Alpen binoculars

[Bamasnyper]

Anyone ever used Alpen binoculars? I was in a local shop the other day and looked through a couple of pairs of these. I was very impressed. I compared them with several other brands, Browning, bushnell, brunton, and some lower end Nikons and these were the clearest by far. The closest to these in clarity were the Brownings. Then I compared them to a pair of Swarovskis and couldn't tell much difference. I am looking to upgrade my binos and was very impressed with these but don't know anything about the company or anyone that has personally used them. Any help would be appreciated. Also, any suggestions o some good glass in the $300 to $500 range?

[Graybeard]

Also, any suggestions o some good glass in the $300 to $500 range?

The Bushnell Legend should fit into that price range most places. Excellent binoculars. Some time along after the first of the new year they will be coming out with their Bushnell brand replacement for the old B&L Elite binoculars. I suspect they will maybe fall into the upper end of that price range but maybe over it. They will be superb without a doubt. I'll be getting one as soon as they are available.

[DEPUTY]

you wont be able to tell much differance indoors under lighting condtions, alpen has some nice binos, as well do nikon, i have swarovskis el's and belive me in low light and cloudy days you can tell the differance, the bushnells that graybeard mentioned are a great buy rugged and have some nice glass and coating's on them for the price they cant be beat, alpen have really impressed me though iam currently shooting one of the riflescopes as a test scope so far so good

[Chuck Smith]

Good binoculars are worth every penny you pay for them IMHO. I have the Kahles 10X42 Advantage camo coated model and really like them. My dad and brother have been using Steiner's with really good success. My brother has the 10X42 Peregrine and dad has the 12X56 Nighthunter XP and they are well pleased with them. Good Shootin'

[jackfish]

The Alpen Apex roof prism binoculars are among the best for under $400.  You can practically flip a coin between the Eagle Optics Ranger Platinum Class, Celestron Regal LS, Wind River Pinnacle and Alpen Apex.  These four are slightly better than the Wind River Olympic, Bushnell Legend and Nikon Monarch ATB.  Differences boil down to how they feel and the comparative view according to your eyes.

To compare two binoculars one should appropriately focus each and stack them looking quickly between them at distant objects under varying light conditions.  The distant objects should be something that gives one a distinct image to resolve.  Looking between two binoculars in this way should reveal the better view according to your eyes.

$500 could get you into Pentax DCF SP 8x43mm with a USA warranty from a reputable New York camera house.  These would be better than any of the others I mentioned and are said to come close to those costing twice to three times as much.  I would agree.  Check out 17th Street Photo.