Help Needed Designing New Binoculars

[AIODesign]

Hello, I am representing a design team currently working on new binoculars suited for hunters. If you have experience using hunting binoculars you could help give us valuable insight into any of the following:

- What are issues/complaints you have had with previous binoculars?
- What are positive features/experiences you have had with hunting binoculars?
- What conditions (terrain, weather, light) do you often use binoculars in?
- What price point do you look for in binoculars?
- Have you broken or damaged binoculars, if so how?

Any feedback is greatly appreciated and will be considered in the future design, thanks!

 

[dillon]

I carry vortex vulture 15x56 binoculars. I love that I can use them almost like a spotting scope. I wish they were a little more compact and lightweight.

I hate cheap lens caps. If optics are not waterproof they are not worth buying. Make your neck strap so it doesn't rub the neck raw.

I look at the $500-999 range for most optics.

For me the vortex warrantee is their strongest selling point. I lost a lens cap and they sent me free new ones. You can't beat their customer service.

Good luck.

Dillon
www.dillonhoyt.com

 

[Homer]

copy swarovskis

 

[AIODesign]

What about swarovskis do you think is superior to other brands?

 

[hornkiller]

Give me exactly what my swarovski 15x56 are for $1000 and you wont need any more opinions!

 

[Mbogo]

+1

 

[Tikka]

>Give me exactly what my swarovski
>15x56 are for $1000
>and you wont need any
>more opinions!

X2

 

[BBB]

x3

Except have a customer service more alike to Vortex or Leupold rather than Swaros. If I lose a rubber eye cup don't charge me 25$ for one. A simple way to attach to tripod. Feel free to send me your newly designed glass ahead of time and I'll give you honest feedback.

 

[fullthrottle]

X4. 12x50, rangefinder. Warranty, top of the line glass, good eye cups. Under $1,500, and you will be headed in the right direction. Hope it works out for you.

 

[runamuk]

>Give me exactly what my swarovski
>15x56 are for $1000
>and you wont need any
>more opinions!

X 5

 

[AIODesign]

Has anyone ever had a problem with the swarovski 15x56?

 

[mlycrzy]

>Has anyone ever had a problem
>with the swarovski 15x56?


Never had any issues with mine. They are fairly heavy but I only use them on a tri-pod. I'd rather forget my rifle at home then my 15's.

 

[elktaker]

Glass would be the most important to me. Using friends Swarovski's 10x and 15x, I can see better than my vortex razor 11-33x spotting scope.

Durable and a warrentee would be key as well.

If they have good glass then I would want an easy way to attach them to my tripod.

 

[antlerradar]

If you could find a way to keep them from fogging up in cold and high humidity you would be my hero.
Have a pair of Zeiss 15X60s and use them almost every day.

 

[2lumpy]

There are dozens, if not more, bino manufactures. Prices range from $20 to $7,000.

A $20 pair work nearly as well as a $7,000 pair, during the middle of the day, in full sun light.

Hunters pay an exorbitant amount more for binos that work the first 10 minutes of light in the morning and the last 10 minutes of light at night. But for those twenty minute periods, damn nearly any binocular is as good as any other.

Sure, the $200 to $600 stuff from Vortex and Nikon are easier on the eyes and you don't get a headache as quickly as you do with a $20 pair, but as far as looking at big game hunting animals, the quality of the glass and the coating only matter, at the very lowest of light periods of the day.

Zeiss, Leicia, and Swarovski own the lowest light gathering market, at about the $2,000/$2,500 price point.

A dozen others like Vortex, Nikon, and others dominate the middle price range, but don't get it done in the low light.

The others, below $200 are just basic "middle of the day" binoculars, used by everyone but not well liked by most serious hunters.

So................ unless your going to grind glass equal to the European glass and their coatings, like the big three are doing, at a huge, and I mean a huge reduction in price, why bother to try to build or market to the hunting industry.

If you're going to wrestle some of the big three's market share, you're going to need equal or better low light optics and a much, much, much better price. Their reputation is sold and you won't earn a place there without millions of dollars of innovation, tooling, manufacturing and marketing. If you can't provide better low light optics than the big three, that puts you up against the Vortex, Nikon, and a dozen others in the $200 to $600 price point, each share a relatively small market share, you would have a difficult time taping that market as well. You'd be just another middle range product, and hunters aren't in need of or looking for a new one.

So....... in my opinion, the only chance you have is producing a better lower light binocular than the big three, at a third of the price point, at least until you prove your product is better. No one is going to pay you $2,000 for an unknown, unproven, non-field proven bino.

But, who am I to holler "whoa" at a horse race. If you've got the backing and the technology and you're a marketing genius, go for it, I'll give them a look, if they're bright at pre-dark 10 minutes and they are in the $700 price range.

DC

 

[CAelknuts]

AIOdesign, you asked if anyone has ever had a problem with the Swarovski 15x56s. I bought the very 1st pair The Outdoorsman ever sold, back in August of 2000. Since then, I've used them all over from Alaska to Africa and consider them to be fantastic binoculars in every regard. Never had a single problem whatsoever with them.

I think the #1 consideration in binoculars has to be quality, followed closely by value. I have 3 binoculars; a pair of 8x32 Zeiss that I've hunted with since 1980, the 15x56 Swarovski and 10x50 Vortex. I'm very impressed with the Vortex's as the quality is quite good and the value is exceptional.
Excellent binoculars are a long term investment in my hunting. My next binocular purchase will be 10 power range finder binoculars.

In this day and age, I think 'big' binoculars of 15x or higher are essential to any serious hunters equipment. I spend lots of time with them on a tripod and find game I'd never see with smaller binoculars. I'd prefer, far and away, to have 15x binoculars and a rifle I can shoot to 400 yards over a rifle I can shoot at 1,200 yards and lower power or inferior glass.

 

[hornkiller]

You are saying the $20 binos are the same as swaros in the middle of the day you are lost my friend! I glass all day for deer or speed goats! I have swaros and your $600 vortex and its not even close even in the middle of the day!

 

[2lumpy]

I been lost a long time my friend. So there is no point in bringing to market another $20 to $600 pair of binos, is there? Lost or found, where the rubber meet the road, I think we agree, if the OP doesn't offer a bino as good or better than the Big 3, at a far better price, there is little opportunity for success.

Personally, I'm only concerned with low light optics. Your personal needs will differ, no doubt.

DC

 

[Homer]

LAST EDITED ON Sep-10-17 AT 08:51PM (MST)[p]I thought Maven was the new answer.....how are they doing??

 

[deadibob]

I think that anyone who wants to start an optics company at this point in time, has not done a really good market analysis. It is way oversaturated. Good luck to you, but if you have to come on here and ask questions about what to look for in a good binocular, I don't think you have anything ground-breaking or market changing enough to compete and survive.

A BULLET TRAIN! The only other thing besides a good guy with a gun, that will stop a bad guy with a gun ;-)

 

[bugleb]

When I was in college, I used a $20 pair of drug store binoculars. They were a piece of junk, but better than nothing, and all I could afford at the time.

Then I used a pair of Bushnell Custom Compact 7X26 binoculars for many years. They were only $250 about 35 years ago, and I used them extensively for bow hunting because they were small and light, and would fit in my shirt pocket and not get in the way of my bowstring.

They were great when they were new. The big problem with them was that they were not waterproof at all. Because they were not waterproof, they fogged up often, and over the years the interior surfaces got coated with deposits that eventually made them ineffective.

Now, at age 68, and having had a partially detached retina and cataract surgery, my eyes are none too good, and its not worth buying a really expensive pair of binoculars for these old eyes. So now, I use a fairly cheap pair of Cabellas 12X50 binoculars. They cost $350 and I can see pretty well through them. They are a little on the big and heavy side but I like the 12 power. It is about the most you can handle without a tripod.

My conclusions: they must be waterproof, cheap is good if the quality is decent, smaller and lighter would be nice. For bowhunting, a pocket sized pair is best and 7 power is enough. For long distance scouting, a higher power pair is necessary.

 

[CouesFanatic]

+1 to deadeyebob. Wrong market to get into right now IMO.

 

[tx_packmule]

Swaro quality, angle compensation rangefinder with temperature reading, barometric pressure, humidity, gps infused earth curvature readings and a ballistic laser showing hold point per ranged object based on preset zero. 15x56, skeletonized and ultralight in KUIU camo. Free hat with purchase.

 

[groundhog999]

LAST EDITED ON Sep-25-17 AT 03:50PM (MST)[p]If your looking to build a better binocular you will beat your self to death trying to compete with ziess, swarovski, ect. If your looking to build a better pair for hunters in there price range is a different story. I would say most hunters in the market for buying a pair are looking in the range between $200-$500 max. These are you average every day guys with families and bills to pay. I used a pair of $250 Bushnell's for over 15 years till I could afford a better pair of Ziess.

Good eye cup adjustability and to be able to lock. Comfort is key when glassing for long times.
Light weight.
Adjustments just stiff enough that bumping them wont take you out of focus.
Sell them with a better strap, like a bino buddy.
reasonable low light use, that's when hunter's need them the most.
dust caps that are attached but can be removed.

I think vortex has done a pretty good job in catering to hunters over the last couple of years.
good luck with your new venture!





Don't die dreaming
DIE TRYING!

 

[schoolhousegrizz]

Make sure the binoculars close up enough that you're not getting a double picture when you look through them. Some people's eyes are more narrow set than others. Also, as mentioned above make sure the eye caps are quality and don't come off easily. Quick way to attach to a tripod would be a plus. Of course Quality Glass and good light transmission are always important.