Advice on budget friendly 12x42 or 12x50 Bino’s needed

jmchristian13 · Jul 1, 2018

Hey guys.

Wanting to upgrade to some 12x42 or 12x50 binoculars that will still fit in my harness. I would like to stay close to $300 or below. Looking at the Vortex Diamondback 12x50 or Nikon Monarch 5 12x42. Anybody have any advice as to which would be the better? Nikon more compact and light. Vortex is cheaper. Will I lose much low light performance going from 50 mm to 42 mm? Also if anyone else has any suggestions for any others?

Thanks!

Schaaf · Jul 1, 2018

Set on 12x?

PrairieHunter · Jul 1, 2018

12x can be difficult to hold steady when glassing freehand. 12x will also likely have a smaller FOV and not be as bright during low light conditions compared to an 8 or 10x binocular. I find 8x42 and 10x50 to be perfect for glassing without a tripod.

As far as best binocular in the $300 range the Bushnell legend M 8x42 is being discontinued and gets good reviews in that price range, and can be had for about half retail right now at $179.

Others to consider would be the Maven C series.

3855WIN · Jul 1, 2018

12x on a budget means you’ll need a bottle of aspirin for the headaches if you spend hours glassing.

AggieOutlaw · Jul 1, 2018

You lose 1.4 times the light going from 50 to 42mm. You also decrease the exit pupil by about 20%.

What are you “upgrading” from and why? 10x40 is a good all around. 12x buys you very little other than shake and eye fatigue in my opinion. I’ve found that (with exception of very expensive glass) higher magnification binoculars show their optical flaws more readily.

Generally I would recommend saving the $300 until you find a $500-600 pair on clearance. You’ll be happier if you can wait for a bargain.

Sytes · Jul 1, 2018

AggieOutlaw said:
You lose 1.4 times the light going from 50 to 42mm. You also decrease the exit pupil by about 20%.

What are you “upgrading” from and why? 10x40 is a good all around. 12x buys you very little other than shake and eye fatigue in my opinion. I’ve found that (with exception of very expensive glass) higher magnification binoculars show their optical flaws more readily.

Generally I would recommend saving the $300 until you find a $500-600 pair on clearance. You’ll be happier if you can wait for a bargain.

That's pretty interesting. I never dug into the specifics over differences within glass other than certain brands and $$$ = better quality.

Upon advise, I swapped out my old Burris binos for the Vortex 10(or 12? I don't recall off hand)x50. Significant difference!

I have my Leupold spotting scope and hardly take it as the Vortex are *that good. For the $... Vortex made my day.

jmchristian13 · Jul 1, 2018

Have some 15 yr old Bushnell Trophy 10x42s that I couldn’t quite field judge a 10 pt whitetail 400 yds away last fall. Thought I might get 12x to help with that. But from what you guys are saying about eye strain maybe I should just stay with 10x. No spotting scope yet, someday I will have to get to that later.

okie_hotrod · Jul 1, 2018

Try going to a 10x50 with better glass and make sure you're adjusting the eyepiece, a little more light transmission and clarity might be all you need

wannakillabigbull · Jul 1, 2018

jmchristian13 said:
Have some 15 yr old Bushnell Trophy 10x42s that I couldn’t quite field judge a 10 pt whitetail 400 yds away last fall. Thought I might get 12x to help with that. But from what you guys are saying about eye strain maybe I should just stay with 10x. No spotting scope yet, someday I will have to get to that later.

Thanks for sharing your specific situation, that helps tremendously. As others have mentioned 12x binos aren’t the best for free handing. Having owned both 10x and 12x binos I can say that your ability to field judge an animal while free handing will almost surely not get better with the 12x due to additional shake of the image. 12x binos are a great all around choice for western hunters that do a lot of tripod glassing; in that situation field judging can get markedly better with 12x provided they’re good glass. But it sounds like your situation calls for a nicer pair of 10x42s.

AggieOutlaw · Jul 1, 2018

Agreed. Or better still, invest in a tripod if your hunting style allows. If you’re trying to judge animals at distance, you will need one for binos or spotters. You’d be amazed how much a good tripod can help even mediocre glass.

Of course when the glass is quiet, you can see why you wanna upgrade the glass. It’s a never ending cycle.

Best of luck to you making your decision!

brnsvllyjohn · Jul 1, 2018

Years ago I was sitting next to a hunting buddy who had the same power of binoculars I had. Mine were decent but not as good as his. He told me a buck we were looking at was a really nice 4 point. All I knew was it was a decent buck. I could not count points at first light. As we got closer and the sun got higher I saw that he was correct on his evaluation. It wasn't magnification it was quality. I purchased better glass the following year. Buy the best glass you can in 10 power and you will be amazed. 12 power in your price range isn't going to make you happy.

Advice on budget friendly 12x42 or 12x50 Bino’s needed

jmchristian13

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Schaaf

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3855WIN

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AggieOutlaw

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Sytes

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jmchristian13

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wannakillabigbull

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