32 replies to this topic

[tW!tcH]

I purchased the Cabela's Eurobinoculars. Clear and bright. I had used them before and they compare well with the 1700 dollar ones.

[Cranky Farmer]

Nikon for me as well. One day I am going to upgrade to something compact so I don't need to lug these big things around any longer.

[woodguru]

Ten years ago I bought a pair of 8x Nikons for my wife who is into birding, I wanted to show her the difference quality optics make over the real cheapies. The online binocular specialty store made a recomendation to me for a set of 10x compacts that will fit in a pocket, it was the Bushnell Legacy 10x. For ten years I have been blowing away everyone I'm out with when I tell them to look through mine to compare to whatever they are using. The key to the small size is that I always have them with me in the glovebox, my boat, camping, whatever. I have them about ten times as often as my wife has her beloved Nikons because they are so small.I've used Swarovski and Zeiss compacts and they are undoubtedly excellent but the Legacy compact is close enough and so good in their own right that the value at the couple of hundred bucks I paid highly discounted is outstanding. Also the cost isn't so high that you have to worry about them, these get passed around amongst guys and I don't even think about them until I want them back to look at something. I do get a kick out of how radical the difference is between the bargain compacts and something like this.