How many do you own?

5+ at the moment.

Leupold WR Yosemite 6x30

Nikon E 7x35

Nikon Sportstar II 8x20

Nikon Sportstar IV 8x25

Vortex Razor 8x42

Vortex Viper 8x42

Meopta Meostar 8x42

Zeiss FL 7x42

...and a big honkin pair of 10-30x60 Galileo porros that have been gathering dust for a few years now. The 8x30 Yosemites and 7x35 Action EXs are out on loan.

Bird Watcher wrote: lucznik, Would/have you ever consider(ed) a 6x or 7x

6x - No, at least not for me.  I have considered picking up a couple of Leupold 6x30 Yosemites for my sons.

7x - My dad owns a 7x42 porro-prism Brunton Eterna that is really quite nice. Its only drawback really, is its relatively large size. I have spent a fair amount of time behind this binocular and I can readily see why some people like the lower magnifications.  In truth, my dad prefers the low-powered magnifications for general glassing and the only reason he uses an 8x now is because the Pentax DCF WP that he got to replace this Eterna as his primary hunting binocular was/is not offered in 7x. 

My problem with 7x binoculars is that I often (read usually) glass at fairly long range.  From my doorstep I can glass a herd of resident antelope on a hillside a few miles away. With 7 or 8x binoculars, I can find the animals and see that they are there.  With 10x, I can distinguish the bucks from the does. (A good spotting scope then allows for evaluating the relative size of the bucks' horns.)  I guess you could just call me a magnification junkie.  Spending a lifetime unable to see one's own hand clearly at arms length without eyeglasses will do that to a guy.

Given the opportunity, I would be willing to give 7x a more thorough chance at winning me over and I even almost purchased a 7x42 Bushnell Discoverer not long ago for that very purpose.  In the end though, I overcame the temptation as right now, I'm just trying to save up enough to buy a good spotting scope.

Bird Watcher wrote: I think a 30mm or 32mm would kind of round things out for your collection.

I generally don't care much for the 30+mm class of binoculars.  They aren't small enough to be much of an advantage over the larger 40+mm binoculars (i.e. they won't fit into a trouser pocket) but, their smaller objective lenses do permit less light to pass through.  Actually, my 10x43 Elite is almost the exact same size as the 32mm Swarovski EL. When I want to carry a smaller glass, I want a truly smaller glass, not a compromise in-between size.

Also, the 30+mm class of optics (at least the ones I might be able to find a way to afford) tend to suffer from fairly short eye relief. This makes them less than ideal in my book. 

Bird Watcher,

What Cat scope do you have?

zeissOem2

zeissOem2

Somet 25x100 (zeiss 25x100)

Zeiss DF 7x50

Zeiss 7x50B classic

Hensoldt 10x50 SF 14

Leidolf 6x30

opticron 10 x42

zeiss EM34

zeiss Nedinsco

zeiss 3x12B