8 vs 10 power binos

For decades, 8x Leicas have done the job both here in the woods and out on the prairie. Tried 10x, but like others have said, eye strain and shake made the 8x much more desirable. I also use smaller 6x Kowa's at times when sitting on woods stands....

Here's my 2 cents worth. If your a tree hunter 8X all the way. If you hunt in the open mountains or desert (like myself) and are glassing for far away animals the 10X is the way to go. If you're getting eye strain then it is because you have boughten cheap glass. Quality bio's are worth every penny you spend on them. I have spent 2 hours watching my nephew stock an Antelope without any eye stain, Swarovski 18x56.
A trick I learned to help hold my 10X Zeiss is to bring my elbow in close together and prop them on my chest while glassing kinda like a tripod. Also I'm a bow hunter and I rest them on top of my bow.

Flip a coin. Pretty insignificant difference between 8 and 10 in my opinion. If primary use is out west then 10 if back east with limited distance then go 8 for the wider view. Personally whichever you can find the best deal with the best glass is what I'd buy. These right now are a fantastic buy….. I'm not a Vortex guy but their UHD Binos are pretty dang good when comparing.

sep said:

8x for me. I use the Swarovski 8x42 SLC and an older Leica rangefinder. I prefer the broader field of view of the 8x.

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This is the setup I use. Love it.

I have 12x42 NL's and with the forehead rest, I can glass well without support.

I prefer 10x for normal glassing. 15x on a tripod. Most eye strain (other than from cheap glass) comes from having to small of an exit pupil. (Not having big enough objective lenses) My preference is 10x54. They are awesome even in low light!

Hikinghunter said:

Looked around and was surprised I didn't see another thread on this topic.

What power binos are people using freehand for longer-range (out to a mile) glassing? 8 to 10 power seems to be the norm. Supposedly you can't hold a binoculars steady enough to get any advantage past 8x, but 10x sure seems to be popular!

I've tried both and agree that 8x is less shaky, however my 8x are full size and my 10x are compact. Also, they are both low-end glass, so I feel I'm not learning much from that.

what do you guys think, does 10x give you any advantage over 8x freehand, or do you need to brace on something to make it worth it?

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Years ago, I bought a pair of Swarovski 8 power, mostly due to lighter weight, but also conscious of the idea that 8 power is optimium combination of magnification and image stability. I inhereited my Dad's 10 Swarovski of about the same generation, and they bore out that conventional wisom. In the last 10 years, I bought a pair of 12 power Swaros, which are light, and for some reason as stable as the 8's I already had. Improved ergo, reduced weight, dunno, but todays 12 power Swaros are good held in hand, especially when you reflect on the fact that you can nearly always find something to brace yourself on.

I use 12x binos for hunting groundhogs and never noticed an issue with their intermittent use throughout the day. Other than that, 8x seems to cover most bases.

I don't have 8x binos but some years ago I bought a pair of Swarovski
7x SLC binoculars and they're as heavy as a pair of 10x SLC binoculars I got for Christmas 2 years ago. According to the Swarovski web site they weigh almost 2 lbs, which is quite heavy for binoculars. I wear a simple harness similar to the Vortex Binocular Harness Strap that I got years ago from Cabela's and I don't even notice the weight. I'm certainly more steady with the 7x bino's and have heard the complaint about not being steady enough with anything beyond 8x and 10x. Yes, the 10x Sworo's aren't quite as steady as the 7x Sworo's but I can still glass all day with the 10x Sworo's because the weight of the Sworo's help with the steadyness -- and even though I can tell the difference in steadyness, it's not that much different -- but I wouldn't want 12x or greater without a tripod!

I also have a pair of 10x Leupold Cascades which weigh about 1.5 lbs but feel noticeably lighter than the 10x Swaro's and the resolution is noticable poorer than the Sworo's! I couldn't glass all day with the Leupolds because they are more shaky due to the lighter weight!

Also there's this: since the resolution of the 7x Sworo's is so much better than the 10x Leupolds, I can find and identify game at a much further distance in the wide open west with the 7x Sworo's than I can with the 10x Leupolds!

My preference is 10X regardless if I am hunting in the southeast, Midwest or out west. Also, as mentioned premium glass has not given me headaches or eye strain. ,I use Swaro NL Pures.

Under 350yards heavy bush 8x, 10x for cross gully if u had my time again id look at 12-15x and use my hiking pole to steady that works for me using the pole I can go for hours longer and study what I'm looking at as opposed to concentrating on not shaking