My main interest is in photography, but I need some decent binoculars. What are the best porro or roof prism & are x8 or x10 better for birding. It seems from what I've read that Nikon Monarch are popular.
Thanks Bruce
I'm afraid you will have to be a bit more specific. The range between "Decent" and "Best" is very big with binoculars although you can narrow down the Porro Prisms much faster than you can narrow down the Roof Prisms. Give us more info on how and when you will use them and how much money you are willing to spend.
cordially,
Bob
[QUOTE=Robert Falcon]My main interest is in photography, but I need some decent binoculars. What are the best porro or roof prism & are x8 or x10 better for birding. It seems from what I've read that Nikon Monarch are popular.
Thanks Bruce[/QUOTE]
Hi Bruce,
The reason you probably haven't been deluged with suggestions already is that your questions touched on all the hot button issues: porro vs. roof, 8x vs. 10x, decent vs. indecent, classiness vs. popularity, ... etc.
The consensus would be that 8x is the most versatile power for birding, altho the opinion distribution is probably multimodal with somewhat fewer preferring 7x or 10x.
As Bob suggested, highly recommended Porros can be readily narrowed down, altho there are many inexpensive ones to choose from that do work quite nicely. The common view would probably be that the Nikon 8x32 SE is the finest 8x Porro currently being marketed. They are not waterproof, but they are approachable in cost (~$700 USD), very durable, and provide an exquisite view.
It's fair to say there is no consensus in the 8x roof prism area. The four high end manufacturers are Swarovski, Zeiss, Leica, and Nikon. Each makes one or more 8x binoculars in the indecently priced ($1500±300 USD) range that would be hard to choose between in terms of quality. Close behind are Bushnell, Miopta, Kahles, Swift, and several others offering excellent products that would probably do every bit as well for birding, if not for bragging. My personal favorite is the Model 828, 8.5x44 Swift Audubon selling for ~$300 USD.
Hope this helps,
Ed