Your recommendations - compact and convenient high quality binoculars

[Longwalker]

Thanks for all the suggestions and experienced opinions. I'm learning a lot!

Bert, I may have been happier with just buying Swarovski 8x32 EL's to begin with and use them for everything but I like my bigger Swarovski 8.5x42 EL's too much to give them up now.

375fox, I looked at the Maven company. Never heard of them before. Being a USA company is no advantage to me. To a Canadian customer a USA owned and assembled brand is "neutral" at best. But thanks for the suggestion. The Maven 8x30's do not have enough eye relief for use with glasses. However, Maven have a B3 6x30 model that is very interesting indeed.

I am not one who thinks more magnification is always better. High power is certainly no advantage in the bush. So any of the 10x binoculars are not of interest to me for this purpose. The Maven 6x30 have long eye relief, big exit pupil, and may be just what I need to replace my old Minox 6x32 binoculars that died after a couple decades of good service.

That said, the Swarovski 8x30 CL companions are still calling to me... and I also need to look at the Meopta offerings!

 

[Tra3]

+1 for the swaro CL. I picked up a pair this year with a plan to have them for hikes, backup, and for my wife and kids to use. I also have the new El Range. The bigger EL binoculars are definitely better.. and twice the size.
I wanted a small pair that I would not notice on my neck. The CL binos are truly excellent for their size. My son’s first use of them resulted in an immediate exclamation of “wow, these are really clear!”

 

[Trogon]

I have a superb pair of Swarovski EL 8.5x42's that I use for almost all my hunting. I like them a lot. Wonderful quality, very capable in all situations but quite big and a little bit heavy.

I find my self wanting a smaller, more convenient pair for situations where I will not be using the binoculars so intensively, like close cover / dense bush, or hunting where a lot of walking is likely and glassing not as much. Something that doesn't weigh very much, fits in a large coat pocket, and isn't noticed so much hanging around my neck. I wear eyeglasses. So a good field of view while wearing glasses is imperative. Perhaps 18-20 mm eye relief? I don't think the ultra small folding binoculars will be a fit for my purposes, I've tried a couple models and they just don't perform well enough in low light and dark bush. My other criteria are less than 10x magnification, Waterproof, shock resistant and useful while using only one hand during viewing.

I am considering the Swarovski EL companion, 8x30. Anyone with experience with these please let me know what you think, or any similar smallish/light and convenient models I should consider. My budget is approx. $1000 US.

Zeiss Conquest would fit your price point. A brother uses the 8x32 Conquest, I use the Victory T*Fl 8x32, we are avid birders and in the month of May these binos get used heavily. I think the Conquest 8x32 is worth a good look.. I also have the Conquest 8x42 but a bit heavier.

 

[BeeMaa]

@Longwalker - Don't sleep on Leica. Take a look at the Trinovid 8x32HD. I'm not sure what you require for eye relief or your weight limitations, but they are amazing. Armored exterior adds a bit of weight and bulk that may put you off. Price point of ~$1K USD.

Truth be told, with the brands you are looking at I doubt you will be disappointed.

 

[375Fox]

375fox, I looked at the Maven company. Never heard of them before. Being a USA company is no advantage to me. To a Canadian customer a USA owned and assembled brand is "neutral" at best. But thanks for the suggestion. The Maven 8x30's do not have enough eye relief for use with glasses. However, Maven have a B3 6x30 model that is very interesting indeed.

I am not one who thinks more magnification is always better. High power is certainly no advantage in the bush. So any of the 10x binoculars are not of interest to me for this purpose. The Maven 6x30 have long eye relief, big exit pupil, and may be just what I need to replace my old Minox 6x32 binoculars that died after a couple decades of good service.

That said, the Swarovski 8x30 CL companions are still calling to me... and I also need to look at the Meopta offerings!

Sorry didn’t realize you were Canadian when I wrote that. I put that in there cause it bothers me when companies like Leupold who built their brand on quality American made scopes ship their binocular production to China. As far as I can tell they are the only binoculars assembled (made with Japanese parts) in the USA, all other American brands are made in Asia.

 

[Longwalker]

Yes, I also try to avoid buying Chinese products!

 

[Muskox]

Just played with a pair of 10x42 Swarovski NL pure.

They are pure sexy for sure. Best binos I have ever looked through.

 

[flatwater bill]

I have the 6X30 mentioned above also. Good call on the lower power. I took them to Africa and had no complaints. I got into optics as a kid. We first had a 30 power reflector telescope made with a carboard tube. It was great. It would not resolve the disc of Mars, but it made the moons of Jupiter shine. Being budding geniuses, we traded it for a 400 power refractor. What could possibly go wrong here? Learned at an early age that resolving power is not a function of magnification. BTW, the CL's are definitely better than the Mavens, and in the small size, I could scarcely see the difference between them and the EL 32's......best of luck................FWB

 

[Longwalker]

As a follow up to this old thread, My new Swarovski 8x30 CL Companion binoculars arrived a few days ago. I am very pleased. Great view, easy to use, light and handy, image is sharp as a tack. the only thing I'm going to change is the carry strap. don't care for the wide, thick neoprene strap. But that's so minor. These are "keepers". I'm taking them to the Savé Conservancy in May. Bet I'll see a few buffalo through their nice little lenses.

 

[double rifle newbie]

i have a compact pair of the compact canon image stabilizing binocs and cannot say enough good things about them. ive used them many times in the brooks range in alaska glassing for caribou and griz, and on a plains game trip to namibia. i was seeing animals before anyone else with me almost all the time. highly highly recommended.

 

[Tra3]

As a follow up to this old thread, My new Swarovski 8x30 CL Companion binoculars arrived a few days ago. I am very pleased. Great view, easy to use, light and handy, image is sharp as a tack. the only thing I'm going to change is the carry strap. don't care for the wide, thick neoprene strap. But that's so minor. These are "keepers". I'm taking them to the Savé Conservancy in May. Bet I'll see a few buffalo through their nice little lenses.

Good purchase. I carry mine regularly when I go on walks from my house. Even in an urban environment they get used regularly.

 

[Kevin Peacocke]

My new Swarovski CL Curio 7x21's arrived the other day, the only pair to come into South Africa I am told. No need for a carry strap, they just sit in my hip pouch. These things are so clear and precise and all you would need to hunt sub-200 metres. A mini miracle that I carry around with me and use daily.

 

[Berettaco]

As a follow up to this old thread, My new Swarovski 8x30 CL Companion binoculars arrived a few days ago. I am very pleased. Great view, easy to use, light and handy, image is sharp as a tack. the only thing I'm going to change is the carry strap. don't care for the wide, thick neoprene strap. But that's so minor. These are "keepers". I'm taking them to the Savé Conservancy in May. Bet I'll see a few buffalo through their nice little lenses.

I just bought those same binoculars for my next trip. Really like the clarity and weight. I chose to use a badlands bino carrier with them. Excellent setup - just have to buy and modify the strap connectors but worth the minor hassle

 

[Tanks]

Just played with a pair of 10x42 Swarovski NL pure.

They are pure sexy for sure. Best binos I have ever looked through.

I was really impressed with them when I handled them at the SCI show. Really light (22.8oz for 8/10 x 32) as well. Well worth stretching one's budget if one is just looking for binoculars.

 

[C.W. Richter]

Mark Sullivan swears on the 8x20 Leicas but after seeing the $400 Used 10x models on here yesterday, I had to investigate...Larry Potterfield, you are very welcome! 8x binos too heavy? a gym membership might be cheaper!? i consider 15x too heavy for stalking, but very appropriate for sitting or scouting from afar... https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1024104061?pid=656469

 

[crs]

I have a few binocs for different purposes - from placing in various parts of the house for convenient access to keep up with what is going on out on the farm, to brand x x with range finders, and for stalking. MY stalking binocs are Leupold 10x28 roof prisms that when folded , will fit into the pocket of my hunting shirts or can be worn around the neck and under one arm. Light and bright, they are the ones that I take to Africa and other such places. Every PH that sees them tries them out and approves, so I guess they are OK. On my first safari they were in all the photos of me with game.

 

[Bhfs300]

I am 46 but I have 20-450 vision in one eye and 20-400 vision in the other. I can only see that a person is a person at 10 feet without glasses I can't see who it is.

With glasses I am 20-15 in both eyes.

I agree, you need 18-22 mm of eye relief.

There isn't a 10x25 made that will have enough eye relief for me.

I would try every pair of 8x32's I could find.

Muskox
I was 20-200 in one eye 20-300 in the other.
I had LASIK surgery on both eyes 23 years ago. The next next morning I had 20-19 vision in both eyes. I could see a Canadian Honker in the valley below the friends house we went to. At 69 my vision is still 20-20 the only problem is as I got older I needed reading glasses for close up reading. Out shooting I still see things perfectly clear.
The cost is way down from back then.
You should check it out.

 

[steve white]

good choices mentioned so far, BUT...if I recall you mentioning low light performance, you cannot get top low light performance with the 8x30's compared to the smallish, light 7x42 Habicht porous which are almost in your price range new. One 8x30 I have enjoyed is the Kahles, a company bought out by Swarovski I believe a while back. They are an Austrian company and share some knowledge with Swarovski parent company, but their 8x30s are actually Japanese!...tho no doubt made under their strict QC. AllBinos give them an excellent review, showing that the transmission curve is about identical to the Swarovski EL. They run about $500 used. Leica ultravids are the best true compact binoculars I have looked through, and their 8x30s are surely compact. Let your eyes tell you. I COULD recommend the stellar Nikon SE series, now discontinued I believe, but they are not waterproof. (back in the day, they outperformed the Zeiss Nightowls I was considering, which was a shock at the time) Good hunting.