I use binoculars all the time (serious field birder) and I have owned bins at the mid price point and bins at the highest price point. You really can't judge them in a simple comparison. You need to use them regularly for a long period of time. The consistent, perfect clarity across the field shows itself in subtle ways that are important to you over time. You will see it when you use them in all conditions, at all times of the day, in all light and air quality conditions. An alpha glass will never disappoint. From time to time, you will look through your $1000 glass and wonder...
Totally agree Patrick! The alpha glass really sets itself apart when glassing long periods of time and in less than ideal lighting. Thanks for sharing your experience and watching!
The warranty for Athlon is stellar. I busted the reticle on my Ares spotting scope right before season started. Sent them in asking for a repair and got a brand new one back in a couple weeks. No questions asked.
@@jarvisjg700 yeah...the shipping back and forth can take a bit unfortunately. They have been pretty quick in the turnaround in my experience though. Thanks for watching!
@@jarvisjg700 for sure...still, I wish they didn't need to receive the unit back first before taking care of the issue, but I also understand why they do as some folks might not ever send back the broken optic.
To get the best quality for the lowest price, I went with Athlon Optics. Incredibly bright and clear, very impressive. AND for 1/3 the price you'd normally pay. Ridiculously good!
Thanks for the info. Aside from the great value, Athlon claims to offer an unbelievable _"lifetime guarantee"_ against any _"accident"_ that is transferable and requires no receipt or registration. That sounds too good to be true.
I have owned some high priced optics like, several pair of Zeiss, Nightforce rifle scopes, Nikon, and I now have a pair of Steiner 8x42 HX Binoculars and they are the best binoculars I have ever owned. I have used these extensively and my eyes were not even strained at all afterwards, and I am 65 years old and into Wildlife Photography too. I have done lots of research on Binoculars and decided that Swarovski 15x56 SLC's to be the best, but the price is too ridiculous when you can get a pair of Steiner HX 15x56 for almost a third of the price, and very close to Swarovski quality.
I enjoy the binocular reviews, but as a photographer, I’ve noticed that nearly all binocular reviews tend to be very subjective and all the expensive glass is given a pass and automatically deemed great unless proven otherwise. One exception is the NL Pure. Maybe it can be alpha glass and everything else “not”. One thing I’d like to see is to figure out how to objectively score the binoculars in similar way camera lenses are evaluated. This way buyers can decide if a pricey Kowa Genesis 44 is really better than a Nikon Monarch HG (or M7). Objective, somewhat quantifiable reviews abound for camera lenses, and would love to see them for binoculars given their astronomical prices. Thanks for posting your video!
Hey there and thanks for the suggestion/insight! It's certainly a challenge to quantify the different performance metrics with these binoculars, but we did our best by bringing in 10 volunteers to score all 26 pairs out in the field for multiple 4hr sessions which went into the dark hours of the evening. Those review and results are published over on the website: 26 Bino review: backwoodspursuit.com/26-best-binoculars-for-hunting/ We also put together another more in-depth comparison between the "alpha glass" to really dive into what made them different so folks could decide what works best for them:. backwoodspursuit.com/swarovski-nl-pure-vs-zeiss-victory-sf/ Hopefully those articles give you a little better detail in what you are looking for! Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment!
I applaud your approach with all the reviewers evaluating them, and your results may be the best we have. But are they blind tests (maybe covering up the brand logo), or does each reviewer know when he/she steps up to look through a $2500 pair of binoculars?
@@seasterl we categorized them into 4 price categories to help the reviewers find the best and rank within each category, then we did a top to bottom ranking (that's in the article as well. We weren't able to do it blind as that proved nearly impossible, but asked each reviewer to rank as objectively as possible irregardless of what the brand. Not perfect, but the most objective we could pull off.
The problem is that the high end optics are too expensive for what they offer, for example, a high end binocular like those made by Kamakura for a number of companies can reach the performance of a german or austrian binocular twice the price. The law of diminishing returns applies perfectly for binoculars above 1000 dolars, if you want a binocular that can compete succesfuly with the best german and austrian brands i reccomend the high end offerings by Maven and Vortex which are the premium binoculars offered by Kamakura for its customers. NL Pure stands out because of its enormous field of view, but you have to pay very much for that feature.
Yeah, there is certainly a law of diminishing returns once you hit the $1000 price point. It becomes a lot more expensive to get minimal improvement in the optical performance. That said, there is absolutely a definitive and noticeable difference between a $1000 pair of binoculars and the alpha class binoculars like the NL Pure, Victory SF, and Noctivid. When we had them all side by side for hours at a time, the difference was stark. Thanks for watching and the insight!
I must not be using the binoculars correctly because I don’t even notice the loss of focus towards the outer ages as long as the eye focal area is sharp, I still have peripheral vision and I just move the binocular slightly to focus on an edge object
Speaking of low light, would love to see a review of Poro bino like Steiner's 7x50 and 8x56 with auto focus. If they are good enogh for military, I don't see why average joe can't use them for low light.
I thought Nikon got out of the business already after they totally screwed over all of their former loyal customers on their lifetime warranty which is gone.
Just depends. If you got the money, it’s absolutely worth it. Especially if you spend a long time behind them. To me glass is the most important Part...
Absolutely agree! If you can afford it and glass a lot, it's definitely worth the extra money. But...that's certainly not realistic for everyone, and there is a lot of great glass that is much less expensive. Thanks for watching!
You can't look at this like a buying a car or a gun or wedding ring. Don't listen to "buy what you can afford". How much did you spend for your phone? Divide that by three years. Divide the binoculars price by the number of years you expect to live. They all have no fault fix or repair forever, better guarantee than that wedding ring investment...
Yeah, a good pair of binoculars are worth saving for! Generals people wish they had saved longer for the pair they really wanted rather than settling for what they could afford at the time. Thanks for watching!
Not if you buy the Bushnell brand once it breaks good chance they screw you over come lifetime warranty time and deny your claim see BBB gave Bushnell an F rating for screwing over way too many of their customers over warranty. .
My Nikon 10x42 atb monarch is my companion for 10 years now. Never let me down for €350. And the weight is 600 gr. It may not be the best, but enough to walk for 10 miles without problems and to spot animals wherever they are. I never used an alpha glass bino. So I don’t know what I am missing. But for sure I don’t miss the extra weight of the top class binoculars.
Nikon still in business honoring their warranty? I thought they were already out of the business after screwing over all their customers no longer honoring their lifetime warranty.
Hey there! That's a great question. Based on all the various spotters we've tested over the years, it seems like around that 2k price point you start seeing less and less improvement as you go up in price. You certainly still gain edge to edge clarity...that's one of the biggest things you'll see in the high end optics vs the sub 2k spotters. Even then, there still plenty of spotters above 2k that still suffer from loss of edge to edge clarity. I hope that helps!
@MrHf4l that Kowa TSN 773 was hands down our favorite in that 2k price range, but it's hard to find now that it's been discontinued. A few show up on used sites though here and there.
Damn. I thought the $300 pairs I was looking at were expensive... turns out id be paying what I consider A LOT of money and still have poor binoculars... I guess I wont be getting any at all lmao.
Hey there! Hmm...that's a tough one. The Tract are better in low light, but worse in edge to edge clarity surprisingly. Other than the edge toned get clarity the Tract are better, but just depends on how much that matters to you. Thanks watching!
Hey there John! The Cronus and the Genesis are in very different price categories as the Genesis retails around $1300 and the Cronus retails around $500. The Genesis are a much better binocular for sure,but the Cronus is probably the best value I've found in a binocular so far. Thanks for watching!
"Locking diopter" if locking diopter in the US is the same as everywhere else in the world, aren't those things set & forget the last time I checked? and yes the next user doesn't need to re-adjust it unless they have severe eye defect. Secondly, other than the compactness of roof bins I see displayed here, I want to see what can outperform the $200 Nikon Action EX series with those 1000-dollar + bins you guys have there. No image warping, sharp image from edge to edge too(95-98%),CA is negligible & no more than you get even from the "high end" bins you have there. Heavy but, hey! welcome to porro prisms! I'll porro's 3D image over flat images roof prisms provide any day of the week. Not to mention the weight also helps in stabilising the image in case you don't know plus it has that high end rubber-armoured feel. Nitrogen filled, twist-up eye cup, what more could one ask for at that steal price? Now, I know those high end might be slightly better because of the FMC & ED coatings but, by issue is, are those ridiculous $5k Swarovski price tags really 20 times better than $200 Nikons? It's like someone telling me I have to drive an Avantador to be able to enjoy automobiles, there are tons of cars out there that don't cost you your organs and they're as fun to drive or not better than any one of those overpriced Rolls Royce, Maybach, Bentleys and Koennigseggs out there for just a fraction of their price.
@@BackwoodsPursuit I think it's your second video I've commented on. I'm just not sold on high end bins. If you noticed too, not once did you actually showed us the real life differences, all we saw was you mounting scores of bins on tripods but, I'm sure a few footage from the so called high end down to the lower end would have cleared all doubts I or anyone else watching this might have.
@sirkay120 thanks for the recommendation. It's certainly a good idea to show a look through the binos in the video. However it also doesn't do any binoculars justice as the extra lens from the camera reduces the optics resolution, so the footages never as good as what your eye will see when using them. That said, it can Abe a good comparison. You can check out our recent spotting scope videos, all of which have some "through the lens" footage. Thanks!
@@BackwoodsPursuit Cool, I make such videos myself so, I know.I really don't mind putting the lens on lens video out there though 'cos what other way can I convince people what I'm seeing is awesome or awful? Anyways, have a nice day.
Too bad you didn’t review any Steiner binoculars because their a pretty good value for German-made binoculars. I have several pairs of the auto-focus Steiner binoculars but would have liked to see a review on the Steiner HX roof prism binoculars. I’m looking for 15x56 binoculars and the HX is the lowest price I’ve found on a European and Japanese binoculars.
Yeah, there were a few we didn't get in this review that we wanted to, but we've got some Steiner in the rangefinder bino review we are working on right now! Thanks for watching!
@@BackwoodsPursuit I saw the 10x42 HX range-finding binoculars but the electronics don’t fall under their heritage warranty. Thanks for the reply and great videos!
@@archstanton9703 yeah, we have the Predator LRF 10x42s for our review. Seems like more often than not, the electronics don't have the same warranty as the rest of the optic. That's been my experience anyways. Thanks again!
what is your recommendation for long distance hiking to pick our wildlife (bears and such). Which brands, models do you like? Zeiss, GPO, Athelon? Steiner? $1000 or less... Thanks...
Hello! Probably the most complete way I can answer that is to point you over to our website where we tested/reviewed 26 binoculars side by side and went over each of them and their pros and cons. I also did a video the ones we tested for each price category. Here are links to those reviews: Website review: backwoodspursuit.com/26-best-binoculars-for-hunting/ Video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-TJ-7-hZV5ug.html I hope that helps and thanks for watching!
Hey there John! If money is no issue, our group thought Razor UHDs performed a lot better overall. I'd go with them if you can, but the Leupold are nice as well. Thanks for watching!
@@BackwoodsPursuit ok thanks, I bought the Leupold already super clear, love the last light also, once adjusted perfectly the Leupold is a great optic. I just picked up the Vortex UHD tonight. Just waiting on delivery now.
@@BackwoodsPursuit man I bought the Vortex UHD razor 12x50 binoculars, love them, perfect set of hunting binoculars I had the 10x50 El Swarovski binoculars also, I like the Vortex UHD razor better and I got a great deal on the Vortex.
I’ve had some of the little Swarovski 10x25 pockets the past few years. Super compact and light for high activity. Great glass for just spotting animals until you can get your spotter out. Best $1k I ever spent.
25 is too small for me, the movement is too much and it is hard to keep it on target. Even though I don’t follow high speed objects, when it gets colder outside my neigbours wife is really fast in the shower
Por ese precio me compro los VANGUARD ENDEVOR IV QUE ME COSTAROS 385 EUROS Y SON UNA MARAVILLA, NO HACE FALTA GASTARTE 3000 EUROS EN UNOS Swarovski cuando los vanguard tienen la misma calidad 😂😂
@@carlosciurana293 You can buy Vanguards for $200 ⠀ I have some cheapo Steiners that I just throw into whatever vehicle I'm using that would likely outperform those. The little tiny, light, 10x30 or 10x25 Swarovskis are 1000x better. I can read my neighbor's mailbox letters from 200 yards down the street with the little swarovskis. Forget about it with any other brand. I had some high end Zeiss, but they couldn't do that. I use binos to find things and then a spotter once I locate them.
@@carlosciurana293 Optical Performance 10x magnification, 25mm objectives 53° apparent angle of view 8.2 ft close focus distance 17mm eye relief 12.3 oz weight ±4 dioptric correction helps to compensate for individual eye prescriptions for sharper views 55-74mm interpupillary distance range allows easy use by a wide variety of users-even those with narrow faces like children and young adults Twist-up eyecups for comfortable use with or without eyewear 16mm eye relief makes viewing easier and more comfortable, especially during long observation sessions 3mm exit pupil Lightweight: 17.5 ounces You can't beat the swaro 10x25's for the price Key Specs Prism Type Roof Magnification 10x Objective Lens Diameter 25 mm Angle of View 5.6° (Actual) Field of View 294' @ 1000 yd / 98 m @ 1000 m Exit Pupil Diameter 2.5 mm You're getting 90% of the 10X30 performance in a 10X25 Swaroski in a lighter weight bino. Oops forgot to add for 1/2 the price!
So, a $3000 pair of binoculars gives better performance than a $500 pair? I really, really would hope something 6 times the price would give better performance.
Good information. I would just try and focus in more. You keep bouncing around and back and forth after as well as before you talk about a price bracket. Pick a direction and finish off a price bracket and then move on.
Pity you didn't include any Pentax. 21mm eye relief, nitrogen filled, great low light performance at about half the cost of comparable binoculars. I don't know why they aren't a bigger player in the binoculars.
Hey there Douglas! We tried to include as many as possible, but certainly didn't cover all the options out there. We'll have to look at the Pentax binos though. Thanks for watching!
I bought a Zeiss Conquest HD 8x42 in$800 USD and I compare it to my celestron DX ED 8x42 bought in $130 USD. I find it is NOT worth for this upgrade. The Zeiss is sharper and the brightness is noticeable but NOT a significant difference. What my Celestron can do, the Zeiss can do it better like by 10-20%. But the price is......
In your opinion, which performs better, vortex viper or Athlon Midas G2? I’ve see reviews say that there isn’t much difference, or even say that the Midas was better (despite the price difference). so was interested to hear your opinion. Thanks !
That's a great question! Based on our groups concerns, the Viper was ranked just above the Midas, but the Midas is certainly impressive and will hold its own in optical performance, even though it's priced significantly less. The Viper has more features (locking diopter, better eye relief) as well. I hope that helps and tanks for watching!
I took a look at the full review you have listed and I saw that the viper seemed to have better edge-to-edge clarity and low light performance, which sold me. Appreciate the article, must have taken awhile to put together 😅
That's a great question! We unfortunately didn't have the ELs in this lineup, but from what I've heard, they would come in just below the NL Pure in performance. I'm testing some EL Range right now and have put them next to the NL Pure, and the EL Range isn't quite as good optically. Thanks for watching!
Can I get your quick opinion on the best 8X32 mainly used for sporting and concerts ? Sub 1200 ( some one snatched my Ziss Victory off my back seat. Heart Broken ) thought I would try something different.. Great Review, thanks for the hard work.
Hey there Fred! Oh, man, sorry to hear about your Victory binos...that's a huge bummer. I really can't make an educated recommendation specific to 8x32s as I haven't had hands on experience with that configuration. One could assume that the results would be similar to our 10x42 review (backwoodspursuit.com/26-best-binoculars-for-hunting/), but that's not necessarily true. As you know, Zeiss, Leica and Swaro are usually top tier, but the Meopta Meopro Air were very impressive, along with the Sig Zulu9 (I don't think they come in an 8x32 though). The Kowa Genesis was also very nice in that price range, and we were all surprised at how well the new Vortex Razor UHD performed. Hope that helps!
I just bouggt some seizz victory ht today for 1200 off facebook. Its tough forking that much money out for binos. I cant even imagine having something like that just stolen. It breaks my heart for you my guy.
Hey, I’m in the market for some binos. Sort’ve hung between the Vortex Vipers, GPO Passion ED’s, Athlon Midas G2 UHD’s. I’m primarily a bow hunter in NC. Some rifle hunting but not much past 250 yards. Don’t glass a lot and low light is important. What are your recommendations? Thanks for all the content!
Hey there Justin! I think you be really happy with the Athlon Cronus UHD G2s (not the Midas). In our testing those were the hands down winner in that category. Thanks for watching!
Best bino's on the market is personal choice. But not really. Todays tech and know how has changed todays market. GPO's Passion bino's are unbelieveable. So are Athlon's. But the best I have ever seen for the money -----mid range----- is Kowa S2. or GPO Passion. Both are amazing for the price. I recently got a pair for the tripod, and they are unbelievable for under $500. Athlon 12x50. Hard to believe they are so clear.
Yes sir! That's in the works right now. Stay tuned to the channel here and over on social media and the website www.backwoodspursuit.com for that as well. Thanks for watching!
@@echofoxtrotwhiskey1595 thank you sir! We've been putting out some content on binocular rangefinders over the last few months as we test for this upcoming side by side review, so if you are interested, check those articles and videos out. More to come though! backwoodspursuit.com/category/gear-reviews/optics-reviews/rangefinding-binoculars/
I'd strongly advise don't knowingly buy disposable throw away rangefinders that don't have a real no questions asked NO BS Lifetime warranty. Once they go bad and all electronics do, the real lifetime warranty matters if you get a replacement or it ends up in your trash can. Thus the real disposable throw away description. Bushnell is the absolute worst they don't even honor their one year warranty on electronics. They got an F by the BBB fir screwing over way too many of their customers come lifetime warranty time. Even the Illuminated reticles in their scopes only have a one year warranty only with proof of purchase receipt and people think it's lifetime but it's not.
Excellent review. Thank you. Any designs on reviewing rangefinding binoculars and the pros and cons of carrying dedicated binoculars and RFs vs. one piece that does both?
Thank you! Actually, we are working on that rangefinding bino project right now! I'll make sure to put a video together on RF binos vs a dedicated rangefinder and dedicated binos. Thanks for watching!
My eye glasses only cost about 200 dollars. No way I would spend 1500 dollars for binoculars. Imagine what I could see if I spent 1500 dollars on my eye glasses.
@MorningNapalm sorry it wasn't what you were looking for. We tried to get as many brands represented as we could, but obviously didn't get them all. Thanks for watching though.
@@BackwoodsPursuit I like many of the brands you have there, but Nikon is one of the oldest, and has one of the largest and most respected ranges, I cannot really understand how not a single pair made it in.
@CatHound there are plenty of folks who don't need the extra performance that high end optics provide vs entry level. Just depends on what you'll be using them for.
Hey there Kurt! Great question. My answer would depend on what I'm looking for overall, but for me I'd take the SFL over anything else in that price category ($1500 range), but if we are purely looking at performance, I'd still take any of the Alpha glass over the SFL. The Vortex Razor UHDs were a little better in low light, but given how much smaller and lighter weight the SFLs are, I'd take them as I preferred the SFLs in every lighting scenario other than the very last light. My context is western hunting where size and weight do matter in optics. So, that's a long answer in that optically, I'd rank them just below the Razor UHD only because of low light performance, but all the other factors (build quality, size, weight, color contrast, edge to edge clarity etc), they are ahead of the Razor UHD. Does that help? Thanks for watching!
😂VICTORY HT got so high 20% Edge to Edge blurry for $3000 bino. 😂 Zeiss u are Fired. EVERYBODY is leaving Zeiss again😢 Lousy Zeiss Optic😅 very Shameful.
We didn't have the Zeiss Victory HT in our testing, but the Victory SF. We found the Victory SF to hold a very crisp image within 90% of the FOV, so very close to NL Pure, but not quite there. The focus mechanism on the Victory SF is phenomenal though, and in our opinion, the beat on the market currently. The NL Pure did outperform the Victory SF optically though in our testing, but the NL Pure are more expensive as well. Certainly pros and cons to each. Thanks for watching!
😂 💯 the headache you get looking through shit glass is not worth it. People don't necessarily need Alpha glass or even 1K glass, but Holy hell...the people who won't spend even $250-$500 for straight good glass is astounding. Cheap glass sucks balls
Yes it is. I glass 2-3 times a week out in nature and I'm enjoying watching birds, boats, the moon and the stars. Coughing up the extra cash is worth it in the end. It's all about observing the smallest details 🧐
If people can afford to pay for the most expensive ones then great happy for them maybe they earn 1000 euros a day personal salary owning a good business.
What you said in a very nice way, is what I have found. Bino's have changed. In today's market there are literally tons of choices. And good glass can be found cheap...!!! Three companies are running away with the market. Athlon glass is very hard to beat. Kowa S2 glass is unbelievable...!!! And GPO is so good they rival anyone's products. Meopta is also great glass. I just bought a pair of 12x50 bino's and a spotting scope from Athlon. For less than $700. For both. And they are mind boggling crystal clear. As clear as anything out there. Companies like Swarovski and Lecia and Zeiss. Are going to go out of business very soon...!!! People are not going to """"""PAY"""" $3000.00 for a pair of bino's , when the Kowa S2 at $429.00 do exactly the same ...!!! Or the GPO Passions or the ............. Great Glass in now available for $400-500 dollars. Paying $ 2000.00 or $429???? I'd have never paid for Swarovski's anyways, a 1 year warranty isn't going to cut it when spending thousands on a pair of bino's. Trust me, these companies are going to go bankrupt. I'll run GPO's against any of the Big Boy's . Or Kowa. And I'll win...!!!
@@claudej8805 there is no such thing as high-end glass, anymore. The optics game is and has changed. China and Japan changed all that. I bought a $359.00 Kowa bino's and was blown away. I then bought a Sightron scope and was blown away. I bought a pair of Bino's on a dare. For $275.00 off Amazon Athlon Argos 12x50. Unbelievable clarity and color. Swaro will either change their ways and pricing or go the way of the Oh-No bird. Because when you can buy a rifle scope for $ 300 with lifetime warranty or a pair of Swaro's for $1200.00 with a 1 - year warranty. It's kind of a no brainer. And I'll put a Athlon against a Swaro any day of the weak. Save $800 and a lifetime warranty. Simple stuff. Peace.
