Zeiss 10X40 B/GA, opinions?

I'm wanting to upgrade my binoc's. It seems I'm going to use them, so I might as well get good ones. I have been lead to believe that nothing else comes close to the Zeiss 10x40's. According to my 'advisor', 90% of profesional guides carry exactly these binoc's. For this kind of money, I need a second opinion. I'm not afraid of the used market due to the lifetime warrenty, but am wondering about the older coatings. The used price approaches the new closely enough that I do want the modern coatings. Money IS and object here, but IF these are all my advisor says, I'm willing to pay the price. What I don't want is to pay it and deciede he was wrong (he only thinks himself infallible! ).

Thanks for your help, John

I have to assume that hunting is what you want them for given that this was posted in rec.hunting... Personally I went with the Zeiss 7X42 BGAT* for use in northern woods for whitetails and in dairy country for woodchucks. The 6mm exit pupil (42/7) puts all the light I can use to my eyes. You can seemingly see in the dark in heavy cover on overcast days and at first and last light.

I also have a Zeiss 8X30 monocular (30/8 = 3.75 mm exit pupil) that isn't nearly as bright as the 7X42s. The 10X40s would have a 4 mm exit pupil which would put it closer to my 8X30 than the 7X42s... On the brightness issue I'd be go for the 7X42 or 8X56 Zeiss as compared to the 10X40.... though the 8X56 surely cannot carry as nicely as the 7X42.

Another issue is magnified movement. I cannot deal with much more than 7-8X with hand held optics as the magnified movement is unnerving. For tripod mounted binoculars it isn't an issue... For this reason I have Zeiss 4X32 scopes on a couple of my big game rifles and a Zeiss 10X36 on one of my woodchuck guns. The clarity and brightness more than make up for any advantage more power might offer

Zeiss, Swarovski, and Lieca are in my opinion at the top equal in quality (and also price). The 10X is ideal for western hunting involvein glassing and longer distances. I use the Swarovski, a hunting buddy uses the Leica, and a guide I've hunted with several times in Colorado (bighorn sheep, mountain goat, elk and deer) uses the Zeiss. For eastern hunting (deer in the woods of Pennsylvania) I prefer a lower magnification compact with a large field of view.

John - In my humble opinion, optics are one of those areas where the products are somewhat individualistic. By this I mean that there seems to be significant variances in the glass used for any specific model and brand of binocular or scope. Some scopes of a specific brand have been very sharp and clear while others of the same model have been noticably darker. While I would expect that Zeiss and the equivalent would show less variance than most, I would make sure that I had the opportunity to look through the specific instrument I was goig to buy. I would want the opportunity to compare several at the same time. Normally I go with mail order but for the bucks I would rather spend a little more and know what I was getting. regards - Joel