Binoculars 10x42(suggestions) ?

[OhReely]

Binoculars have never been a high priority for me so I won't claim any expertise but I do have Bushnell and Celestron and they have both served me well. I've had the Bushnells for going on 30 years and also have a couple of rimfire scopes I've purchased in recent years. No complaints, considering their price and intended purpose.

I have several Nikon rifle scopes and camera lenses. I'm a big fan of their scopes. Never had any issues with the quality and the clarity, brightness and color rendition is excellent in my humble opinion. Again considering price point.

Zeiss and Leica both make high quality equipment with superb optics and unmatched color rendition. I have Zeiss camera lenses so I'm very familiar with their glass and highly recommend their optics.

B&H Photo-Video sells numerous brands of binoculars at competitive prices and even has used binoculars with a rating system of 1-10 which I find to be very accurate. The staff can and will answer questions about any item if possible. Great to do business with. Quite often items sold as used are store or show demos, discontinued models or manufacturer refurbished.

Back to Nikon they also have a refurbishment program for cameras and optics that includes a limited warranty.

Absolutely no offense intended here but $100 in today's market would be considered cheapo in my opinion. Binoculars are all about the glass and that doesn't come cheap. Buying used can get you more for your money but even great optics can have problems not noticeable through casual observation.  Look the glass over carefully for signs of chips, scratches and coating failure. Small scratches and chips usually don't interfere with your view but should affect the price. Coatings that are crackling or flaking off will affect color, clarity, flare. Look through the lenses with a weak light for dust/dirt inside. A few small particles are probably negligeable but a lot can affect the image and can lead to fungus. Cloudiness indicates fungus and can affect color and clarity. The optics in good quality binoculars can probably be professionally cleaned - but not for free.

Hope this helps.

[OhReely]

I did a little searching for you, hope don't mind.

B&H Photo has a large number of used binoculars in stock. Lots of brands, all price ranges.

Someone else mentioned being able to buy Nikon with some degree of confidence and I agree with that so I Googled "refurbished Nikon optics", came up with a site that said Nikon refurbished cameras and lenses. Make sure you go to the Nikon site not a store that sells refurbs. Once there select sport optics, binoculars, then sort low to high price. They have quite a range of models and prices.

I would like to add that I think your choice of 10X is good but unless physical size is a major concern I think 10X50 is a better choice, greater light gathering capability. Bigger glass of the same quality always wins. Another thing to consider is the field of view. Generally speaking as magnification increases the field of view at any distance decreases. Even within the same magnification class it may vary depending on manufacturer and design. As far as being able to hold them steady, it's defintely a concern but primarily at longer distances, a lightweight, collapsible monopod with a ball mount can work. I know you said 200-300 yds but the size of what you're looking at matters. Do you want to just see it or do you want to SEE it to study it? Finally, consider a cheap, lightweight, palm size 7X or 8X for finding and a 10X for studying.

[jgp12000]

I am leaning toward Nikon. I dont think I will be disappointed.I will probably look thru some at BPS and Academy,then buy on Amazon.

[reelynew]

I really like my Nikons.  In case you or anyone else is interested, DVOR just started a sale on the Vortex 10x42s for $115.  This sale is for 3 days or until they run out of stock.  Vortex has a really great warranty. 

https://www.dvor.com/vortex-diamondback-10x42mm-binoculars-d241.html