Howdy! I have a bunch of 8x binocs (zeiss, nikon lx, pentax etc.) and I have noticed that the favorites tend to be the wide FOVs. I was hoping to purchase a 10x with a great view and wide FOV. These would be for a shoulder harness so anything over 30 oz. is too heavy. Any recommendations would be much appreciated. I have already done the Eagle optics search of specs but would appreciate real world opinions! Thanks!
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seeking Wide FOV 10x Binoculars (2 Viewers)
- Thread starter art92101
- Start date
Tero
Retired
It is pretty hopeless, There are a few porros with over 350ft FOV, I had a small 10x28 roof prism bin with a FOV of 330 for a few days, no good. There is a 10x35 Nikon E 2 at ptics planet, FOV 366ft. They are not water proof, and the rubber layer is known to come off easily off the body. Also Nikon 10x32mm Premier LX Binoculars - 7505, roof prisms, FOV 340.
I use a 315ft FOV in 10x42 Monarchs, a compromise of price and FOV.
I use a 315ft FOV in 10x42 Monarchs, a compromise of price and FOV.
The Leica 10 x 32's have close to 360'. The Swaro's also have 360'. Get out your wallet!
If you want to ruin your eyes Bushnell has a 10 x 50 Permafocus that has 393' for only 59 bucks or so. And if you are really desperate I have a 30 year old 10 x 50 Minolta Standard Porro with BK-7 prisms that has fungus on only one objective lens! But it will give you 440' with the good barrel!:'D
Good Luck,
Bob
If you want to ruin your eyes Bushnell has a 10 x 50 Permafocus that has 393' for only 59 bucks or so. And if you are really desperate I have a 30 year old 10 x 50 Minolta Standard Porro with BK-7 prisms that has fungus on only one objective lens! But it will give you 440' with the good barrel!:'D
Good Luck,
Bob
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Do 10xs really excel at long distance????
I love my 8xs but am wondering if 10s will make a difference at long distances such as when I hawk watch? How are 10Xs when watching warblers in trees. I guess the answer is to borrow some and try them out befire buying.
art92101 said:
I love my 8xs but am wondering if 10s will make a difference at long distances such as when I hawk watch? How are 10Xs when watching warblers in trees. I guess the answer is to borrow some and try them out befire buying.
John Russell
Well-known member
art92101 said:
Do try by all means but I think you will find that 10x binoculars are less suited to woodland birding. The higher the magnification, the lower the depth of field and the shorter the distance, the lower the depth of field.
You are consequently not only searching for the bird with a reduced fov in 2 dimensions but are also searching for it in the third dimension with the focussing wheel!
IMHO a 7x42 is an ideal configuration for woodland birding and not bad for hawk watching either.
John
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FrankD
Well-known member
In reference to these two comments, I have found that, for me, a 7x bin is ideal for hawkwatching. I know many birders, including several that I have spent long hours on the rocks with, prefer 10x bins for hawkwatching. I have tried using them for this application and feel I get more from the 7x bins. I believe this is because of two specific reasons. One, 7x binoculars typically have a wider field of view and a more relaxed image to my eyes which allows for locating hawks much more easily in my experience. I also find that I am identifying birds of prey via their behavior rather than because of any type of plumage.
Having said that I do not really have any suggestions for 10x wide angle bins. The widest angle 10x bins I found were the 10x35 Nikon EII but they have a short eye relief and are not waterproof. Any of the high end full-size roofs are limited to that 330 foot limit. I do not prefer the 10x32 configuration.
Sorry I could not help more.
Otto McDiesel
Well-known member
I can't agree more with John. I use a 10x42 out in the open and a 8x32 for brush and forest. The 7x42 would work for everything, provided that it is a premium 7x42 and not some Simmons junk. How much are you willing to spend on that 10x?John Russell said:
Tero
Retired
10X are indeed a lot of work for woodland. I find myself going with 10x and 8x. One is around my neck and one in a shoulder bag. The one in the bag is smaller. I guess a 10x42 and an 8x32 would make a good combination, as there are few 7x that I would use and afford. 8x are easier to find with decent optics.
Tero said:
I often take an 8X and a 10X also, especially when on birding vacation trips. When on a birding trip in SE Arizona this summer I mainly used my 10X50 instead of my 8X32, even in the woods, because most of the birds were new birds for me, and even the 8X did not give me the detail I needed to identify the birds.
Lew
ksbird/foxranch
Well-known member
Taking a break from ranch work preparing for winter I noticed this inquiry. We truly love 10x WA binocs here. The viewing distances are long sometimes and there is so much activity you always want to keep the bins to your eyes while still being able to see little movements off-center.
We say that 10x WA requires a minimum of a 360 foot (120 yds) wide field of view at 1000 yds (120m@1000m). We have a pair of Olympus 10x WA Troopers (purchased directly from Olympus on Ebay) in that category and a pair of Galilleo 10x WA (from opticsale.com/Alex is friendly) and these barely qualify. Moving up we have a pair of Newcon Optic 10x EWA (also from Opticsale) and their FOV is nearly 395 feet @ 1000 yds. The Newcon Russian optics are pretty sharp in the center as well. We have a pair of Carson 10x50s for hunting with flip-in yellow filters that give a 420 foot FOV @ 1000 yds but they may not be as razor sharp as the Newcon EWA 10x bins.
Of course we prize most of all 2 pairs of 10x50 Zeiss Jena Dekarems with 8.5 degree FOVs, super sharpness, great contrast and all the rest and we are sad they aren't made any more. We've seen some mislabeled bins from a brand called Trooper that are SWA 10x bins. They are labeled 14x60 LEs but are really 10x55 LEs. The wide views are surprisingly good but the company just can't seem to be trusted for identification (or maybe they were available cheap because of the incorrect label). We put those Trooper 10x55s in with a number of small 10x35s with WA FOVs that we usually end up selling to visitors throughout the normal viewing season (not now as there is too much snow/ice and mud here, and only crows, sparrows, hawks, owls and a few finches around).
I can also recommend the Bausch & Lomb or Bushnell Legend 10x50 WA bins. They are reasonably wide but less than 7.8 degree FOV. The center is pretty sharp, these bins are reasonably water resistant and the price can be very good. Every binocular I've recommended here is a porro prism type. I have never seen a wide angle 10x roof prism binoc that I like. If you want a small WA 10x then get the Leupold 10x30 reverse porro. It's one of my favorite grab-&-go bins when I rush out the door to see something 500 feet away in one of our back pastures. I've also seen a few pairs of Steiner 10x50 police/military/marine bins I really like but with a FOV of about 6 degrees (like the Olympus 10x42 EX PR which I also like), they aren't quite up to our minimum standard for a true wide angle bin.
We say that 10x WA requires a minimum of a 360 foot (120 yds) wide field of view at 1000 yds (120m@1000m). We have a pair of Olympus 10x WA Troopers (purchased directly from Olympus on Ebay) in that category and a pair of Galilleo 10x WA (from opticsale.com/Alex is friendly) and these barely qualify. Moving up we have a pair of Newcon Optic 10x EWA (also from Opticsale) and their FOV is nearly 395 feet @ 1000 yds. The Newcon Russian optics are pretty sharp in the center as well. We have a pair of Carson 10x50s for hunting with flip-in yellow filters that give a 420 foot FOV @ 1000 yds but they may not be as razor sharp as the Newcon EWA 10x bins.
Of course we prize most of all 2 pairs of 10x50 Zeiss Jena Dekarems with 8.5 degree FOVs, super sharpness, great contrast and all the rest and we are sad they aren't made any more. We've seen some mislabeled bins from a brand called Trooper that are SWA 10x bins. They are labeled 14x60 LEs but are really 10x55 LEs. The wide views are surprisingly good but the company just can't seem to be trusted for identification (or maybe they were available cheap because of the incorrect label). We put those Trooper 10x55s in with a number of small 10x35s with WA FOVs that we usually end up selling to visitors throughout the normal viewing season (not now as there is too much snow/ice and mud here, and only crows, sparrows, hawks, owls and a few finches around).
I can also recommend the Bausch & Lomb or Bushnell Legend 10x50 WA bins. They are reasonably wide but less than 7.8 degree FOV. The center is pretty sharp, these bins are reasonably water resistant and the price can be very good. Every binocular I've recommended here is a porro prism type. I have never seen a wide angle 10x roof prism binoc that I like. If you want a small WA 10x then get the Leupold 10x30 reverse porro. It's one of my favorite grab-&-go bins when I rush out the door to see something 500 feet away in one of our back pastures. I've also seen a few pairs of Steiner 10x50 police/military/marine bins I really like but with a FOV of about 6 degrees (like the Olympus 10x42 EX PR which I also like), they aren't quite up to our minimum standard for a true wide angle bin.
art92101 said:
Of course we prize most of all 2 pairs of 10x50 Zeiss Jena Dekarems with 8.5 degree FOVs, super sharpness, great contrast and all the rest and we are sad they aren't made any more.
Hi
Quite agree the Zeiss Dekarem and Jenoptem are imho one of the best wide angle 10 x i have looked through i do think however the field of view is 7.3 rather than 8 .5 as mentioned above (think the Zeiss Deltrintem 8 x 30 may be 8.5 fov)
Of course the Zeiss 10 x bins have low eye relief as well so not truly good for eye glass wearers but i love my own pair for aircraft shows etc and i actually find them ok to handhold despite being heavy
Maybe Zeiss should make a wide angle 10 x porro with some modern attributes and good eye relief ? that would be some binocular
Regards
Rich T
Hi
Quite agree the Zeiss Dekarem and Jenoptem are imho one of the best wide angle 10 x i have looked through i do think however the field of view is 7.3 rather than 8 .5 as mentioned above (think the Zeiss Deltrintem 8 x 30 may be 8.5 fov)
Of course the Zeiss 10 x bins have low eye relief as well so not truly good for eye glass wearers but i love my own pair for aircraft shows etc and i actually find them ok to handhold despite being heavy
Maybe Zeiss should make a wide angle 10 x porro with some modern attributes and good eye relief ? that would be some binocular
Regards
Rich T
ksbird/foxranch
Well-known member
Oops, the literature in German says the FOV is only 142m@1000m & so this is only 8+ degrees, not 8.5 degrees as I previously mistated. I compared them to a pair of Minolta Classic 10x50s which claim to have an 8.5 degree FOV and the Dekarems were obviously wider. I also got the Carson hunting 10x50s wrong because their FOV at 1000 yards is only 367 feet but the Carson Extra Wide Angle binoculars are supposed to have a 420 feet wide FOV at 1000 yards. I'll keep it in mind next time not to rush with answers to help out. Correct info is always better than rushed info.
richt said:
ksbird/foxranch
Well-known member
Additional
I don't always get the chance to poll all the regulars here in a timely fashion during the winter (we're almost to Dec 20 so I'll use the word Winter now). I completely forgot about one of the ranch favorites that I have refused to sell for the past 10 years. The Tasco World Class 10x50 450Z has a listed 420 foot wide FOV at 1000 yards (140m at 1000m) and it is actually slightly wider viewing compared to the 10x50 Zeiss Jena Dekarems (so I am still not able to relate the literature to the actual viewing).
We have recently purchase 2 pairs of Tasco binoculars; a pair or 8x30 Marines that are truly awesome if you can stand the individual eyepiece focusing (with tremendous depth of field there isn't much focusing needed under normal viewing conditions). My wife wears eyeglasses and she finds the 28mm wide eyepiece lenses, and very long eye relief on the Tasco 8x30 Marines a real boon, so she uses these bins almost exclusively except for her 10x50 Dekarems. But we also bought a pair of Tasco 7x50 World Class bins that seem identical to a previously purchsed pair of Tasco 7x50 Marines very similar to the 8x30s I previously alluded to.
So I can't be sure what is going on with Tasco and their model designations like "World Class" and "Marine". But the 10x50 450Z World Class bins I refer to from the early 90s have a 420 foot wide FOV and they are quite nice. Usually the outer edges of a WFOV bin is very soft. Except for something expensive like the Zeiss Jena Dekarems or the very weird Breaker that is mislabeled, everything from Carson, Minolta and the rest of Asia is soft on the outer 25% of the field. The Newcon 10x50 WFs are an exception because they are from Russia by way of WW2 German technology. But the Japan-made World Class Wide Field 10x50s are very very good. The Tasco International #420 is pretty famous for a sharp-to-the-edge 387 foot FOV, huge eye lenses and remarkable sharpness. The #410 and #400 are nearly as good. So Tasco can specify a good bin. Tasco doesn't make bins, they only specify them so someone else knows how to make these.
So it seems the Tasco World Class 10x50 World Class Model 450Z is a super wide field 10x50 with modern coatings and a very sharp image approaching the edge. The very large eye lenses are easily usable with eyeglasses, and the diamond shaped cross-cut nylon coating on the magnesium body is lightweight while still being hold-able even in the worst weather (and we DO get to experience the worst possible weather here in Kansas). They aren't waterproof. But the newer Marine models of other World Class bins seem to be waterproof. If you can buy a pair of 450Z Tascos for less than US$200, buy them. If there is a Tasco replacement Marine model for the 450Z, I would highly recommend them. The Tasco Marine model bins seem to be quality copies of the Steiner Police/Military/Marine 7x50/8x30 and ??10x50?? bins. If the same lenses and prisms that are in the 450Z are used in a Tasco 10x50 Marine then this will be my most recommended 10x50 WFOV binocular now on the market (although the 10x50 Newcon Wide Field is still great).
I don't always get the chance to poll all the regulars here in a timely fashion during the winter (we're almost to Dec 20 so I'll use the word Winter now). I completely forgot about one of the ranch favorites that I have refused to sell for the past 10 years. The Tasco World Class 10x50 450Z has a listed 420 foot wide FOV at 1000 yards (140m at 1000m) and it is actually slightly wider viewing compared to the 10x50 Zeiss Jena Dekarems (so I am still not able to relate the literature to the actual viewing).
We have recently purchase 2 pairs of Tasco binoculars; a pair or 8x30 Marines that are truly awesome if you can stand the individual eyepiece focusing (with tremendous depth of field there isn't much focusing needed under normal viewing conditions). My wife wears eyeglasses and she finds the 28mm wide eyepiece lenses, and very long eye relief on the Tasco 8x30 Marines a real boon, so she uses these bins almost exclusively except for her 10x50 Dekarems. But we also bought a pair of Tasco 7x50 World Class bins that seem identical to a previously purchsed pair of Tasco 7x50 Marines very similar to the 8x30s I previously alluded to.
So I can't be sure what is going on with Tasco and their model designations like "World Class" and "Marine". But the 10x50 450Z World Class bins I refer to from the early 90s have a 420 foot wide FOV and they are quite nice. Usually the outer edges of a WFOV bin is very soft. Except for something expensive like the Zeiss Jena Dekarems or the very weird Breaker that is mislabeled, everything from Carson, Minolta and the rest of Asia is soft on the outer 25% of the field. The Newcon 10x50 WFs are an exception because they are from Russia by way of WW2 German technology. But the Japan-made World Class Wide Field 10x50s are very very good. The Tasco International #420 is pretty famous for a sharp-to-the-edge 387 foot FOV, huge eye lenses and remarkable sharpness. The #410 and #400 are nearly as good. So Tasco can specify a good bin. Tasco doesn't make bins, they only specify them so someone else knows how to make these.
So it seems the Tasco World Class 10x50 World Class Model 450Z is a super wide field 10x50 with modern coatings and a very sharp image approaching the edge. The very large eye lenses are easily usable with eyeglasses, and the diamond shaped cross-cut nylon coating on the magnesium body is lightweight while still being hold-able even in the worst weather (and we DO get to experience the worst possible weather here in Kansas). They aren't waterproof. But the newer Marine models of other World Class bins seem to be waterproof. If you can buy a pair of 450Z Tascos for less than US$200, buy them. If there is a Tasco replacement Marine model for the 450Z, I would highly recommend them. The Tasco Marine model bins seem to be quality copies of the Steiner Police/Military/Marine 7x50/8x30 and ??10x50?? bins. If the same lenses and prisms that are in the 450Z are used in a Tasco 10x50 Marine then this will be my most recommended 10x50 WFOV binocular now on the market (although the 10x50 Newcon Wide Field is still great).
ksbird/foxranch said:
ChrisNYPilot
New member
Just out of curiosity, are your 10x50 450Z World Class bins the PLUS version or just the regular World Class? And what is the JB number on the front hinge indicating which manufacturer....usually it seems it's J-B191, but since you seem really happy I thought maybe I should ask. Thank you in advance.......especially if you actually log in after all this time to answer a random question from a stranger. Thank you.
pat mitchel
Well-known member
I can give you a current data point for a 450Z- (Jb191 on axle cap) Decent binocular with several caveats- My example is not anywhere near good to the edge- pretty much a quick drop off from a decent sweet spot. The fast focus thus far is fidgety- took a considerable amount of work to get a reasonable repeatable focus. The screw that ultimately holds the eyepiece arm assembly to the focusing shaft is plastic - why I don't know but contributes to a certain degree of "squishiness" in the focus unless setup with a proper tension to the screw- too much and the focus tends to be notchy with the arms dragging on each in/out of focus, too loose and NO consistent focus can be achieved- one eye piece will lead lag the other all the way through the focal range. No eye relief- the entire field can only be seen (at least in my case) without the rubber eyecups in place. It's a small decrease but apparent when viewing a fixed scene while mounted on a tripod. Excellent straylight control for me as the objectives and an inner objective tube keep straylight from hitting the prisms. No objective eccentrics BTW. The prisms plates appear to be spring loaded for shock absorption. The prisms are adjusted via 4 external grub screws accessed through the usual placement on a typical zeiss frame bino- holes hidden by way but pretty much in their usual places on the external surface of the 2 sides bino body. Mine arrived slightly out of alignment but can be compensated for without having to adjust the prism plates by the weird fixed tubes for the eyepieces. The prism plates covers are held by 3 screws- loosening the screws allowed the fixed tubes to be moved slightly as the tubes are not screwed into the bino body- under the prism plates is a flat plate that is part (plastic) of the fixed tube- the 3 screw hold the 2 plates together and finalize their location. Under night skies for me with 73 yo eyes and a slight astigmatism, I could not get one side to resolve stars to a pinpoint ( possible mis machines lens? , cocked lens spacer in eyepiece build?? I have to reference points 10x50's a 10x50 resolux and cadillac supreme 10x50- so old and recent tech but excellent . With their somewhat limited in comparison FOV (6.6 resolx, 7 caddie), the 2 porros performed much better to my eye - darker fields and pinpoint stars (neither have a flat field view however- the usual dropoff to the edge.
Taken as a whole, if you get a good sample might prove to be a "cheap thrill" but only with careful handling and a bit of massaging the focus mech to get what you need. Pat
Taken as a whole, if you get a good sample might prove to be a "cheap thrill" but only with careful handling and a bit of massaging the focus mech to get what you need. Pat
The well-known member from Kansas seems to have been living in the same world as visited by another individual originating from Kansas. Besides the 10x50 CZJ with the 8.5 degree FOV (NB. the actual Dekarem isn't a bad choice if you want an inexpensive wide field 10x50 and don't need glasses), does anyone else remember his super-multi-coated Leitz Binuxit and the prototype multi-coated Zeiss West 8x30B porro?
