This is off-topic but curious whether anyone has suggestions for a reasonably priced pair of binos in 14X or 16X that are worth much at dawn/dusk. I realize that is asking alot but hate to pay too much for the 2 or 3 days a year they will get used?

HUH? WHAT??? I hear a turban works well as a portaging pad when carrying heavy items balanced on top of your head. I have it on good authority from a pre-WWII elephant poacher.

Will for that magnification to be effective you would need about a 60mm objective lense for good light gather relative to the human eye.

You can do it with less objective lense but the quality of the glass would have to be superb and the price would be outrageous.

You'll probably need a tripod to keep 'em steady too!

Will,
Tried the inexpensive ones. Waste of money and time. Bad optics, bad focusing capabilities, bad construction. You'll have to dig deep for a good set in that power range. I ended up buying Pentax 12x and that worked out OK, but not as good as I would have liked.
Max

15x56 Swarovski's or one of the 15x60's from Doctor or Zeiss--I use my 15x56's for everything and have no complaints--chris

I've had the 15X60 Doctors and the 15X60 Zeiss, both of which are poro prism binoculars that are bulkier than roof prisms, but excellent optically.



Between these two, the Doctors are much cheaper, but Zeiss are a much better optically (you can also get a tripler for the Zeiss), plus they are better built and finished. So.... it all depends on if a "reasonable" price is more important to you than quality and performance.



I hunted with a guide this year who carried a 15X56 roof prism Swarovskis, and they impressed me very much. They were bright, clear, and compact. You can also get a doubler for them that'll turn those binoculars into a 30X spotting scope, and that accessory works GREAT off a bipod.



AD