10 or 12 power binos?

[lamiglas]

I did a search on this subject and I found an old thread resurrected regarding range finding binoculars. I am looking to buy a new pair of binoculars looking at the mojaves in either 10 or 12 power. what's your opinions on going with a 12 verse is a 10

 

[42769vette]

I did a search on this subject and I found an old thread resurrected regarding range finding binoculars. I am looking to buy a new pair of binoculars looking at the mojaves in either 10 or 12 power. what's your opinions on going with a 12 verse is a 10

It pretty much depends on your hunting Terrain. Without more info no one will be able to answer this question better than you.

 

[lamiglas]

well that's a fair answer. I should have been more specific. we sit and watch timbered hillsides with openings, anywhere from 600 to 1800 yards. Have glassed with 10 power binos for countless hours and just trying to decide if I want to jump to 12. looking for responses from guys who have gone one or the other and either regretted it or not regretted it. Thanks

 

[42769vette]

well that's a fair answer. I should have been more specific. we sit and watch timbered hillsides with openings, anywhere from 600 to 1800 yards. Have glassed with 10 power binos for countless hours and just trying to decide if I want to jump to 12. looking for responses from guys who have gone one or the other and either regretted it or not regretted it. Thanks

For 600-800 if you can handle the extra bulk Id defintally go with 12x. I live in Indiana, and my father and I trade binos depending on wich stand we are sitting in. The wind changed on my on my walk in and I sat in a woods stand (150 yds max viewing) with the 12x binos, and I really missed the 10x. Id say at your ranges go for the 12x.

 

[gillettehunter]

I'm using a 12 power. I'm on the prairie in WY. Lots of open spaces and definitely prefer the extra magnification. Bruce

 

[Daveinjax]

For that range and trying to find animals in the timber I would definitely go with the 12 power. You might want to add some small lower power compacts for walking in the timber as finding things off hand while walking will be harder.

 

[rooster740]

I am not sure of the brand you mention, but I have an older 14+ year old pair of 10 x40 Zeiss that are war horses! I love them! I got a pair of 12x50 Leica binos a few years ago that are great when you have some big country glassing to do but you need to wear them in your armpit or they bounce off the saddle horn all day, and they flat wear out a Bino-buddy every year! The **** things have a very finicky eye to eye focus adjustment and I am constantly screwing with the focus! I wish that I had the Swarovski 12x50.

 

[lamiglas]

Thanks for the replies so far. The Mojaves are made by Leupold. I also looked at the Leupold Mckinnly's but they weren't as clear to my eyes

 

[bruce_ventura]

I would recommend the 10x50 Mojave over the the 12x50 model for two reasons. First, even a 10x bino is difficult for me to hold steady. I have a pretty good technique where I squeeze the bino against the brim of my baseball cap. Even still, for long periods of viewing my hands get tired and the image shake is annoying.

The second reason is image brightness. A 12x50 bino has a 4.2 mm exit pupil. Most folks have at least 5 mm pupils in low light. That means the 12x50 has about 70% of the brightness of a bino with a 5 mm exit pupil, like an10x50. That's a pretty big hit in binocular performance at a critical time of the day.

If you're bringing only one bino, and you hunt in the low light of sunrise and sunset, I recommend either 8x40 (my favorite) or 10x50. if you need longer range during the day, bring a spotter as well.

 

[mildot1960]

One of the things you have to deal as stated before is Shake, and how I look at these things if they are 10x then what ever is at 1000yards is going to look like it does at a 100yds with the naked eye and a Deer at A 100yds is a big lump, and another thing you might want to give thought to is the field of view because if there is a chance of dangerous game in the area then you want all the field of view you can get which is why most Dangerous game Hunters useLow power scopes and out to a 1000yds+ I use steiner 7x30s Navigators I do have the Leupold Tacticle Mark 4s 10x50s with the Reticle for longer ranges and I have some 7x50s which are no good for hunting because of the color of the lenses, Anyway I would think about these issues because you may not be alone out there,

My everyday go Binoculars are the Steiners coz they are always in focus and the light transfer also the lightness of them, I've tried them all but I'm just not happy using others for all day viewing,,

John

 

[Sully2]

10 power of a good clear brand. More than 10 ( actually more than 8 X) you get lots of shake if you arent solidly braced. If you NEED more than 10X....get a spotting scope

 

[lloydsmale]

I agree with the 10x recomendation. Biggest reason is most 12x binoculars are a bit on the heavy and large side and need larger objectives to get a decent exit pupil. Unless your glassing the praries 10x will suffice for about any hunting and they even do a fair job of it in the wide open spaces. Seems to be a pretty big step up in price going from 10 to 12 too. My guess is the 12x dont sell as well and cost more so that the companys can recoup tooling costs. With the 10x they sell more so they can sell them a bit cheaper.

 

[lamiglas]

Thanks for all the replies. There has been some real solid advice given and I appreciate it. The cost between the 10x50 or 12x50 is negligible and the weight is the same.The biggest down side to the 12's is the exit pupil and field of view. I will have an opportunity to compare both very soon in person and this thread has given me some really good pointers on what to pay attention to while I am comparing. Thanks again.

 

[Outlaw6.0]

Putting them side by side is going to be your best bet, i'm glad you are getting that opportunity.

For me, in the high desert that is Wyoming, I was lucky enough to stumble upon a set of Leupold Switch-Power binos. Low mag range is 10x & with the flip of a lever in the center, you have 17x. That ability sure makes it nice to either have a large field of view at 10x & zoom in to check out the finer details if need be. Very nice set of binos for what I do.


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