North Texan

Same thing was happening to me. I'd go out glassing whitetails with my uncle. He had an old pair of Swaro's........and I didn't. The deer wouldn't get real active until late in the evening, and by then, I couldn't see them with my binoculars and would have to borrow his. I had thought they were too much money until I started seeing the diffence his made. It wasn't long till I was sporting a pair and keeping up my end of the spotting. My only regret has been not getting a pair sooner.

PLB, I'm in the same boat. Swaro's to spot, and Nikon to finish.

P.S.-The only time I have had to use their customer service, it was great.

metro

I hear what you guys are saying and I would be going for the Swaros ifbinos were a tool of my trade or I was real hardcore and I made twice as much moneyas I do. But the truth is I do more upland gamebird hunting than deer hunting andmy diposable income is'nt quite up to 1700.00 bucks a pop.

PABowhntr

I use my Nikon binos to find game and my $40 Tasco Pronghorn to finish.... I say that somewhat to be a smart-alleck but also to point out something important. Comparing the $300 Monarchs to any of the $1000+ binos is somewhat unfair in my opinion. They (the Monarchs) aren't designed to be compared to such high end pieces of glass though even at dusk I would be hardpressed to believe a $1300 price difference. However, I will agree that you get what you pay for and all of the $1000+ binos that I have owned and/or tried have been worth their weight in gold in terms of both performance and durability.

My primary binocular for hunting and birding are the Nikon HG 8x42s (also known as the Venturer LX or Premier LX). Top of the line binos that provide some superb images. I was out scouting a bit yesterday with my wife's grandfather. We bought him a pair of the 8x42 Monarchs for Christmas last year. He is tickled pink with them. He honestly cannot believe that binoculars could provide such a nice image (when considering the quality level of his previous binos). He loves them and is always looking for an opportunity to go out and use them.

While walking down a logging road I asked him if I could peek through them again as I always like to compare binos to what I am currently using (even if I have owned them before). I was still impressed with the image they provide...not as bright, flat or colorful as the HGs but all in all very satisfying for the price. I would definitely give them an 8 if the top end brands are judged as 10s.

Just my thoughts.

PLB

The Nikon Venturer LX is a top of the line binocular, I believe them to be in the same class as the Swarovski and Leica glass. But why does Nikon not make them water proof?

My dad use to use a Tasco scope on his Browning 30-06. Then onemorning on a late Nov. Elk hunt, he pulled up to shoot anice 6x6 bull andfoundthat his scope was fogged and the crosshairs were gone!Needless to say, he didn't fill his tag that year, and our family stays away from Tasco.

RedAllison

Met I'm not exactly sure what you are looking for but have you looked at the 12x45 and 15x45 Zeiss Conquest binocs? I bought a pair of 15s last summer before a muley/antelope hunt in WY and they absolutely are GREAT! The 15s are about as large as I am comfortable holding without a tripod or prop of some kind. I continue to use them anytime I am sitting in a deerstand where I have long shots. For the woods I use a 9x40 Steiner Bighorn that works great. Ihave a compact pair of Optolyths that I use for bow and turkey hunting.

The Conquest series is VERY affordable for what you get and I am thrilled with mine. The Nikon Monarch series is a FANTASTIC set of optics as well, among the best for the money. As for the marketing wheres and whys, the market for binos over 12 power is many many times smaller than the more common ranges of 7-12xso it's just not in a makers economic interest to jump squarely into the higher power rangesfor such a small shareof the market. You might also want to checkinto Steiner, they also have some reasonably priced higher powered binocs.

Check em out,
RA

PABowhntr

Hmm, the Venturer LXs are waterproof...nitrogen purged and all that. Is it possible you are thinking of the Nikon Superior Es? Or E2s? Both of those models are not waterproof and are thought of very highly for the image they provide. To answer that question I would say that both of those models are of the porro prism design and it is typically difficult to waterproof them considering the style of focusing mechanism.

As for the Tasco, don't put too much stock in my commenting on them. I am not as much a rifle hunter as I am a bowhunter. My rifle, a 40 year old Remington 336C chambered for the 35 Remington cartridge, really only gets taken out of the case 5 times a year. Twice to practice before the season and usually only on our opening day and the two subsequent Saturdays. Work and the short length of our rifle season prohibits its use more than that. I have had that Pronghorn on that particular rifle for about 6 years now. No problems whatsoever. But when you consider the caliber and the limited amount of usage then you can probably see what it continues to stand up so well.

PLB

I was thinking of the Superior E....my bad.