Looking for recommendations to upgrade my binoculars. Budget is +/- 1K. Looking to stay in the 10x42 size. Currently using a dated pair of Leupolds. Have handled Zeiss Conquests, Vortex Razor, Leica Trinovads, Leupold Santiums. Leaning towards Zeiss. Any input is appreciated.

Only one man to ask……he will be alone shortly.

I personally prefer the Trinovids over the Vortex or the Zeiss but with what you are looking at it's hard to go wrong. Go with what your preference is and don't 2nd guess yourself.

Also, it wouldn't be the OB if I didn't suggest something twice your stated budget: Swarovski EL

Thank you. I agree - those are very close. I'm not a fan of the Leupolds and would prefer staying away from the Vortex just because of location of manufacturing in comparison to both the Zeiss and Leica. But, open to any suggestions.

I made my budget that way so I didn't include them . I know if I go and evaluate those, I'll likely buy them so I'm trying to find reasons to not spend 3x the budget.

Take a look at Meopta as well.

A used Swaro SLC 10x42 would be the king of the $1K bino mountain.

With optics an old rule of thumb is the more you spend the better they are!

Leica trinovid or Swarovski SLC are the answers.

Aggie Hunter said:

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Only one man to ask……he will be alone shortly.

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Caladan bat signal

Leica Geovid 10x42 for your chest rig. Can range elk at 1100 yards.
Swaro 15's for your tripod. Heavy but awesome.

Maven B1.2

I vote for Leica. Had mine about 10-15 years wouldn't trade for anything else!

Europtic has a demo pair of those zeiss you like for $699.

For around that budget, my guess is Caladan will recommend the Zeiss Conquest HD.

That's said, I'll echo Tikka on the SLC 10x42. I bought mine in 2018 and they're still my favorite piece of hunting gear I own.

No bad choices in the ~$1k arena. The Zeiss Conquest HD is IMO the most technically proficient, but by an extremely small amount. I prefer the Leica Trinovids because I like their warmer color presentation as compared to the Zeiss, and I like their feel of build quality in the hand and overall looks. But the Zeiss is just excellent in their sharpness, and are IMO the best in this price range.

Meopta Meostars are nice, but too heavy and IMO they cost a bit more than they should. But you can't deny their build quality. Meoptas seem to have the best subjective feel of build quality in their respective price ranges. The Meostars also have a slight yellowish tint to the view, but unless you have something like a Conquest right next to them, you won't really notice this. Meostars also tend to have a shorter eye-relief than other brands. I have yet to meet a Meostar that I could use while wearing sunglasses.

The Vortex Razor is a very good bino as well, but I can certainly understand you not wanting to buy a Chinese bino. I have a few Chi-com pocketknives, but I won't spend more than $75 for one. The earlier Razors were made in Japan and are excellent binoculars, so you might check the used market for one. The Japanese Razors (made by Kamakura IIRC) were priced higher than they should have been, but since they don't hold their value as well as the Euro alphas, can sometimes be found at great prices. Just don't get a first-gen Razor. IMO their focus wheels are just as good as that on the Conquest HD, and I really like their thin-walled eyecups.

The high-end Leupolds are also made by Kamakura, so they can be a good buy if you can find one for a good price. Focus direction on these tend to be the opposite of the Euro models, so keep that in mind if that sort of thing bothers you. That doesn't bother me at all, since I couldn't care less which way I have to turn the focus wheel. Potential downside to buying a Leupold is that if you have to send it in for repair, they will most likely just send you a new pair of binos that you may well not want. I've had this happen twice. I doubt that I will ever buy another Leupold bino.

Nikon has the Monarch HG that is usually at the lower end of the ~$1k price range. They are good, but I would definitely prefer the Trinovid or Conquest HD.

C

The eye relief on Zeiss is not good. If you use without glasses it might be a struggle.

That was the "short" Caladan bino rec. He must be busy today. Now somebody ask him for recs on a pellet gun.

Thanks Caladan!

I appreciate all the input here. Going to give the Leica's a second look then decide. Thanks guys!

Thanks again for the write up, Caladan. Went to Carters Country today and put both the Leica's and Zeiss up to the task outdoors. Ended up taking home the Zeiss.

May not be Swaro's but they're the best bino's I've ever had. Appreciate all the recommendations here!

How do the Leica's perform in lower light conditions? (For those that have used them of course)

OneMoonGoon92 said:

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How do the Leica's perform in lower light conditions? (For those that have used them of course)

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There is no appreciable difference when comparing the better $1k binos, as long as you are comparing the same configuration. They all perform somewhat decently, including the Leica. No 10x42 does great in low light. However, most owners will accept what performance they do get, mostly because they don't have a large exit-pupil bino to compare them to.

If low light performance is truly a concern, then you should be looking at a good 10x50, or possibly a 56mm if you can stand the weight.

If you would like a recommendation from someone who has used almost everything under the sun -- a truly excellent 10x that I would consider to be in the realm of a "low-light" bino is the Swarovski 10x50 EL SV. Smaller than a lot of other 10x50's, and with a wider FOV than their 10x42. It is one of the best binos you can buy, of any size, maker, or price. These might be discontinued, but they pop up on the used market from time to time. Another great one is the Zeiss 10x56 Victory FL. These have been discontinued for years, but are nonetheless a great pair of binos. They do hold a bit weird though.

C

I am very happy with and very successful with Sig BDX3000 kilo. Ranged and dropped an elk at 689yds after finding them at about 3000 yds off a tripod.

https://www.longrangehunting.com/threads/sig-kilo-3000bdx-range-finding-binos.251722/