Sundevils79 Report post Posted October 8, 2008 Well I ended up getting the Brunton's and I must say I'm pretty impressed with them. For $313 on opticplanet.com you really can't go too wrong. I spent all weekend looking through them and no eye fatigue to speak of. Lots of frustration with a certain black bear but the glasses worked great. Thanks for all the advice and input. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest bearmtnsports Report post Posted October 12, 2008 i really like the vortex they are great Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
catclaw Report post Posted October 15, 2008 In this price range, the Fujinon Polaris 16x70 is by FAR the best. Fujinon still makes their marine series (FMT-SX). I used to own a set and used them a lot. I spent a week on a sheep hunt with a guy who had 15x56 SLCs. The Fujinons were right there. They are very big however. You can find them at any of the Brooklyn camera shops for $575-$750. The 15x60HDs that Fujinon made were terrible- don't even consider them. The Bruntons have a poor reputation for holding up. I have heard horror story after horror story with both the epochs (very expensive) and the Eternas. I haven't heard anything bad about the Minox. The Pentax and Minoltas that I have looked through were horrible. Right up there with the 20x Steiners and Meads. A very good point was brought up in this thread- the fact that these large ROOF prism binoculars will not accommodate the eyes of a very large number of potential users. I have many friends who cannot use my 15x56 SLCs because they are too wide at the narrowest they go. The Leicas are even worse! If you have eyes like this, you will need to find a porro prism design binocular such as the aforementioned Fujinon FMT-SX or the old Zeiss 15x60s or the old Doctor 15x60s. It's unfortunate that people are more concerned with aesthetics than performance. All other things being equal, a porro glass will be sharper, brighter and cheaper than a roof prism design. They have one less prism per side and are far easier to build. They look old fashioned so they don't sell. There hasn't been a binocular built that can hold a candle to the Nikon Superior Es. Period. I believe they are discontinued now too! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DesertDweller Report post Posted October 18, 2008 I think the poor guy got confused with X-15 and 15x... just a bit of a difference!!!! :>) Back to the 15x... When Swaro brought out the 15x56 is was the end of the 15x porro prism binoculars as a popular glass... Us hunters are roof prism crazy... even if technically the performance is not as good. Being a more "compact" unit has appeal. The old Zeiss 15x60 was by far the best in it's class, followed by the Docter's and the Fuji's... The Fuji's were/are as big as a battle ship and almost as heavy! Unfortinuately the Docter's has thier mechanical problems, while they were optically very good. A used pair of 15x60 Zeiss at a moderate price are a real find... Well worth the investment in my opinion... Zeiss still stands behind them and that can't be said for Docter or Fuji.... Sad but true. When thinking of whipping out that Master Card for a low priced 13/15/16x bino remember... the higher power the binocular the more critical every aspect of material construction and design become...and much less forgiving. You can't buy a Corvette for the same price as a Malibu.... Thier is a difference! D.D. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ruffcountry Report post Posted October 18, 2008 The X-15 based on a concept study from Walter Dornberger for the NACA for a hypersonic research aircraft. The requests for proposal were published on 30 December 1954 for the airframe and on 4 February 1955 for the rocket engine. ============================================================================== Sam Our mission is to provide high quality end to end solutions to the BPO segment in a manner that will improve the operational efficiency while reducing the cost of the services to the client. 4thdimension1@gmail.com I thought Bush gave us a "no child left behind act ". As for the bino 's should I go for zeiss 12x conquest or brunton 15x eterna's ? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Loner Report post Posted October 20, 2008 In this price range, the Fujinon Polaris 16x70 is by FAR the best. Fujinon still makes their marine series (FMT-SX). I used to own a set and used them a lot. I spent a week on a sheep hunt with a guy who had 15x56 SLCs. The Fujinons were right there. They are very big however. You can find them at any of the Brooklyn camera shops for $575-$750. The 15x60HDs that Fujinon made were terrible- don't even consider them. The Bruntons have a poor reputation for holding up. I have heard horror story after horror story with both the epochs (very expensive) and the Eternas. I haven't heard anything bad about the Minox. The Pentax and Minoltas that I have looked through were horrible. Right up there with the 20x Steiners and Meads. A very good point was brought up in this thread- the fact that these large ROOF prism binoculars will not accommodate the eyes of a very large number of potential users. I have many friends who cannot use my 15x56 SLCs because they are too wide at the narrowest they go. The Leicas are even worse! If you have eyes like this, you will need to find a porro prism design binocular such as the aforementioned Fujinon FMT-SX or the old Zeiss 15x60s or the old Doctor 15x60s. It's unfortunate that people are more concerned with aesthetics than performance. All other things being equal, a porro glass will be sharper, brighter and cheaper than a roof prism design. They have one less prism per side and are far easier to build. They look old fashioned so they don't sell. There hasn't been a binocular built that can hold a candle to the Nikon Superior Es. Period. I believe they are discontinued now too! Catclaw, I have a buddy that that loves his Steiners 20x are they really horrible? He swears i need them for our upcoming hunt but at $ 1,100 i could use some more opinions. Thanks Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ruffcountry Report post Posted October 21, 2008 Catclaw, I have a buddy that that loves his Steiners 20x are they really horrible? He swears i need them for our upcoming hunt but at $ 1,100 i could use some more opinions. Thanks I have had a pair of steiner 12x40 hunting series for 10 yrs , yeah I luv 'em , very lightweight ,clear and bright , good hunting binoculars . I have not compared these side by side in the field with anything like swaros , I doubt they would match , but when I bought them I didnt have to dig too deep in my pocket to pay either . What I have done is stare thru them all day for days on end and not come away with crossed eyes and a headache . I dont care for the indivdual focus but I learned where to set them for close , med , and long range . Because I liked these so much , a couple of years ago I bought a pair of steiner 15x56 bighorn . I just do not like these as much as my 12x's . They are heavier and I've never thought I could see any better with them than I could thru the 12x's . Somebody in a previous post said that bighorn's worked for them . I am going to sell my 15x56 bighorn . I took them with me on a couple of hunts so they show light wear but I didnt use them much . So there you go , I have two pair of steiner , one pair I like and the other , well , not so much . Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SEWHITETAIL Report post Posted October 21, 2008 THE MINOX 15X ARE SOME EXCEPTIONAL BINO'S MY OLDER BROTHER HAS THEM AND LIKE EVERYONE SAID THEY ARE A LITTLE HEAVY BUT ARE VERY COMPARIBLE TO THE SWARO'S. I KNOW THIS BECAUSE MY YOUNGER BROTHER HAS THE SWARO 15X'S AND WE HAVE COMPARED. THEY BOTH SPOT A CRAP LOAD OF DEER BUT THAT ALSO HAS ALOT TO DO WITH WHO'S BEHIND THE GLASSES. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AzHunt Report post Posted October 21, 2008 Catclaw, I have a buddy that that loves his Steiners 20x are they really horrible? He swears i need them for our upcoming hunt but at $ 1,100 i could use some more opinions. Thanks I would highly suggest staying away from the 20x Steiners. The individual focus becomes a pain. They also did not fit my face well either. I bought a pair of 15x Vortex binos. Love them! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Loner Report post Posted October 21, 2008 Catclaw, I have a buddy that that loves his Steiners 20x are they really horrible? He swears i need them for our upcoming hunt but at $ 1,100 i could use some more opinions. Thanks I would highly suggest staying away from the 20x Steiners. The individual focus becomes a pain. They also did not fit my face well either. I bought a pair of 15x Vortex binos. Love them! Thanks for the info on the Steiner 20x 's. Is a tripod a must for 15x too, or are you able to hold them steady enough for short periods of time? Just wonndering. Thanks, Loner Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
flagstaff Report post Posted October 22, 2008 A tripod for a 15X power is about a must. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
russdiggins Report post Posted November 1, 2008 A tripod for a 15X power is about a must. Have you ever heard of optolyth? I have used them for 10 or more years. 15x63 great glass for the money Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
swiley Report post Posted November 20, 2008 I picked up a pair of 15X Vortex Vipers from Camera Land (demo price) late this summer Great value and performance. I also picked up a Bogen 2001 tripod with a 3265G Ballhead for $100 on ebay and it was off to Wyoming for Mulie this October. My buddy & I both scored on solid 4x4 mulies. I can't wait to get my next AZ Coues tag and try them out glassing whitetails. I've sat behind Swarovski's before and my 51 year old eyes (20/20 still) can't tell the difference. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shawn Report post Posted November 20, 2008 Well I ended up getting the Brunton's and I must say I'm pretty impressed with them. For $313 on opticplanet.com you really can't go too wrong. I spent all weekend looking through them and no eye fatigue to speak of. Lots of frustration with a certain black bear but the glasses worked great. Thanks for all the advice and input. I also just got the Brunton's. For the price not to bad. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jdmecomber Report post Posted November 21, 2008 I've done a lot of reading on what are the best and least expensive binoculars for what your looking for. The best I've found were the 12X56 Nikon Monarch. I puchased them this year and found many deer glassing with them. Being a novice with the glassing department, I thought I did pretty well against my Swaro counterpart. I bought mine from camera land 359.00 for demo pair. Sometimes they have refurbished like 250.00. Brand new about 420.00. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
