The Binocular Site

Simmons Binoculars

Overview

Simmons was acquired by Meade in October 2002, due to their shared ideals on innovative products and consumer friendly products. They have been a presence in the outdoor optics sector for over 20 years and offer a line of binoculars and rifle scopes. Their complete product lines are highly regarded.

Simmons has developed many industry firsts on its own, but even with Meade being their parent company now, they have retained their name and they now have access to all of Meade's resources and knowledge. They're able to continue providing high quality products with a combined expert design and manufacturing workforce.

Simmons offers several series of binoculars each best suited to specific uses. Their binoculars are a great combination of quality and low cost, making even their most expensive brand affordable yet well built. They have several designs to offer, so they are as good to look at as they are to look through.

Ranges:

Simmons has five ranges of binoculars. They have a Master Series great for outdoor sports, an Aetec Series great for countryside and deep woods viewing, the Wilderness series which works well in many weather types, High Sierra Series for use when boating or just watching a sporting event at a stadium, and the entry-level ProSport Series.

Magnification:

Simmons offer several fixed magnification binoculars and a few variable ranged binoculars. The fixed magnification models will have either a 7X, 8X, 10X or 12X. Several models have the low end and high end magnifications. High Sierra has the 7X50 model and the Wilderness series has the 12X50 model. Two ProSport models have variable magnification and they have a higher range of magnification than the fixed versions. ProSport offers the 8 – 17X25 model, 17X magnification maximum, and the 8 – 24X50 model, 24X magnification maximum.

Objective Lens:

The objective lens sizes range from 21mm to 50 mm. The ProSport Series is the only series to have 21mm objective lens sizes, but you can also get the highest size 50mm from other ProSport models. The only series that doesn't have a 50mm objective lens model is the Master Series. The highest you can get from that series is 42mm.

Field Of View (F.O.V.):

The lowest F.O.V. on all pairs of binoculars Simmons makes is 240 ft. at 1000 yd., topping off at 430 ft. at 1000 yd. If a wide view is important, you'll want the ProSport 8X30, because that is the only model with the 430 ft. range. There are two models that have the low-end 204 ft. field of view, Aetec 7X35 and the High Sierra 12X32, but it doesn't mean they aren't worthwhile binoculars. It all depends on what you're looking for in a pair of binoculars.

Product Offering:

You can find 29 models of binoculars across five series. Most of the binoculars are made with the quality BAK4 prism, except for some of the High Sierra and all of the ProSport models, which are built with the BK7 prism.

In addition to binoculars, Simmons also offers many other sport optic products. They have product lines of rifle scopes, spotting scopes, range finders, and the various accessories for those products. Another product they offer is the CaptureView, a pair of binoculars that has a built in camera so that anything viewed can also be recorded.

Price Range:

It seems that no matter what Simmons brand binocular model you get, it won't set you back much at all. The most expensive Simmons model available can be found for as little as $180, the 10X42 in the Master Series, and is both waterproof and fog proof. If that's still more than what you're looking to spend, you can get the ProSport 10X25 and 8X21mm models for as little as $11.94.

Warranty:

Most products from Simmons include a Limited Lifetime Warranty, and it covers the binoculars from factory and manufacturing defects for the original purchaser only. Usual wear on binoculars and misuse are not covered. Repairs are not to be done by anyone but Simmons if trying to get repairs done under warranty, since they're not responsible for other repair attempts.

When sending the binoculars in to be repaired, use the original packaging if possible and only return the item to be repaired. Accessories need not be included. Include in the package a phone number to contact you during the day, a return address, a note explaining the problem, and the cost of shipping in a check or money order.

Popular Simmons Binoculars:

One of the more popular pair of binoculars Simmons offers is the ProSport 10X50. These binoculars are a quality pair and are great for sports enthusiast getting into the hobby, and only set you back $11.94. Their surface is coated with rubber to protect the inside from accidental knocks, and they have fully coated quality optics so that viewed images will be bright and clear. They have a great F.O.V., 367 ft. at 1000 yd. with a magnification of 10X and they only weigh 28 oz.


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