Hi Matt, Thank you very much for sharing your side by side survey of these binocs. After reviewing this thread, and all the very helpful inputs - thanks to all, I decided to purchase the Chinese plastic Nikon 10 x 40 Action 7266 probably simply because I could do most of what I want to do and they only cost me $68 with free shipping on Amazon.com. However, for the long term I am very interested in what will be my next set of binocs. I have looked a lot at the Vortex website and the Eagle website. I am very pleased that you took the time to share with us that you decided on Vortex and why. PS: My current frustration is trying to get my nearsightedness, my trifocals, my digital camera and my new binoculars to all work in unison and in succession!!! LOL, LOL, LOL!!! I really think my next purchase has to be a camera / binoculars combination. Does Vortex make such a thing? Does anyone have experience with a camera binoculars combination? Trying to use a dedicated camera as a binoculars is really really cumbersome!! Mostly I want to just go back and forth from eyes to binoculars, and then at the almost rare perfect moment, snap!! and I have a picture!!! thank you for this thread, joe d phillips birder newbie pataskala & columbus ---- Matt Valencic <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > After 4 nights on the road I returned home this afternoon through > Millersburg and stopped at Time and Optics to talk with Robert Hershberger > and his mother (who started the shop many years ago). I looked through > several models (Vortex, Nikon, Eagle & Leupold) and power combinations > (8x42, 10x42, 8.5x43). My max price was ~$500. The ones that impressed me > most were the 8x42 Vortex Viper ($529) and a pair of 8x42 Leupold ($409) - I > did not notice the model because I did not even consider them in my research > - might have been Pinnacles. > > > > I was fortunate that the afternoon was dreary and rainy because without the > limited light I could have been happy with either one. The Leupold felt > lighter but it could just have been the design. Both had a similar field of > view when I compared them against a distant fence line. However, when I > really focused on some lichen attached to a fence post about 20 yards away > it was obvious to me that the Vortex Viper was brighter and gave more detail > of my 'target'. I went back-and-forth many times until I was convinced. > Robert finally became non-committal and agreed that I had observed > correctly. > > > > Just for 'grins and giggles' I looked through a pair of Leica's ($1,800) and > Swarovski ($3,000). Yes, they were both brighter but not $1,000 - $2,000 > brighter to me (to someone else with the budget they probably are!). > > > > Anyway, the icing on the cake is the incredible warranty from Vortex. > > > > Thanks to all who helped me make this decision. > > > > The take-away from all this . if you are going to spend more than $100 go > somewhere where you can compare side-by-side. Then pray for a dreary day! > Robert said that if it were bright and sunny I would not have been able to > discern the difference between them. > > > > Regards, > > > > Matt Valencic > > Chagrin Falls, OH > > > ______________________________________________________________________ > > Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. > Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. > Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. > > You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: > http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS > Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask] ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]