Is your scope as good as your binoculars?

[BGGMKLR]

No.
My primary rifle is paired with a Leupold VX5 HD 3 x 15 x 44...which, in my view, is as good as necessary, and comparable to most. My binoculars are Leica Geovid 10x42 HD-B. Again, as good as any... and better than most. My eyes are neither young nor expert enough to notice even the slightest difference between mine,, Swarovski Pures, top shelf Zeis's, etc.
That said...if you can't see/find them...you can't see/shoot/ shoot at/them.
As Green Chile so accurately stated, once I've "spotted" them (IMHO...the key to the game...and the most difficult part) a quality scope ...read: not necessarily "top shelf" will seal the deal...if you do your part.
My advice to a young person entertaining this lifestyle has always been...put a dependable, quality scope on your rifle. Take what you save on your scope, and apply it towards the very best binos/ spotting scope you can afford
Best
Spike

 

[Safari Dave]

No, my Binoculars are better (Full size - Zeiss, Compact - Leica)

Most of my scopes are Leupold.



I think it is more important to have good glass in binoculars.

I think durability is slightly more important than glass with scopes.

 

[Sabre]

When I saw the pattern of many hunts having trophy animals in low light, last light of day, etc, I converted to lighted reticle scopes. That alone greatly increased my success rate on difficult trophies. It's still hunting with no guarantees but I have pulled many wins out of the last minutes of the day or hunt.

I'm presuming that with the better quality scopes, there is no red light "bleed" from the illuminated reticle that it affects your night vision?

That is correct but it's because on the higher end scopes, you can adjust the illumination levels AND you can switch from red to green on some of them. Some of them have like 10 levels of illumination, which is pretty helpful to get it dialed in just right.

I have a love for scopes with a good illuminated reticle.

I just want to add to this, that just getting a more expensive scope doesn't equate to a better illuminated reticle.

Make sure you go look at the model you want in the store before buying, or get from an online dealer with a good return policy in case the illumination feature isn't good.

I have looked at some very good brands with very bad illumination. Some will have great illumination in one model, and not good in another.

There are a few things I feel like are commonly bad to look out for:

Red light bleed as you said where it makes other areas of the scope red tinted,

The reticle not being crisp when illuminated (if you have an uncorrected astigmatism it can also look like this, that's your eye, not the scope),

The reticle washing out, especially in daytime over certain colored objects,

The illumination knob or button being hard to activate or adjust,

Not enough range of adjustment on the illumination.


I'm sure given more time I could come up with some more. There are more bad illuminated optics than good ones out there.

 

[Altitude sickness]

BINO’s I have 2 sizes of Swarovski one pair of Leica Ultravids.


Rifle Scopes; Swarovski, Zeiss, Leupold, Minox, Meopta, and many others

Spotting scope. My favorite bar none is Kowa Prominar with Florite

 

[Ontario Hunter]

For spotting scope I picked up something used on Kijiji that was from Canadian Tire. Not sure where it was made. Mars maybe. Great buy ... for a piece of shit. Win some lose some, I guess.

 

[Philip Glass]

I disagree- Leica glass is superior. It might be marginal, but if shooting low light is important then Leica wins

Leica is great there is no doubt but we are splitting hairs here. Have you hunted at night with a Z8? I learned something a few years ago at SAAM shooting school. they have all the toys. We took a pile of good scopes out at dusk to compare. The instructor told us to look at the bark of a tree and see what kind of detail we can pick out in this low light with each scope. This was when I understood why the Z8 was so very good.

 

[Muskox]

Unless Swarovski changed something recently the EL Range TA’s don’t have the NL glass or coatings.

The original EL Range Binos were SLC glass with a cheap LRF in an EL chassis with an EL name and EL Glass Price + LRF Price. When Swaro launched the TA’s they added the swarovision/field flatening lens coating (biggest difference between EL glass and SLC) and the TA feature. The NL Pure’s however have entirely different glass and coatings than what’s in the EL line and in the TA’s (I believe it’s still slightly different than the rest of the EL line). The TA’s are an improvement glass wise from the original EL Range but isn’t NL glass.



To answer the OP’s question, my Binos and Spotters are all Swarovski. My scope’s start price wise (excluding vintage/period correct) with Leupold VX5/VX6 and go up from there to include high end older Bushnell’s, Swaro Z5/Z6 (sold 1 Z8 about to add another), Nightforce, Zeiss, Kahles, & Schmidt & Bender. I believe in investing in premium optics and ammunition on a hunt. I’ve got Savage rifles that have scopes on them that are 5x their cost. I use my Binos the most so those were my first high end optics investment, then started upgrading the rifle scopes.

Maybe, this is just what I was told.

Maybe coatings vice glass? It's been a few years. They are not the same 100% as NL's but these came out after the NL"s did and Swarovski told me there was crossover. I thought it was glass, maybe the rep that told me got it crossed up.

All EL Ranges suck compared to EL's or NL's.

If I could do a face to face trade, I would trade for the current generation of EL 10x50's for a Zeiss 10x54 or 8x54.

COMPLETELY HATE THEM! I feel like Swarovski put the screws to me, every time I use them.

My guide in Slovenia thought I was nuts, but he is using a pair of 8x50 Classics that are 40 years old.

 

[Muskox]

Another one I absolutely loved was the 8x56 Leica with the split bridge. I don't know what model they were. And they were an LRF>

 

[Tex .416]

I don't know for certain but it is without question the best glass made now. The Z8 stands alone.

But they are not as durable, which translates to reliable, as some other makes such as Nightforce as one example. Reliable function is non-negotiable.

 

[Green Chile]

I've taken my Z8i's and Z6i's all over the place with no issues. I don't have issues with their reliability and I hunt and shoot more than average. I also have 2-3 of each magnification (it's become my main scope of choice) and none of them have broken or given me issues so it's not a sample size of 1.

 

[BJH65]

My old Swarovski 8x30 binoculars are my favorite for African hunting and my Leica Geovid R 10x42 rangefinder binoculars are my favorite for North American hunting.

On my custom Brno 458 Lott, a round notorious for breaking scopes, there is only one scope I trust, the Nikon Monarch African 1-4x20mm German #4. A scope no longer in production and perhaps 4 times cheaper than my binoculars already mentioned.

 

[Muskox]

But they are not as durable, which translates to reliable, as some other makes such as Nightforce as one example. Reliable function is non-negotiable.

Nightforce and Supersniper are the only "tough" scopes currently made.

Everything else you will be using the warranty.

 

[steve white]

Nightforce and Supersniper are the only "tough" scopes currently made.

Everything else you will be using the warranty.

Might add Trijicon to the durable, along with some high end tactical scopes. But I probably won't be using a warranty as I really protect my optics, on purpose. I've never had a rifle ride in a truck rack in Africa, for example. It rode in the cab with me, muzzle down on the toe of my boot. (don't scold me, it's my toe, after all)

If the Supersniper is the scope put out by SWFA, it is made by.....Tasco. Go figure.

 

[Muskox]

The 1.2 Maven scope is supposed to be crazy tough.

 

[375Fox]

I’m not going to understand the need. Binoculars and scopes serve very different purposes. I’ve never seen a situation where I couldn’t shoot accurately with a scope after the ability to judge with binoculars was gone. Binoculars are about quality glass to me. Scopes are about reliability and the right eye relief and scope picture not perfect glass at hunting ranges.

 

[steve white]

I’m not going to understand the need. Binoculars and scopes serve very different purposes. I’ve never seen a situation where I couldn’t shoot accurately with a scope after the ability to judge with binoculars was gone. Binoculars are about quality glass to me. Scopes are about reliability and the right eye relief and scope picture not perfect glass at hunting ranges.

That's because we have a higher standard now wherein even the cheap scopes are sealed and don't fog up, so we can get by. I remember a Zeiss scope advertisement WAY back in the day, which stated: "the hunter could clearly see the ram with our 10x40 BGA/T in blizzard, but just could not make out the ram with his scope." They were, of course, trying to sell Zeiss scopes to match Zeiss binos.

 

[Philip Glass]

But they are not as durable, which translates to reliable, as some other makes such as Nightforce as one example. Reliable function is non-negotiable.

I’m sure there is some truth there. I’ve been all over Africa and on long nasty hunts in AK with mine. I’m be never been off of zero. In all of these discussion I just have one question. Have you used a Z8 before?

 

[Twraska]

For myself and my family, the scopes are better than the binos, Ziess and Swaro scopes, Nikon bino. Need to spend some coins on a Swaro but haven’t pulled the trigger them yet.