Looking at getting some different optics but with over 100's of types available it gets intense choosing a pair.

I was looking at the Leupold Tactical Binos and there Sequoa Spotting Scope. Any info on these?

Im looking for a good 12x pair of binos that wont break the bank, Bushnell, Nikon etc. I dont care. And a good spotting scope you can actually see clearly out of at 40X.

Any recommendations?

Look at Steiner Predator Binos they are real good for the money

Cabelas had gold ring bino's on sale this week at a great price. I would never get binos over 10x. If your profession is looking at animals just bite the bullet and get the swaros or leicas. You will not be disapointed and might keep your customers happy.

This web site will help keep you from breaking the bank http://www.samplelist.com/Binoculars-C5.aspx they should have something for you.

Never have seen that site before. Some of the prices seem real nice.

Don't plan on hand holding the 12s real effectively. I would recommend 10s or 8s for carrying around. My setup is that I carry Leica 8s and then pack Swarovski 15s and a Swarovski 80mm spotting scope. I use the 15s on a tripod and its amazing how much game you will find compared to hand held binos. Even a good pair 10s on a tripod with increase your game finding. If you want to spend the coin then buy any of the top 3 Swarovski, Leica or Zeiss. Other brands that seems to get good reviews but are new on the market are the Vortex and Zen-Ray. There are lots of new ones out there but these 2 seem to me most trusted and talked about. Check out Camera Land they have good deals on demo models. Hope that helps.
Jeremy

Of course the big names are well worth the money but, if a guy wants to spend less, I like the Nikon Monarch binos. Personally, I prefer the 12x but I usually do a lot of glassing off my rear with my elbows on my knees. For a spotting scope, again, I'd recommend the big names but, on a budget, I really like the Konus scopes. I've got one that I'm really happy with. In my opinion, its clearer than the lower end leupolds and is much better than the price would suggest.

get the 10x42 swaro el and get the doubler to 20x. you can probably get a deal on them from the guy from cameralandny. It is a lot of money but with as much as you guide you will appreciate the extra cash you spent. Youd be surprised how well they work in low light conditions as well.

sorry i didnt read your entire post, but it would be money well spent.

Thanks for all the input guys.
I carry some leupold 8x binos right now and beat the heck out of them. Thats why I am really against spending $1500 on a pair of high end ones although I would love to have them.

Ive been through 3 pairs of leupold binos in the past 2 years. Thank goodness for leupolds warantee.

Vortex- period

Lifetime warrentny

STEINER PRED PRO's.

Leupold Wind River they have been good for me.I have an eight and a ten.

Heading out tomorrow to take a look at few pairs. Thanks

Clean....which model do you have? Been happy with them I take it? I've been wanting to get a better set of binos than I'm used to without spending the college fund and I've been wanting to take a look at these, but don't know whether to go with the 8x30 or 12x40.

Thanks....

If your hard on your binos, that actually is all the more reason to get top of the line. They don't just cost more because of the top of the line glass, they are also built rugged as heck.

That said, I don't think $2000 bins are needed, though they are nice. I carry Leicas and wouldn't take for them, but there are companys putting out glass right now thats 80-90% as good as my Leicas for alot less $$$.

Check cameralandny.com, Dougs prices are hard to beat, if not impossible to beat.

I would look at Minox, the higher end Vortex stuff and Meopta. Doug doesn't carry Meopta, but he carries the others. SWFA carries Meopta.

If your hard on binns the Meoptas are built like a tank and have super glass. At around 700-800 bucks they aren't cheap but worth every penny.

As someone else said Vortex's warranty is top notch.

I just picked up a little Minox 16-30x50 spotter from cameraland recently, very nice glass. They have them for $189.00 until supplys of the demos from the SHOT show run out, from then on they will be $379.

Mike, I know you hunt the Big Bend area alot, so do I. I'm very fond of using 13 or 15 power binos mounted on a tripod for finding aoudads and mulies out there.

I don't use my spotter much out there, just carry my 8x bins around my neck and my high power bins for use on the tripod. High power binoculars are much more comfortable to look through for long periods than a spotter.

Bill

thats the answer!