Moving away from alpha glass

[MallardSX2]

I used crappy binos my entire life. I would part with my gun before I parted with my swaro's.

Since I bought my swaro's I have not touched my lesser binos one time. It just isn't worth it.

Wish I hadn't wasted money on the cheap ones in the first place.

 

[TexaninSconny]

I’d recommend demoing a pair of Maven B3 8x30s for your whitetail hunting and the C3 10x50s for your antelope. Have a pair for each type of situation, backup binos and money left over for other purchases from the sale of your Swarovski’s.


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[MThuntr]

I've never gotten into "alpha glass". I got a pair of Nikon HG 10x42s...very light and do everything I need even at the fringes of daylight. At one time you could get them new for less than $700.

 

[Z71&Gun]

Been contemplating offloading my EL’s as well. They are vanity binoculars at this point

Hi all,

I'm considering selling my 10x50 el sv Binos. They are excellent glass, but way more than I think I'll ever need hunting 99% of the time in southern MN. Every time I use them, I am amazed at how clear they are, but can't stop thinking that for less than $1000 I could likely have a really nice pair of 8x42 something that would be lighter and serve my purpose of looking at deer in the woods 100 yards or closer.

Anyone make the switch away from alpha glass and NOT regret it?

I regretted not having good glass this season as I was unable to properly identify my target buck at last light. My Leupold bx2s just didn’t quite cut it. We got back on the buck the next day. I didn’t go out and buy alpha glass, here’s why. I would rather spend another day hunting than spend a week and a half working to afford $1500 binos. Also, Sig is putting range finders behind HD glass now and I needed a new RF. That’s one less thing to worry about with two essentials in one item of your kit. I got the black Sig Kilos for $980 and am amazed with how comfortable they are. The ergonomics and fit to my eyes is remarkable. The clarity and eye relief is all I could ever want, and the field of view is the best of any binos I have tried. (Never tried any euro models) Also, I know I’ll use the rangefinding aspect. If you’re gonna spend the cash, you should lighten your load and get RF binos. “Alpha glass” on most people is like a giant clock necklace when a simple wrist watch would suffice. Flayva flaaaaave!

 

[KurtR]

got my 10x42 slc last year and i will die with them. Cant see ever wanting to sell them to go down but i use them alot out in the open prairie here from deer hunting to scouting for waterfowl.

 

[homebru.trout]

There was a thread awhile back on "downgrading" glass with a lot of good discussion.

Has Anyone "Downgraded" Their Optics?

I guarantee you with that $1,000 difference you keep mentioning you won’t be able to objectively judge the difference between the Nikons & Swaro’s. Sell the moose hunt, keep the EL’s :D 😂

www.rokslide.com

I can appreciate that there is a huge difference when going from Alpha to "cheap" but I absolutely support the idea that there are a lot of sub-alpha options that will save some coin and give you everything you want to get out of a good pair of binos. I would not trade alpha for vortex/leupold, etc. But there are tons of options out there in what I'll call the "mid" range.

I'm a huge fan of Maven and GPO. Nikon HGs are fantastic. Meopta...great. Kowa 10.5's are developing a following. I have one pair of alpha binos that I love now and the rest of my glass falls in that second tier. The diminishing marginal return was simply too expensive for me and the manner/amount I hunt. If I made my living at it (and received the corresponding pro-staff or promotional considerations attached) I might feel differently...but probably not.