Image stabilizing binos vs Alpha Glass?

[nphunter]

With all of the reviews on image-stabilizing binos I've never seen anyone compare them to high-end binos. I'm curious about people who have used boths thoughts on how they compare, to me I don't see how they could be comparable at all to something like a Meopta, Swaro 15x on a tripod and I don't see how they could compare to an alpha spotter.

 

[BigAl!]

They aren't in the same league as alpha glass. They aren't bad either, but I found them to fit a certain niche. While on the move covering lots of country, they are invaluable. The stability you get from them in your hand is unmatched.

 

[westonadkins]

My 0.02 as I own both the zulus and the NLs.

I end up carrying both pretty often these days, using the Zulus on the chest for all handholding and NLs in the pack for the tripod. Obviously they can both be used in both of those situations, but carrying two sets of binos optimizes both use cases.

When I had NLs on my chest on a Sept elk hunt this fall, I was asking to borrow my buddy's zulus which caused me to buy a set. Sold my NLs thinking I could get away with the zulus on a tripod but it didn't take me long to miss the alpha glass on the tripod. So now I own both and my wife thinks I'm crazy. Also strongly depends on the hunts in my opinion.


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[nphunter]

My 0.02 as I own both the zulus and the NLs.

I end up carrying both pretty often these days, using the Zulus on the chest for all handholding and NLs in the pack for the tripod. Obviously they can both be used in both of those situations, but carrying two sets of binos optimizes both use cases.

When I had NLs on my chest on a Sept elk hunt this fall, I was asking to borrow my buddy's zulus which caused me to buy a set. Sold my NLs thinking I could get away with the zulus on a tripod but it didn't take me long to miss the alpha glass on the tripod. So now I own both and my wife thinks I'm crazy. Also strongly depends on the hunts in my opinion.


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I have Razor 10’s I carry in my chest and use on a tripod. I also just sold my 15 Meostars and bought NL14’s, I’ll also pack a S2 spotter for big country. I’ve never felt handicapped with the Razors while glassing while handholding but I’ve also never used zulus so maybe I don’t know what I’ve been missing. Maybe I’ll go look through a set sometime and check them out.

 

[westonadkins]

I have Razor 10’s I carry in my chest and use on a tripod. I also just sold my 15 Meostars and bought NL14’s, I’ll also pack a S2 spotter for big country. I’ve never felt handicapped with the Razors while glassing while handholding but I’ve also never used zulus so maybe I don’t know what I’ve been missing. Maybe I’ll go look through a set sometime and check them out.

Yeah they sell themselves. I think there's a pair of 12s in the classifieds too for a good price. I have the 14s as well and it's a stupid good combo.


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[Stache Attack]

Have a pair of Zulu 16s (wife’s when we hunt for antelope and mule deer) and a pair of nL 12s. really no comparison in quality of glass but they are around razor quality I would say maybe slightly lower. They are a little tough to get set perfectly in my opinion. I use them in the off season as pickup binos for coyotes and watching game too.

I do however wish I got a lower power in zulus fov isn’t lovely for/with 16s.

 

[cwitt]

In my opinion the Sigs are not a substitute for alpha glass. I found this to be especially true if you’re coming from alpha glass or something similar already. Any sustained period of time spent behind them and it really became apparent. There is no substitute for the clarity of premium optics and that is somewhere the sigs are lacking. But they never claim to have the best glass. For what they are, they live up to the hype and are fantastic for having on your chest for quick looks or while on the move.

My NL12s had been my go to the last couple of years, both off my chest and on a tripod. This year I picked up the 14s and then shortly after got a great deal on the sigs I couldn’t pass up. Having both, I intended on selling my 12s. Now after a month of running the sigs and 14s in Mexico, I don’t know if I am prepared to do that. The sigs absolutely will have their place in my gear and if they’re able to be paired with a dedicated tripod bino, they’re definitely going to be on my chest. But depending on the hunt, that isn’t always feasible. If I could only have one as a stand alone bino, the sigs just don’t replace something like an NL12 in most situations for me.

 

[HilltopHitman]

Following. This is a very interesting topic for myself as well being in the position of purchasing Swaro SLC 15x’s or Sigs. Being it’s the offseason, is there any rumors of any alpha companies plan on releasing some image stabilized? I couldn’t even imagine how popular an EL or NL would be with that technology.

 

[Jon Boy]

I sold my SLCs and run the 12x sigs now. No regrets here. I rarely glass off a tripod and am mostly free handing.

 

[Jason632]

The 12x Sigs have a nice view thru them
Nice to see other brands starting to put out image stabilized Binos. Fuji just announced a couple new pairs, one is 20x, the other is 14x I believe. Recently saw dealers taking pre-orders for them.

 

[AlpineBeard]

Alpha Glass Pros over Zulu
-Relaxing to the eye
-Wide field of view
-Excellent in low light

Zulu pros over Alpha
-You can see more detail/better without needing a tripod.
-faster glassing (despite the lack in FOV being stabilized allows you to glass an area faster).

I’m a glass snob so it pains me to admit that the only way I can justify my Alpha binos is that I have a LRF built into them. Unless you’re talking about low light the fact is you can see better in the Zulus… they are a game changer. Once they come out with image stabilized LRF binos, Alpha will have to rest in peace.

 

[chicoredneck]

I ran a resolution chart test with Zulu hdx 16x42 vs swaro slc 15x56 binoculars. Mounted to a tripod the Swarovski blew the sig zulus out of the water. I don’t remember how many more elements the swaros resolved, but it was 4-6 more. However, handheld the sig zulus blew the swarovskis away, both 15x56 SLC and 10x42 NLs.

I run the zulus on my chest as a handheld binocular and the Swarovski when using a tripod.

 

[nphunter]

I looked through a couple sets at the store, 16x and the 20x. I was able to read price tags across the store which was cool but the edge clarity was horrible and I felt like I was looking through a telescope with the horrible FOV. Another weird thing was when you have them in target mode you can’t scan an area without going very slow, kind of made me feel dizzy, the scan mode was much more enjoyable, probably why it’s called scan mode.

I would like to try the 10’s, they seem more practical to me with the larger FOV. I feel like for looking at things you have already found the sig would be great for a Quick Look, but to pick a large area apart you would miss a bunch with the small FOV. I was really hoping to like them better, maybe the experience would be better out in the real world. However I’ve never really felt like I couldn’t scan an area well with my 10’s and it’s very efficient to check an area quick because you have a large FOV, it would be way harder to do a Quick Look with the sigs IMO.

 

[Alpine4x4]

I think they fill a niche. I have 10x SLCs and was looking to upgrade my 15 DB's. Options were Swaro SLC 15s, Meopta 15s, Maven 15s, or the Sig 16s. I don't use a high power binos and ton, but the Diamondbacks made me realize they are nice to have. After messing with the sigs today I bought them. The glass quality isn't as good as my SLCs obviously, but the IS makes them excellent for hand holding. Since I have spotters for the real long stuff the Sigs fill my niche nicely and don't require a tripod like other high magnification nocks.

 

[z987k]

We had both on a boat hunt last year. 10x42 NLs and sig zulu 6 12x42.

The image stabilization from a boat is game changing. I could glass with the boat doing 20mph. Kind of...
While we were stationary, looking at the same hillside, animals would be clearly visible with the NLs. And you'd not even know they were there with the zulus. I couldn't believe how many more animals I could see with the NLs. It was so stark of a difference I bought a pair after the hunt.