Re: Bino Magnification for Big Game?
I love my 10X32 Burris Signature semi-compacts. They are clear and bright, plus they're light and small, so they are with me whenever I'm afield instead of sitting in the truck. If I know I'll be timber hunting, a pair of 8X32 Signatures goes on the Bino Buddy instead. Neither pair will give me a headache or eye fatigue even with prolonged viewing.
I run the "better quality" American stuff because I'm pretty much the opposite of wealthy. And I honestly have problems focusing Swarovski and Zeiss binos to work with my eyes. The only European glass compatible with my (corrected) vision is Leica...which is cool because they are the sharpest and clearest optics I have ever experienced, hands down, but I simply don't have the fundage available to own a pair. But I don't feel underprivileged or underequipped.
When I managed a sporting goods department, we used to break out the scopes and binos in weird lighting conditions (bright at target/dim at viewer's position or vice-versa, no sun, overcast, sun in face, rain, snow fog, etc.) and compare them by looking at a sight-in target with one inch grid lines placed fifty yards from the door. Some of the mega-high-dollar European glass with big names don't perform as well in the <span style="font-style: italic">real</span> world as some of the "moderately" priced Japanese and American stuff. Nikon, Burris, and Leupold produce some fantastic binocs. While their name may not carry the cachet of the top shelf European optics, most of the lenses come from the same place and performance is stellar...only an optic snob would ding you for choosing them.
