I recently bought a pair of Nikon Monarch 8x43 bino's and I'm happy with them. I wear glasses and they seem perfect for people who wear glasses.
Now I want a nice pair of 8.5 or 9 or 10 power binos. I think I would prefer 9 power. I want it waterproof, nice for eye glass wearers, phased corrected, multi coated. I would hope to find one for under $400.00
Any suggestions? I guess I'm looking for a 9x that's the equal quality of my Monarchs. Waterproof and good for eye glass wearers and nice optics are important. Again, nothing over $400 and under $350 would be nice.
Thanks!
At some point, hopefully (and finally) Vortex has a new 9x36 Diamondback coming out. The 8.5x44 Swift Audubon 828 (roof prism) has been around for awhile and has established a pretty decent reputation for itself. There are also the porro Swift Audubon 8.5x44 model 820. There are a few 8.5x50 binoculars out there in that price range, but the fov in a 50mm glass usually shrinks compared to a smaller objective glass.
There is lots of stuff @ 10x in the $400 price range. A ZEN ED would be the first place I'd go there. However, they will retire the Monarch pretty quickly.
A classic 9x63 is the Optolith, not enough known out of Germany. The price is over the budget. Really is so important the different among 8, 8.5 or 9X? I use binoculars almost daily. The different in power among the 8.5X42EL and the 8X32 SE is obvious for me but also it's true than I can get more detail with the Nikon at short distance. With cooperative birds, usually there're some everyday, as goldfinches, serins and so on, I've found I can count the fly feathers using the smaller bino. The bigger Swaro. excellent on the other hand, is a bit bellow in this aspect.