Help on Binoculars please?

mils

Thank you for all the replies!
Getting a bit confused between whether I should opt for older model maybe of ebay (if so could someone advise the brand/model) or a new model?
LIke I say the binoculars would be mainly used for bird watching and other wildlife watching for the garden

Davesnave

mils wrote: »

Thank you for all the replies!
Getting a bit confused between whether I should opt for older model maybe of ebay (if so could someone advise the brand/model) or a new model?
LIke I say the binoculars would be mainly used for bird watching and other wildlife watching for the garden

If it's for a present I'd go for new, which will be guaranteed, and because there are some problems related to higher power, I'd stay with 8x or a max of 10x magnification, following the tips here....

http://shopping.rspb.org.uk/binoculars

....but not necessarily buying fro the RSPB. Their 'own' brands are likely to be badge engineered and you might find the same pair with a different label elsewhere.

mils

SO in your view are these 2 any good ?


http://www.scopesnskies.com/prod/barrandstroud/Sierra/8x42.html


or


http://www.scopesnskies.com/prod/BarrandStroud/roof-prism/Savannah/8x56.html

force_ten

if you want to look at some older binoculars on e bay then look at the Carl Zeiss binoculars

from the mid 80,s until very recently i had a pair of Carl Zeiss Jena jenoptem 10x50 binoculars from the DDR (Deutsche Demokratische Republik)

they are heavy they are robust made in the old east germany and some said that the zeiss optics are some of the best in the world

I have upgraded mine to Nikon Monarch 12X56 again a biggish fairly heavy pair of glasses have a look on e bay for second hand monarchs as new will be above budget

force_ten

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Nikon-8x42-Monarch-Binocular

somthing like that from the nikon monarch range would be a good walk about pair of glasses not to big but still quite robust and perfect size for hand held use being 8 times magnification and 42 mm objective lenses so you will get good light into the gasses so the image will be nice and bright

Davesnave

mils wrote: »

SO in your view are these 2 any good ?


http://www.scopesnskies.com/prod/barrandstroud/Sierra/8x42.html


or


http://www.scopesnskies.com/prod/BarrandStroud/roof-prism/Savannah/8x56.html

I'm sure they would be very acceptable, as would many others around the £100 mark.

It really depends upon the experience and expectations of the users, some of whom might be willing to spend double or treble that amount for a little extra brightness or a special feature..

Personally speaking, I wouldn't, but nor would I want the awful cheap bins given to us by a relative, which now lurk in the garage awaiting a car boot sale. Maybe if I'd not had the other bins, they might have seemed OK, but they just felt 'dull.'

andygb

Davesnave wrote: »

I'm sure they would be very acceptable, as would many others around the £100 mark.

It really depends upon the experience and expectations of the users, some of whom might be willing to spend double or treble that amount for a little extra brightness or a special feature..

Personally speaking, I wouldn't, but nor would I want the awful cheap bins given to us by a relative, which now lurk in the garage awaiting a car boot sale. Maybe if I'd not had the other bins, they might have seemed OK, but they just felt 'dull.'

My dad once bought a "cheap" pair of "zoom" bins from a magazine, and seemed happy with them, until he compared them to my Prakticas (which he said - "must have cost a bit"), and then went very quiet. I tried his bins, and they were not sharp at any focal length no matter how much adjusting you did.
I think that his unusable bins cost around £50 and the Praktica were just under £40.

force_ten

I see you linked to a couple of barr and stroud glasses they are a make i have no experience of but the second pair at the £120.00 mark look to be ok

if you want somthing in the £120.00 range then have a look at

www.wexphotographic.com/buy-celestron-nature-dx-8x42-binoculars

they are a nice pair of bins and if you look here for independant reviews

www.bestbinocularsreviews.com/Celestron8x42NatureDX

that review gives them top marks for general use bird watching and wildlife observation which is what you required

good price from wex and a free gift at the moment which is a neat little monocular which can be had for around £25.00 and gets reasonable reviews on its own and is handy when you dont want to carry the full size bins

Weird_Nev

I was going to say 'I've inherited my dads 7x30 Swarovski SLC's, they're excellent, so see if you can find a pair on discount somewhere'. Sadly, I underestimated the price of them by a factor of about five...

Perhaps I won't be letting the 3 year old use them again....

Anyway, I think that any decent brand name of around 8 magnification, 35-40mm objective binoculars should do the trick. Big magnification is NOT a bonus in binoculars, it makes the image dimmer and more prone to shake as you hold them. And big objectives makes them heavy.

You want a little pair of binos that can sit on a shelf at home if the wildlife comes out, and also is comfortable to carry on little walks or when on holiday. Otherwise they never get used.

force_ten

Weird_Nev wrote: »

I was going to say 'I've inherited my dads 7x30 Swarovski SLC's, they're excellent, so see if you can find a pair on discount somewhere'. Sadly, I underestimated the price of them by a factor of about five...

the Swarovski glasses are very good and are one of the top brands along with the new Zeiss glasses but the price reflects that

the entry level Swarovski are around £500.00 and go on to £2000,00 and the 8X42 Swarovski which are the same sort of style and size as the nikon monarchs are six times the price, are they six times better i am not sure about that,

your Swarovski glasses will last you a lifetime and the fact that they belonged to your dad will make the even more special to you, Enjoy