12x50 Bino suggestions

[Kfive73]

Looking for 12x50 binos for spotting some matches (out to around 700 yards) and general hunting use. I’m looking at 12x just so it’s a little more versatile and budget friendly than purchasing a 15x for plinking and a 10x for general outdoor stuff….. meet in the middle right?

I’ve been looking at the Athlon Midas UHD and Burris signature HD. I want to price them around $500.

And opinions on these two binos? Any other suggestions of what I should look into? Thanks everyone

 

[Simonsza1]

The leupold bx4 pro guides are extremely nice in my opinion. Think I saw a pair in the px for $600obo. Can find them on sale here and there also.

 

[gr8fuldoug]

The Athlon Midas G2 12x50 UHD, which is on sale during our President's Week Sale, for only $374.09 is a great binocular at a fantastic value

 

[Kfive73]

Thanks guys. I’m going to look into the leupy and check cameraland sales

 

[kthomas]

Glass quality matters more than magnification.

If I was in your shoes, I would buy the best 10x you can afford, over a lesser quality 12x.

Also, if these are for hunting as well you need to consider how they are going to be used. 12x is hard to use if scanning by hand. Some people can do it, but for many 10x is the practical limit for hand held scanning with binos.

$500 is tight for quality binos. If that's a hard limit, I would look on the used market or scan for sales. CamerlandNY has great sales. Maybe look at the GPO line of binos they carry. Mavic may be another option - their DTC approach creates higher value for the customer.

If you can double your budget, you can Swarovski like quality glass in 10x - CameralandNY has been running open box specials on the Kowa Genesis 10.5x44's for $999. Swarovski's will have better edge to edge clarity, but besides that you are giving up nothing for half the price.

I bought a Kowa Genesis 10.5x44 from CameralandNY for $999, and I'm super glad I did. It was a splurge for me - originally I wanted to keep it to around $500 like you because money is tight. But I'm really glad I bought these. I also use them for hunting and spotting at PRS matches. Spotting trace with these binos is incredibly easy, the optical quality is superb.

Just some food for though from someone that was in a similar position as you.