Hi Folks, Thank you all for your help. Sorry for maybe abusing this data gathering email but I really needed help from a number of youall. Now I have 3 neighbor kids also learning to do birding!! While I really like the new binoculars (nikon 10X50's) the 10X still causes me some problems in not being close enough for longer distance views. However, I cannot hold 15X binocs still enough and they are too heavy, so I just purchased a cheap Monocular Zoom 10X-30X on Amazon. It might be a Brunton. I think if I take my left arm and put it under my right elbow (aka similar the Tai Chi Position Fist Under Elbow) and hold real still I can use the Monocular. Now whether I can quickly do this while walking along and suddenly spotting a bird that I want to spot is another story!! sincerely, cheers, judojoe Joe D Phillips OOS newbie birder Pataskala & Columbus ---- Joe Phillips <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Hi Matt, > > Thank you very much for sharing your side by side survey of these binocs. > > After reviewing this thread, and all the very helpful inputs - thanks to all, I decided to purchase the Chinese plastic Nikon 10 x 40 Action 7266 probably simply because I could do most of what I want to do and they only cost me $68 with free shipping on Amazon.com. > > However, for the long term I am very interested in what will be my next set of binocs. I have looked a lot at the Vortex website and the Eagle website. I am very pleased that you took the time to share with us that you decided on Vortex and why. > > PS: My current frustration is trying to get my nearsightedness, my trifocals, my digital camera and my new binoculars to all work in unison and in succession!!! LOL, LOL, LOL!!! > > I really think my next purchase has to be a camera / binoculars combination. Does Vortex make such a thing? > > Does anyone have experience with a camera binoculars combination? Trying to use a dedicated camera as a binoculars is really really cumbersome!! > > Mostly I want to just go back and forth from eyes to binoculars, and then at the almost rare perfect moment, snap!! and I have a picture!!! > > thank you for this thread, > > joe d phillips > birder newbie > pataskala & columbus > > ---- Matt Valencic <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > > After 4 nights on the road I returned home this afternoon through > > Millersburg and stopped at Time and Optics to talk with Robert Hershberger > > and his mother (who started the shop many years ago). I looked through > > several models (Vortex, Nikon, Eagle & Leupold) and power combinations > > (8x42, 10x42, 8.5x43). My max price was ~$500. The ones that impressed me > > most were the 8x42 Vortex Viper ($529) and a pair of 8x42 Leupold ($409) - I > > did not notice the model because I did not even consider them in my research > > - might have been Pinnacles. > > > > > > > > I was fortunate that the afternoon was dreary and rainy because without the > > limited light I could have been happy with either one. The Leupold felt > > lighter but it could just have been the design. Both had a similar field of > > view when I compared them against a distant fence line. However, when I > > really focused on some lichen attached to a fence post about 20 yards away > > it was obvious to me that the Vortex Viper was brighter and gave more detail > > of my 'target'. I went back-and-forth many times until I was convinced. > > Robert finally became non-committal and agreed that I had observed > > correctly. > > > > > > > > Just for 'grins and giggles' I looked through a pair of Leica's ($1,800) and > > Swarovski ($3,000). Yes, they were both brighter but not $1,000 - $2,000 > > brighter to me (to someone else with the budget they probably are!). > > > > > > > > Anyway, the icing on the cake is the incredible warranty from Vortex. > > > > > > > > Thanks to all who helped me make this decision. > > > > > > > > The take-away from all this . if you are going to spend more than $100 go > > somewhere where you can compare side-by-side. Then pray for a dreary day! > > Robert said that if it were bright and sunny I would not have been able to > > discern the difference between them. > > > > > > > > Regards, > > > > > > > > Matt Valencic > > > > Chagrin Falls, OH > > > > > > ______________________________________________________________________ > > > > Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. > > Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. > > Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. > > > > You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: > > http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS > > Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask] > > ______________________________________________________________________ > > Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. > Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. > Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. > > You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: > http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS > Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask] ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]