 to spend on binos...

[wjarrell]

Im in the same boat as you. I think the best bino I can afford right now is zeiss conquest so that's what I'll probably go with.

 

[WyoRob]

Is the Zeiss Conquest HD better than the Razors?

 

[New Yoraska]

I recently looked through Maven's B1 and B2 line and thought if I went with Maven hands down I would get the B2.

That being said I recently purchased the new Nikon monarch hg glass that just came out and from the little time I have use them have been very happy.

Sent from my SM-G900M using Tapatalk

 

[texag10]

for 1000.00 there's a few decent options

Look for a nice used pair of Svarovski's (SLC) or Zeiss
Zeiss Conquest HD's are around 800.00 new and are excellent for the money.
The Cabelas HD or Meopta's are a bit over that but very nice too.

Personally I would not buy anything Vortex as they are not in the same league as the above mentioned Binos.

I just bought the Cabela's Euro HD (they say Meopta Meostar B1 HD on the box) for $999 yesterday. Today, they are on the Cabela's site for $899.

Looked through those and Vortex Razors. The color, depth of field, and clarity of the Meoptas looked better to my eyes, they're just noticeably heavier. I didn't have a chance to compare them to comparably priced Zeiss or Leica options.

 

[back country]

Meopta Meostar 10x42 HD...you won't regret that purchase at all, ever.

 

[tommy]

got a pair of minox hg 8.5x43 br/aspheric lens great glass got of ebay for $361 shipped the absolute best buy i have ever got on ebay stunning view will compete with the best there is for almost half the cost swfa got them for $1345

 

[Muppence]

Access Denied

 

[Eric4]

I'm a big fan of my swarovski habicht 8x30w GA porro prisim binos. I previously owned the meopta meostar b1 8x44, but these little swaros have equal image quality and field of view in a much lighter weight package. They also make a 10x40w which has great reviews as well

 

[AGPank]

Zeiss 10x42 Victory FL (Lotutec) Binocular

Zeiss 10x42 Victory FL (Lotutec) Binocular

 

[Ndbowhunter]

I really like 8x30 habicht in theory. My eyelashes hit the lens all the time. Gets really annoying.

 

[Jskaanland]

Access Denied

So you're the jerk driving the price up

Looking at used swaros around the same price point, at what points have swarovski made changes to glass or coatings?

 

[AGPank]

So you're the jerk driving the price up

Looking at used swaros around the same price point, at what points have swarovski made changes to glass or coatings?

Those are SLC Neu. Very good binos, there is an article comparing them with the Meostar on Rokslide. I had a pair years ago and picked up around $900-1000. I don't know when they started making them, but I think they stopped in 2011 (maybe 2010) with the introduction of the SLC HD (hd glass being the major upgrade, several ounces weight reduction, different armor).

There is a great price on some 8x42s in the classifieds now.

2015 SLC dropped the HD in name (current), but kept the glass. Changed the focus mechanism and armor. Shaved $400 off retail.

 

[robie]

...at what points have swarovski made changes to glass or coatings?

There is lots of comparison out there on swarobright vs swarovision (newer coating), so read around and form your opinion.

You can send Swarovski an email with the serial number and they will verify that it is the US version that was purchased from a verified retailer and it isn't listed as stolen.

Check the serial numbers on them. It will start with an L then have a series of numbers. The first two number will tell you what year they were made by adding 30. Example L70####### means they were made in 2000. From all the research I did the only major change was in 2005 when they started using a faster/smoother focus knob. So I limited my search to serial numbers L75 or greater.

Good luck. The glass is amazing. I called swaro because the rubber on the eyecups were tearing and wanted to buy more. Their response was they should not do that we will ship you some more.