Looking at the Zeiss Terra ED 10x42, $400...Tried similarly priced examples from Nikon and Leupold and the Zeiss to me had the best clarity and build quality. Anyone have another suggestion in the $400-450 price range?

Well in the 40-45mm lens, you will always get better glass with 7-8.5 power than 10 power.

These are quite good and not overly heavy for a porro.
http://swfa.com/Swift-85x44-Audubon-Binocular-P8871.aspx

These are also very good.
http://swfa.com/Hawke-8x43-Frontier-ED-Binocular-P50926.aspx
They also come in 10 power and while I prefer the 8's, the 10 isn't bad either.

8x40s were plenty for me

Vortex viper hd 10x42

Not for $400 to $450 and you need to look though the Audubon ED's to appreciate them.

I really like a pair of Steiner Merlins that I've had for about 5 years now. They are great quality with excellent clarity and are made in Germany. I've hunted all kinds of conditions with them. The eyecups really make them very comfortable. I also have a pair of Leica Geovids and a Swarovski and I have to say that the Steiner's rival them, although the other two may have slightly better light transmission.

Steiner Merlins $350 off of $600 at optics planet

these are on sale

seems like a good $

i use nikon atbs'.10x42's.

clown

What are you hunting and when do you want to be using your bino's?

I would suggest that if you want to use them on a walking/tracking hunt, like for elephants, cape buffalo, often eland, bushbuck and others, a smaller, lighter pair are the ticket, something like 8x30's max. Even really good 8x20's. A major complaint from PH's is that US hunters are slow to be ready to shoot, and lose opportunities as a result. Often, if a PH sees an animal worthy of a closer look with his binos the hunter would be best served relying on the experienced PH's evaluation and getting ready to shoot, rather than glass himself. And in the typical bright light of a southern African day, there is no need for big objective lenses.

A second bigger pair for the truck or around camp can be fun for watching game, especially early am or later evening, and not a PITA when walking, tracking and stalking.

I settled on 8x20 Leicas for walking and stalking. 8x30 Liecas for the truck or around camp. And a Zeiss spotting scope for unusual opportunities to set up high and spot and evaluate elephants from a couple miles away. When tracking elephants I carry very little, and no bino's.

JPK

I've only been to RSA and Zim twice hunting.  The PH I booked with when discussing binoculars, he told a story of a client hunting with him in pursuit of buffalo.  The PH spotted a huge bull and told the client to take the shot.  It seems as though the client was digging out his binoculars out to "judge" the quality of the animal.  This buffalo push from the fringe of the herd to the center of the herd which presented a danger of a bullet penetrating the targeted bull and wounding a second buff and lost the trophy he has been dreaming of.   Three days later the client "deemed" he saw a "trophy" and shot a sub standard bull.

The moral of the story was unless you've been on multiple safaris, you don't know a what a trophy animal looks like so when the PH says "that's the one", shoot!  Hell they all looked great to me until the PH pointed out how to judge a mature animal from a younger soft boss bull, depth of curl and length of horns.

As for the power of binocular, I took the PH's recommendation and brought an old pair of 6X binoculars (and of course, "one is none and two is one", I brought a spare set of binoculars 10X and never used them).  The beginning of the stalk, yes I'd look, but when it got to the stalk, I never touched the binoculars.  I hope this helps.