Low Zoom, Wide FOV Binos

[PathFinder]

Traditionally, I've thought of lower zoom (8x and below) binoculars as best for specific kinds of hunting; archery elk, eastern whitetail, coyotes, etc. Recently, it seems like a few users on here have reported using them extensively for Western hunting. For a lot of things, an extremely wide FOV with lower magnification would be an advantage. Elk come to mind, bears (especially in the spring), and any time the target area is under 800 yards or so.
For those that are utilizing lower zoom, wide FOV binos for western hunting, I have a few questions:

• Which ones are you using? I'm especially interested in the Skyrover BC 7.5x32
• Do these binos get a lot of tripod time, or mostly just handheld scanning? My thinking was that they would do well on a tripod, doing less movement of the FOV and watching for movement.
• Do they come up short for certain situations? Deer hunting in particular?

Thanks for your input.

 

[Bugger]

I did a short review of the 7.5 and 15’s in post 70 on this thread.

Thread 'Sky Rover Banner Cloud 10x42 binocular review'

Jan 26, 2025

Wanted to post a quick review on these. I found them on the bird forums and decided to give them a try. They are Chinese and I’m not sure what glass they’re using, but it’s better than any Japanese glass I’ve ever seen.

For context, I currently own Tangent Theta, S&B, NF, Kahles, Swarovski, Gen 2 Razor, and many other high end rifle scopes. I also owned a pair of ELs and currently own Zeiss, Meopta, Vortex Razor UHD, and other binoculars. I also own the BTX 115 and 85. Hopefully that is useful context on my experience with top tier optics.

I compared these binoculars head to head with...

• S1n1ster
• Replies: 77
• Forum: Optics

• 

After much more use with the 7.5’s I’m very impressed with them handheld and off a tripod. I’ve been out shed hunting in the woods and they’re fantastic for getting a huge view at short ranges. I had the Kowa BDII 8x32’s for the same use (woods and western finger ridge hunting) but sold them after not liking the curved view with bad dropoff around the edges and the very slow focus wheel. No such issues with the sky rovers. I’m a little concerned about the warranty with the sky rovers if that happens to come up, but I guess we’ll cross that bridge if that happens. If these weren’t Chinese they’d be insanely popular.

 

[Formidilosus]

Traditionally, I've thought of lower zoom (8x and below) binoculars as best for specific kinds of hunting; archery elk, eastern whitetail, coyotes, etc. Recently, it seems like a few users on here have reported using them extensively for Western hunting. For a lot of things, an extremely wide FOV with lower magnification would be an advantage. Elk come to mind, bears (especially in the spring), and any time the target area is under 800 yards or so.

I’ve used the Kowa BDII 6.5’s for a couple of years. Originally they were for spring bear and glassing while mountainsides. However, they quickly became my favorite pair of pure binoculars and stay in the truck.

For those that are utilizing lower zoom, wide FOV binos for western hunting, I have a few questions:

• Which ones are you using? I'm especially interested in the Skyrover BC 7.5x32

Kowa BDII 6.5x32mm XD.

• Do these binos get a lot of tripod time, or mostly just handheld scanning? My thinking was that they would do well on a tripod, doing less movement of the FOV and watching for movement.

Yes they do. Seen a tripod and you can watch entire hillsides through them without moving. They are fantastic for this.

• Do they come up short for certain situations?

No RF is it primarily. If the had an RF inside, they would be my primary binoculars.

• Deer hunting in particular?

Thanks for your input.

Work frets for finding deer. At most range you can judge deer well enough, but they are 6.5x binos.

 

[B_Reynolds_AK]

I bought a pair of the BD11’s after looking through Forms as well. If you compare side
by side with something like my 32mm NL Pure’s you’re going to find fault with the little Kowa’s. However, with some use on their own, you don’t tend to notice the softer edges. They are quite fantastic. They give an immersive field of view, something that not many binos give outside of NL’s.

 

[LBWV]

No RF is it primarily. If the had an RF inside, they would be my primary binoculars

Thoughts on ideal zoom range for RF binos? Or is it just splitting hairs with opinions? Thanks.

 

[StupidLightweight]

I'm a huge fan of low-power binos. Until recently, if you wanted the best optics, your options stopped at 8X. The new Sky Rover 6x32s and 7.5x32 sound intriguing, although I believe they are physically large binos. If size and weight aren't a problem, their field of view sounds unbeatable.