Binocular recommendation?

Vortex makes good binoculars.

10x is plenty of power. A lot of birders like 8x, but I prefer 10x.

28mm is small for the lens size, but if you want a small, light weight lens it can work if you have good light. 42mm is the most popular size, I like 50mm for the extra light transmission - but I use them in low light situations pretty often.

For what you want it's a good pick.

That’s a wise choice

Vortex is my go-to brand, but 10x28 is not something I would recommend. 10x is going to be hard when on the water and moving, and 28 objective isn't going to be good in low light situations.

I personally feel the 8x42 is a good balance of size/weight and performance, but even an 8x32 would be preferred over 10x28. And I've just checked the Vortex specs, the 8x32 weighs the same as the 10x28.

quote:

---

What price point do you consider the sweet point between quality/price?

---

I have a pair of Nikon Monarch 5 (10x42). Really good glass and can be found for less than $300.

I'm thinking more like $500, but keep your eyes open and you can make $500 look a lot more like $300.

Sig Sauer have some pretty good budget optics. I hunt with Zulu 3 8x32 binos and really like how compact and light they are. I also have the Whiskey 3 3-9x40 on my 30-06 and have no complaints with either.

I have 10x42 vortex Diamondback hd and 12x50 vortex Diamondback. Both are great. Got good deals on them. I’d look at some mavens as well. A little step up in price from the vortex.

quote:

---

Only knock i have against em is theyre made in wuhan

---

Here’s a list where Vortex scopes are made; from cheapest to more advanced, extreme high end. I don’t own any Vortex optics since I grew up shooting Leupold glass.

Made in China:
Copperhead series
Vortex Crossfire and Crossfire II scopes
Vortex Strike Eagle scopes
Vortex Diamondback scopes

Made in Philippines:
Vortex Viper scopes (HS, HST, PST)

Made in Japan:
Vortex Golden Eagle HD scope
Vortex Razor HD series

Made in U.S.:
Vortex Razor HD AMG ($2500 scope mainly used in PRS competition)

So I ended up going down the rabbit hole looking into optics... and decided to spend a little more coin in the process.

As some mentioned, a 7x or 8x would be preferable out on the water, so I began looking at a few of those. Nikons, Vortex, Leupold, Steiner.
But then I began looking into the image stabilized category, and that's where I went wrong.

My main use would be on the water, whether in my kayak or boats,so IS began to appeal to me more and more even though it was going to blow my budget. Buy once; cry once, right?

The Fujinon TS1440 (and newer TSX1440) seem to be the go-to IS binocular amongst boaters, but I still couldn't justify spending $1400 on a pair of binoculars. Canon's IS offerings have less than 1 degree of stabilization and most aren't even water resistant. (The new Fuji has 6 degrees) But I found a few others from Opticron and Sig Sauer that split the difference with 3 degrees and an IPX4 rating.

So, long story longer... I went to Bowie's today and they suprisingly had the SIG Zulu6 in house, so I was able to play with it a bit and came away impressed. The optics are 16x42, so a higher mag (and smaller exit pupil) than I was originally looking at with the Zulu6 10x30,but considering most of what I will be using them for will be during daylight hours, I wasn't too worried about the dusk/dawn vision. The IS worked great in the parking lot and again at home; I look forward to trying it out inshore and on a couple of offshore trips I have planned next month.

Will report back in a month or so after I put it through it's paces. Definitely the smoothest and clearest binoculars I have looked into.