Binocular advice sought

No answer from me but I would be interested, I would like a pair of reasonable bins for occasional use.

I suspect you will only get the L word recommendations around here though.

Richard,

     Have you considered a monocular, to reduce burden of carrying when out and about.

Could look at a low cost such as tasco to try out for around 15 quid, and easily slip into pocket, etc.

No great loss if not interested, and useful to carry round if liked

Great outdoors from web stock them

Richard,

You could have a look at Steiner. They have small 8*22 compacts. Most game fairs tend to have a good selection if your near one.

Regards

Matthew

Richard,  teenage daughters tend to be less caring than a decent pair deserves &  I’ve bought a few. 

Cheap don’t do it, prism alignment goes out & if close to water, even water proof seems to be a problem as they are not nitro gas filled.  

If your pref is Opticron, go for it.  If you look around the twitcher world (me me me)  you will find mostly Opticron & - if you can afford them - Swarovski as the preferred makes.  Others with high price tags – including the “L” word - don't do anything more. Anything less than Opticron & you get what you pay for. 

I have Swarovski 10x42 & an Opticron 80mm scope for birding,  my “wifes pair” are  Opticron 10x42 “Verano”.  I use them a lot – mainly for the rougher conditions of driving & walking bush in Africa - & find not that much difference compared to my Swarovski’s, main diff is night vision clarity.  But they do seem more robust.   

Thanks all.  Mike, you're right.  Opticrons it is.  Turns out I can still get T2s despite being discontinued.  And for a very, very good price!

Still, I am curious about the Barr & Stroud Saharas...

I believe Barr & Stroud are made in the same far east factory as the Viking & RSPB brands,  looks like same shaped mouldings & one piece centre adjuster. 

My son has Viking,  they seem to be OK from what I can judge. 

Mike, yes, they do look very like some others - identical in fact to the Bresser Safari bins. They do look good though, and the spec is excellent for the price.  The BBR review seems pretty convincing too.  Anyway, I've gone ahead and ordered the Opticrons.  I trust the brand, they fit the brief perfectly - small, light, rugged, BaK4 prisms and nitrogen filled, and the price is right.  Let's hope they live up to expectations.

H, I'll give them a quick test run and post my impressions when they arrive. 

Chaps

I bought a set of 10 x 25 Leica binoculars about 12 years ago on the advice of Countd of this forum. He advised the purchase because Leica lenses let in the light, they are sharp and above all are weigh little, so they get carried everywhere and hence get used a lot..

It was extremely good advice and I bought a second pair for my place in Spain.

Regards

Mick

Richard

I have a pair of Carl Zeiss Jena Jenoptem 8 x 30 multicoated. Should be able to pick a pair of mint cased from ebay for about £90.00. They are outstanding for the money.

http://www.binocularsexplained...w-jena-jenoptem.html

"Binnokleya". It's pronounced "Binnokleya".

Fatcat thanks.  They're lovely things the old Zeiss glasses but not really suitable here - too big, too heavy.  I do have an old pair of Zeiss binoculars that my Grandfather kept from his time fighting during WW1 - he told me that they were always sought out by British soldiers because they were so much better than the British Army issued bins.  They have some battle damage though but still work OK.  The Mazak parts though have deteriorated quite badly so I tend not to take them out anymore.

Mick, thank you for your recommendation.  I'm sure the Leicas are lovely, but the price puts them well out of court here.  A bit excessive for a 13 year old. 

Are the Porro designs still better for eye-relief ?

The Leicas and Swaro's are very expensive and have read that certain Nikon designs are better at fraction of the price.

The Porro design (IMO) seem to fit easier in the hand & is more forgiving of the need for accurate eye alignment than are the roof prism types.  The downside is they suffer more from prism alignment issues than roof prism.  Roof prism are the more robust design & & Porro's have become a design from the past or limited to low cost bino's.

Re: ... have read that certain Nikon designs are better at fraction of the price.

Woooo  !!! ####    blasphemy,  tantamount to saying Bang & Olufsen are better than Naim & Linn

Richard, a slight deviation from binoculars but related to the reason for the purchase - holiday in Scottish Isles.  You didn't specify which ones but if it is the Hebrides you might be interested in a new BBC series Hebrides: Islands on the edge.  It seems as if it is only showing on BBC Scotland but the first episode is now on BBC I player.

Nikon Premier SE 8x32 are the ones I'm referring to ....

At £800 they are still a tad more than the £50 Richard is looking to spend !!

Cheers

Don

That's for sure !

Well, it's been interesting trying out some low-cost bins.  There's definitely a price point below which, quality drops dramatically.  However, good quality does start at a remarkably low price.  Indeed, my curiosity over the Barr&Strouds was repaid in spades because their Skyline Sierra and Sahara models in particular were very impressive.  I couldn't really tell a whole lot of difference between them image-wise - all use BaK4 prisms and are nitrogen filled, all have a rubberised armour coating, and all seemed very sturdy and well made for the money.  The Skylines 8x42s get my vote, mainly because they're fractionally cheaper than the others at £75 yet don't seem to give anything obvious away.  They're big enough to give a good field of view and let in a good amount of light, while small enough to not be too heavy or burdensome.  The best bit is that you don't need to try too hard to find them on sale for around £50.  Only when put up against some much more expensive Opticrons do you start to see where the savings have been made, but the difference isn't that great.  They come with good quality eye caps at both ends and also come in what appears to be a good quality bag.  Very impressive and strongly recommended if you want a good set of bins for a bargain price, or a second set for friends or guests.  I have bought a pair and will be giving them to my daughter - they are ideal first-time bins and perfect for the casual bird watcher in particular.

I also ordered a pair of Opticrons - 10x25 Trailfinder II WPs.  These are very reasonably priced and now they're discontinued and replaced by the cheaper T3s they can be picked up for well under £100.  First thing that strikes you is how tiny they are - perfect for slipping easily into a coat pocket.  The second thing that strikes you is just how weighty and solid they feel for their size - they feel like they could get run over yet probably survive. I'm told they are rubber armoured magesium alloy, and judging by their feel I can well believe it.  Again we have BaK4 prisms and nitrogen gas filling.  Image quality is excellent considering the small size and for a 10x25 the field of view is better than expected, even if soundly beaten by a 8x42.  But, if you have a steady hand then the extra magnification is a boon and is great picking out distant rabbits hiding in the undergrowth that are invisible to the naked eye.  They aren't quite the allrounders that an 8x42 binocular is, mainly down to their tiny size, but that very same size means there's never an excuse not to have these in your coat pocket, and for that they earn top marks.

So, BigH, there you go.  If you're looking for some decent but inexpensive bins you need not feel you're slumming it with any of the ones I've mentioned above.

Thanks for that Richard good information.I did do a bit of WWW window shopping and the B&S and Opticrons both looked great on screen.

Did you manage to get hands on or was all online? 

I'll follow up when we get back from our holiday.

Saying that we are in London on Friday is there anywhere that carries a good range?

BigH,  London Camera Exchange has one of the largest stores & handles most all the popular brands

More than a long afternoons worth of makes & models to try

I suggest to check out their www to short list a selection might reduce the confusion factor

www . LCEGroup . co . uk

98 Strand

WC2R 0EW 

Tel: 0207 379 0200

H, quite a bit of both over the last couple of months, including a weekend out in the field trying out a few pairs spotting for a spring rabbit cull on farmland.  Shops are all very well, but you only really get a proper feel using them in their intended environment.  This is where you learn to appreciate the pros and cons of various designs.  For example, if you want to use a pair of bins for hunting or stalking it's useful to have a pair that you can use with just the one hand (your other hand is usually full with sticks etc..) and not too big and heavy either, so they can then be easily slipped into a jacket pocket once you've found your quarry.  This rules out most double hinged designs or anything where the focus dial is too far out of reach of your fingers - this is where the little Opticrons really came good.

Thanks Mike I'll check LCE out.

Yep Mick, the convenience of the small size shouldn't be under estimated. How many times have people asked me "can I have a look through your binos?" because they didn't bring theirs? Great little Leicas that last a lifetime.

Dammit count.d, you'll cost me a fortune! As I trust your opinion I've just ordered a pair of the Leicas. I've a pair of Nikon Monarch 10x42s which, although they're really excellent, are a bit too bulky to lug around.