I'm gonna add another 4 choices, my first porro prisms of the bunch...porro prisms typically give you better resolution and depth of field *at the same price point* as a comparable roof prism,and since the drawbacks of porros are weight, which some of these have overcome, and color fidelity, which I'm not concerned with much, one of these may be the the new front-runner:
9.
Leupold (Green Ring) Wind River "Cascade" 8x42mm @
$275- It's very lightweight for a porro prism, coming in at under 25 oz, .
http://www.opticsplanet.net/leupold-...ars-60992.html
10.
Leupold (Green Ring) Wind River "Mesa" 8x42mm, @
$163 ... over $100 less than the cascade, only a tad bigger & heavier, and same lens coatings (neither are fully multi-coated):
http://www.opticsplanet.net/leupold-...inoculars.html
11.
Audubon Raptor, 8x42mm @
$160:, this is an excellent wide field bino, showing a FOV of 430 ft @ 1K yards, although this one is on the heaviest & bulkiest end of the spectrum, of what I'm looking for, even though it's light for a porro prism:
http://www.opticsplanet.net/audubon-...lars-8800.html
12.
Bushnell Legend, 8x42, @
$115: fully multi-coated, rainguard coating, wide field of view (430 ft @ 1K yards) - seems like the best value of the porros, actually:
http://www.opticsplanet.net/bushnell-8x42-legend.html
So right now, my final contenders are,
in order: (1)
Vortex Diamondback (roof, 25.5 oz, 420 FOV, fully multi-coated, phase-corrected prisms, tethered obj lens covers, raincover, kick-butt warranty, $200), (2)
Bushnell Legend (porro, 24 oz, 430 FOV, fully multi-coated, Bushnell Rainguard coating, $115), (3)
Audubon/Vortex Equinox Classic (roof, 23 oz, 336 FOV, fully multi-coated, phase-corrected prisms, raincover, "lifetime" warranty, $180), (4)
Eagle Denali (roof, 20.6 oz, 367 FOV, fully multi-coated, phase-corrected prisms, "limited lifetime" warranty, $160), (5)
Audubon/Vortex Raptor (porro, 29 oz, 430 FOV, fully multi-coated, "lifetime" warranty, $160), (6)
Bushnell Discoverer (roof, 28 oz, 420 FOV, fully multi-coated with XTR coating, "PC3 phase coating", Bushnell Rainguard coating, no warranty (??), $290), and (7)
Leupold Mesa (porro, 26.5 oz, 341 FOV, not fully multi-coated, standard Leupold warranty (??), $163).
From that, I can eliminate the Leupold Mesa as not having the light transmission level, poorer FOV, and only a mediocre weight. I can also eliminate the Audubon Raptor and the Bushnell Discoverer, as being heavier than what I want (26 oz is the max). But that still leaves 4 tough choices...
Quote:
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I've dubbed it the light cannon in my mind.
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Hey fisherman, that's funny because astronomers dub those large Dobsonian telescopes "light buckets" - they gather so much light, they are ideal for looking at deep space objects like star clusters, galaxies, nebuli, & such.
I will add that the Vortex/Audubon/Stokes company, in addition to having an outstanding, Leupold-ish warranty, have some very interesting & innovative products, at fair prices, it would seem (at least the binocular lineup):
http://www.vortexoptics.com/products...FThhIgodqWxWfg