The single-hinge design and oversized focus wheel make one-hand operation a cinch. I can’t believe I’d say this about an $1,800 binocular, but it’s a raging bargain.Ī ground-breaking design, the SFL40 combines a featherweight frame with a new optical prescription that uses thinner, more closely positioned lenses to deliver a bright image in a very lightweight and compact package. Lightweight build may lead to durability issuesĪ capable new flagship from Zeiss, the SFL40 has thinner lenses to reduce weight by 20 percent, a big luxurious focus wheel placed exactly where your finger falls, and the brightest glass in our test.Thinner lens elements and shorter optical path cuts both weight and length.20 percent lighter than 8×42 Zeiss Conquest.Brightest binoculars in this year’s test.Best Binoculars for Hunting: Reviews & Recommendations Editor’s Choice: Zeiss SFL40 8×40 This year that nod goes to Maven’s capable B.6. The optic with the highest price/value score wins our Great Buy award. That’s our opinion of how much of a bargain or a rip-off each binocular is. But we also assign a price/value score to each submission. The binocular with the highest overall score wins our Editor’s Choice award-this year it went to the Zeiss SFL40. But we don’t know a better way to evaluate the non-analytic considerations that most of you use to determine which is the best binocular for your use. Their scores are admittedly subjective, and we often disagree on conclusions. Our test team is composed of five hard-core Montana hunters and shooters, and each one spends a week with the binos in the field, judging its ergonomics, its durability, and its style, and comfort.
Our other assessments are more subjective. We do this on multiple nights-with different testers behind the lenses-and then average the results.
BINOCULAR STAND PATCH
We then take the entire field to our low-light lab, a patch of Montana prairie where we measure their ability to see into the descending darkness, scoring their performance against the rest of the field. The raw resolution score is divided into their objective lens size to determine an adjusted resolution score. We then mount them on a tripod and measure their optical resolution, or how finely they render details. We cross fences with them, and often we drag them through dusty uplands. We strap the binoculars in a chest harness and use them in a variety of terrain and light conditions. Then we take each model on a hike that mimics conditions of a hunt. That means dusty days in a pickup and low-light conditions when game is most likely to be visible and viewing conditions are at their most challenging.įor starters, we measure the field of view, eye relief, weight, and other specifications to confirm claims of manufacturers. We test binoculars the way you use them-by subjecting them to the rigors and insults of the field.
BINOCULAR STAND PLUS
Best Entry-Level: Meopta MeoPro HD Plus 10×42.Best for Whitetail Hunting: Hawke Frontier APO 8×42.Best for Tripod Glassing: Tract Toric UHD 15×56.
BINOCULAR STAND PRO
Best Rangefinding Binocular: Leica Geovid Pro 32 10×32.This review of the year’s best binoculars may not have numerical rankings, but the order in which these products are listed represents their relative score. The Zeiss SFL40, an 8×40 marvel, is so much better than other 2022 binocular introductions that it really wasn’t a question of whether the Zeiss would win Outdoor Life’s optics test, but how the also-rans would rank in terms of their attributes. Zeiss is bucking that trend with its introduction of a revolutionary new binocular, one that’s far lighter, but also brighter and more ergonomic, than its previous flagship. In fact, most submissions to Outdoor Life’s 2022 binocular test are derivative, or just updates on a design we’ve been seeing in the market for years. Instead, they are filling out their product lines to include 15-power models or maybe a slimmed down 32mm, while putting most of their manufacturing and marketing horsepower into riflescopes and electro-optics, the integration of traditional glass with lasers and computational software. Most optics brands are busy not reinventing their binocular designs.
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