It was recently brought to my attention that one of my favourite binoculars and Winner of the Best Safari & Travel Binocular for 2010, the excellent Minox 8×33 BL Binoculars was being offered at a hugely discounted price at a number of optics retailers. In fact many of the models within the Minox BL range are now on sale, making this a great time to get your hands on a quality pair of German optics at a very reasonable price.

For example the Minox BL 8X44 BR Comfort Bridge Binocular is currently for sale at Eagle Optics for only $401:
Sale Price: $409.99
List Price: $559.00
You Save: $149.01 (26%)

Check Prices and where to buy

You can check the sale prices at Eagle Optics or Amazon in both the US and UK below:

More about Minox BL Binoculars

One of the stand out features of Minox’s BL binoculars is their open bridge design, or as they like to call it, their “Comfort Bridge”. This design ensures that your grip on them, even with one hand is just that much more secure. This is really important when for example you are walking through dense vegetation the chances of them being knocked out of your hand is greatly reduced.

This body is also fully waterproof and because it has had all internal air replaced with dry nitrogen gas filling, you won’t get any fogging of the internal optical surfaces, even under severe temperature fluctuations and places with very high humidities.

Other Minox Comfort bridge highlights include fully multi-coated optics and phase-correction coatings on the roof prisms.

More Information & Further Reading

• Read my full review of the Minox 8×33 BL Binoculars
• More about Minox Binoculars
• View all Minox Binoculars reviewed on Best Binocular Reviews

10×42 Swarovski SLC’s (new) for $1399

Built for a rough and tumble lifestyle, the SLC delivers a smooth performance in any situation. A patented focusing wheel for rapid adjustments, deep thumb grooves for comfort, and top-notch optical coatings for bright and sharp images all combine to offer you a superb experience.
Sale Price: $1,399
List Price: $1,887
You Save: $487.79 (25%)

Swarovski 10×32 EL 32 Traveler Binoculars

The Swarovski EL binocular sets the standard for excellence. In order to deliver 98 percent of the available light to your eyes, the EL is engineered with three-part objective lenses, phase corrected prisms, Swarobright prism coatings, and Swarotop multi-layer anti-reflection coatings. Such top-notch brightness even allows digiscoping through the binocular and is made easier with the included SnapShot Adapter.
Sale Price: $1,699
List Price: $2,187
You Save: $487.79 (22%)

Also for sale is a Swarovski STM80 HD scope (display models) with 20-60x eyepiece for $2699 (normally $3060)

Where to Buy

For these and other savings on Swarovski Binoculars check out:

• Swarovski Binoculars on Eagle Optics

Further Reading

• About Swarovski Binoculars
• All Swarovski Binoculars Reviewed on Best Binocular Reviews

I admit that this saving is calculated against their recommended retail price and most shops will sell them just under that anyway, but even so these huge savings are still very impressive:

Swarovski EL 8X32 Binocular with Snap Shot Adapter

These incredibly versatile high end binoculars are listed on both sites for:
Sale Price: $1,639.00
List Price: $2,143.33
You Save: $504.33 (23%)

Swarovski 10×32 EL 32 Traveler Binoculars

As the name suggests these are ideal travel as well as safari binoculars:
Sale Price: $1,699.00
List Price: $2,221.11
You Save: $522.11 (23%)
Read My Full Review

Swarovski SLC 15×56 WB Binoculars

High powered binoculars with their patented focusing wheel for rapid adjustments, deep thumb grooves for comfort and the best quality optical coatings.
Sale Price: $1,899.00
List Price: $2,554.44
You Save: $$655.44 (25%)

Where to Buy

For these and other savings on Swarovski Binoculars check out:

• Swarovski Hot Deals on Eagle Optics
• Amazon.com

I have just been informed by the very friendly guys down at Eagle Opticsthat Carl Zeiss has decided to stop making the green versions of their Victory FL binoculars.

Because of this, Eagle Optics were able to make a special purchase of them from Zeiss at a reduced price – the great news is that these savings have been passed on to you, resulting in an extra $300 off their sale price. This means that you can now grab yourself a brand new … green Zeiss Victory FL binocular at an incredible price.

Obviously this stock and therefore these deals won’t last forever – so if you were thinking of getting some of the very best binoculars available, now would be a really good time to do it.

Where to Get these deals:

In the USA
Unfortunately for us Brits, this offer is only available in the US, where you can find them on this page on the Eagle Optics website:
Green Zeiss Victory FL Binoculars

Zeiss Victory FL’s Main Features:

• Highest light transmission of any binocular in its class – > 90% – with lowest stray light
• Zeiss Fluoride glass (FL) – outstanding edge definition and minimal color fringing
• Innovative Advanced Optics System (AOS) – environmentally friendly thin lens technology for lighter & higher optical performance
• Effective protection system repels water, dirt and grease.
• Streak-free cleaning is fast and easy (without smearing) due to the extremely smooth surface.
• Fully multi-coated lenses with patented T* anti-reflective coatings
• Phase-corrected Abbe-Konig prisms with P* coating — brightest and sharpest view
• High impact armored housing
• Nitrogen filled to prevent fogging and 100% Waterproof
• High eye-point, wide field eyepieces designed for eyeglass wearers
• Adaptive Lockable Eyecup Design with 4 precise positioning click stops
• Intelligently Tuned Focusing mechanism – infinity to close focus in one turn
• Ergonomically designed for remarkably low weight, balance and easy handling.

More Information

• About Carl Zeiss Binoculars

I just got an email enquiry from someone in Australia who wanted to purchase a pair of Kowa 8×42 BD Binoculars and wanted to know where best to buy them.

Unfortunately I have never had the pleasure of living in Oz, so wouldn’t know where best to get these or other binoculars. But as a complete  coincidence, I recently noticed that Amazon.co.uk are offering free deliveries to not only Australia, but India, New Zealand and South Africa as well.

As with most good deals, this offer this one is only available for a limited time and The FREE Super Saver Delivery offer is valid until May 15, 2011. Although rather interestingly Amazon do go on to say that at the end of this period, they reserve the right to extend, amend or withdraw this offer. I guess that will depend on just how well it works for them?

How do you get you FREE Super Saver Delivery?

• You have to place an order over £25 of eligible items in your Shopping Basket.*
• Proceed to checkout.
• Make sure your items are being delivered to a single delivery address in an eligible international destination.
• Select Super Saver Delivery as your delivery option. For more information on delivery rates, see the International Delivery Rates Help page.
• Select “Group my items into as few deliveries as possible” as your delivery preference.
• Place your order.

* Again as with all these things there are a few restrictions and terms and conditions: S o for more details on what I think could really help some people out and to get your free delivery of binoculars  - take a look at this help page on Amazon:

Free Super Saver Delivery to Australia, India, New Zealand and South Africa.

1. You know the person or people selling it to you
2. You know you can easily return it should it have any collimation problems or any other issues
3. The saving is substantial enough for you to not just get yourself a new binocular instead

Besides, who doesn’t want to own a top of the range binocular like a Zeiss and be able to enjoy their legendary brightness without having to pay full price? That is exactly why I want to bring to your attention some of the huge savings you can make on a selection of factory-refurbished demos and find the perfect Zeiss binocular for your budget and all from a reputable and trusted source.

1) Where To Buy Zeiss factory-refurbished demos?

Eagle Optics has been selling quality optics since 1986 offering a wide selection of equipment from every major sport optics manufacturer. They are also an authorized dealer for all the brands they carry, including Carl Zeiss.

Take a look at the Zeiss Ex-Demo Sale Page on Eagle Optics

2) Returns Policy

From such a trusted source like Eagle Optics, I am sure that the binoculars will have no problems, but should you not be totally happy, you may return it to Eagle Optics for a full exchange or product refund with their 30 Day Money-Back Guarantee.

3) Huge Savings

Unless the savings are big enough you may as well just get yourself a new binocular – so  lets take a look at a few current examples:

Zeiss Victory 8×42 T* FL LT Binocular

• List Price: $2,500.00
• Commonly sold for $1,949.99 means you save $550.01 (22%) – Check Current Prices Here
• Ex-Demo Model: $1,579.99 means you save $920.01 (36%)

Zeiss Conquest 8×40 B T* Binocular

• List Price: $1,278.00
• Commonly sold for $880 to $890 means you save about 379.00 (29%) – Check Current Prices Here
• Ex-Demo Model: $779.99 means you save $498.01 (38%)

So for these and all the other ex-demo models available check out the Zeiss Ex-Demo Sale Page on Eagle Optics

At their orriginal RRP price, these high quality optics were understandably firmly paced in our high value ($500-$1200 / £500-£1200) price bracket, but with these new price reductions you can now get these top of the range binoculars for about $399 – £465 / £399 – £430 (depending on the model), which now means that in terms of price are now regarded on my price scale as Mid-High Value Binoculars, which considering all their top of the range features is really impressive and in my opinion makes them great value for money.

Where to Get these deals:

In the USA
The new Bushnell Elites with ED Glass are  now available for $399 (8×42) and $465 (10×42) on Amazon, a massive saving when you consider they have a list price of  $677 and $699  respectively:
Click Here to Buy on Amazon.com

In the UK
The new Bushnell Elites with ED Glass are  now available for £399 (8×42) and £429 (10×42) at Warehouse Express, a massive saving when you consider they have a list price of  £740 and £800 respectively:
Click here to buy on Warehouseexpress

Sizes Available:

• Elite 10X42 ED Binoculars
• Elite 8X42 ED Binoculars
• Elite 7X26 ED Binoculars

Quality Features
These include the use of ED Glass (Extra low dispersion glass) that prevents chromatic aberration by concentrating and directing the wavelengths of light more effectively onto your eyes. High-quality, high-precision ED glass is able to do this because the glass has less air bubbles and glass deformities in them that are more likely to cause image distortion.

On top of that and as you would expect from a quality pair of optics, the Bushnell Elite Binoculars also feature fully multi-coated optical elements with what they call their XTR technology.

BaK-4 phase corrected high-reflection prisms are also used in all Elite models that give a sharp and high-contrast image over the full field of view.

More Information & Bushnell Elite Reviews
For more information on these great binoculars take a look at the section on Bushnell Elite Binoculars on my page about Bushnell.

I say this because they are available at a large discounted price in both the UK and USA. (If you are in the UK it is well worth taking a look at the 9X25 version in particular, which is currently available at better than half price)

Warehouse express currently have the Nikon 9×25 Travelite V CF Binoculars on offer for £69.00 which is better than half price (RRP £150.99):
Nikon Travelite V Binoculars on Warehouse Express

At the time of writing, all the Travelite V series binoculars from Nikon are available at discounted prices on Amazon.com. For example the 8X25mm V Binoculars have list price of $128.95, but are currently available for $79.96:
Nikon Travelite V Binoculars on Amazon.com

The Travelite V Series

Available in 5 different models, all with compact 25mm objective lenses and ranging in magnification from 8 to 12x. All come in a porro prism design and with a host of quality features that you would normally only expect to find on far more expensive optics. Including an ergonomic body made from light and durable carbon fibre with a tough rubber armor coating and aspherical lenses that minimise distortion and provide sharp images up to the periphery.

Further Information

• About Nikon Binoculars
• About Nikon Travelite V Binoculars

The Razor Range Come in 5 configurations: 10X42, 8X42, 12X50, 10X50 and 8.5X50.

For me it is the 8X42 Razor that really stands out with it’s very wide field of view (410 feet @ 1000 yards / 137m @ 1000m), meaning that they would easily make it onto my list of wide angle binoculars and will therefore make ideal birding binoculars.

I also like the open bridge design – on binoculars that I have reviewed in the past, like one of my real favourites, the Minox 8×33 BL Binoculars, this design just feels more comfortable to hold as well giving you a more secure grip when you are carrying them about.

As you would expect with binoculars of this quality they are 100% waterproof. They have also been filled with argon gas meaning that the internal air has been replaced with argon to ensure there is no internal fogging in areas of high humidity or rapid temperature changes. Being fully waterproof also helps prevent any dust or dirt from entering the system and being fogproof helps protect the internal components from any corrosion.

High Quality Optics

All Vortex Razor Binoculars come with Phase corrected BaK-4 prisms that helps keep the light in correct color phases producing an image that is sharper and with higher contrast over the full field of view. On top of the Vortex also use dielectric high-reflective multilayer coatings on the roof prism, rather than the more common aluminum coatings often found on cheaper binoculars. The dielectric coating causes the prism surfaces to act as a dielectric mirror and boosts the light reflectivity, giving you clearer whites and a sharper, brighter, more natural vision across the entire field of view.

They all also have fully multi-coated lenses that increase light transmission with multiple anti-reflective coatings on all air-to-glass surfaces. On top of this ED Glass (extra low-dispersion glass) is used on the lenses which Vortex call theirs XD glass, but whatever the name they will increase performance even more by enhancing light transmission.

Price Range

With so many quality optical components and as you would expect for a high end pair of optics, all binoculars in the Vortex Razor range are what I would describe as High Value Binoculars, but what makes them really tempting is that they are available at a few outlets at a discount. For example:

Vortex Razor 8X42 Binoculars (list price: $849)
Currently available on Amazon for $725 or Binoculars.com for $749 – In the UK you can find them on Amazon for the excellent price of £495. This trend continues throughout the range:

• Buy & Compare Current Prices for Vortex Razor Binoculars

Good Value For money?
Having not looked through any yet to gauge the image quality, I am a little hesitant to be too committal, but if I take into consideration all the top quality components it does look like you get plenty of “Binocular for your buck” and they compete very well with others in this price category in terms of features. Compare all High Value Binoculars ($500-$1200 / £500-£1200) that I have reviewed.

Vortex Razor Reviews
Because of these great features and all at what I believe to be a very competitive price, I am really desperate to get my hands on one to fully review (big hint to Mr. Vortex!) Until then, I hope this article has helped, the only thing I couldn’t do is comment on the quality of the view through them or how they feel in the hands. For more information, take a look at my page on Vortex Binoculars that also includes a section on the Razor.

8×30 SLC Swarovski Binoculars Sale

The good news is that you can now get the mid-sized Swarovski SLC 8×30 Binoculars at even a better price than normal as they are available at a hugely discounted price, both in the UK and in the US:

In the USA
The 8×30 SLC has a list price of $1,276.67, but they are available from Eagle Optics for only $899.99, that is a massive saving of $376.68 (29%)
Click here for more information & to buy on Eagle Optics

In the UK
The Swarovski 8×30 SLC is now available for £749 at Warehouse Express, another massive saving when you consider they have a list price of over £1000
Click here for more information & to buy on Warehouseexpress

Swarovski 8×30 SLC WB Binoculars

The 8×30 SLC is ideal for anyone looking for a more compact binocular, perfect for birding and general use. As the name suggests, they are Slim, Light an Compact and the 8x magnification is strong enough to get you close into the action, but still with plenty of field of view.

Features include:A patented focusing wheel for rapid adjustments, Phase corrected Bak-4 Prisms, Swaroviski’s Swarobright coating for maximum color fidelity across the whole light spectrum and their Swaroclean coating on the outer surface of the lens that makes cleaning objective and eyepiece lenses considerably easier, which may not sound like much, but lenses that require less intensive cleaning significantly increases the longevity of any optical device.

Snap Shot Adapter

These Swarovski SLC 8×30 WB Binoculars also come with Swarovski’s Snap Shot Adapter that enables you to connect your digital camera to the binoculars and take surprisingly good quality photos even at long distances, this is called Digibinning.

Also Included:

• Rainguard
• Tethered objective lens covers
• Neck strap
• Case
• Swarovski limited lifetime warranty