decent binoculars for bird watching, which ones

CamperMan

looking for decent binoculars, cant stretch to the image stabilization types by Nikon, Canon, I have a budget of €100, what do you recommend?

must be compact and lightweight

LostCovey

CamperMan wrote: »

looking for decent binoculars, cant stretch to the image stabilization types by Nikon, Canon, I have a budget of €100, what do you recommend?

must be compact and lightweight

Hi CamperMan,

That's a really tight budget. In the long run you might be better saving for a really top-class pair of glasses, but for that €100 you would get a basic pair of waterproof, nitrogen filled binoculars with a five year guarantee that should be perfectly serviceable.

e.g. http://shop.birdwatchireland.ie/birdwatchireland/product_info.php?cPath=21_22&products_id=697

However, I can't personally vouch for these, just that anything I have seen from the BWI shop has been good quality.

Hopefully you will get a reply from somebody's personal experience.

Best regards,

LostCovey

Half-cocked

Another option is to look on ebay for an old pair of East German Zeiss Jena 8x30's. Make sure the seller will make a full refund if the collimation isn't spot on (no double vision) They aren't waterproof or shockproof, but the optics are superb. I used them for years. If you do go for them , make sure you get a pair with a 6 digit serial number. Anything else is a cheap Japanese copy.

MB Lacey

Hey Camperman,

Opticron's Taigas.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Opticron-Taiga-8x25/dp/B000L3N8Y6

I use these - they're great, I have a more expensive 8x40 pair, but I take these smaller Taigas nearly everywhere I go- they're so lightweight and because they're so small they're really easy to take on walks, outings, glove compartment of car, pockets.

€99 for the waterproof 8x40 ones LostCovey suggested is very good aswell - depends how 'compact' you wanted.

I got the 10x25 Taigas and they're just fine, especially when I'm carrying a telescope and camera aswell.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

The quality of the lens/optics is vital. Spec can be good, weight reasonable, price fine but viewing quality or light very poor. You do usually get what you pay for and €100 is very little when it comes to Optics. Make sure you try any bins out before you buy.

Smartypantsdig

LostCovey wrote: »

Hi CamperMan,

That's a really tight budget. In the long run you might be better saving for a really top-class pair of glasses, but for that €100 you would get a basic pair of waterproof, nitrogen filled binoculars with a five year guarantee that should be perfectly serviceable.

e.g. http://shop.birdwatchireland.ie/birdwatchireland/product_info.php?cPath=21_22&products_id=697

However, I can't personally vouch for these, just that anything I have seen from the BWI shop has been good quality.

Hopefully you will get a reply from somebody's personal experience.

Best regards,

LostCovey

I got my nephew a pair of these recently. He expressed an interest in nature but before I get him really high spec gear I wanted to make sure he was serious! I had a squint through them and to be honest, they did what you would expect for the price. I was a bit put off by a slight "cast" or blur at the edges of objects in view though. But as a stsrter kit, fine!!

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

If there's a cast I wouldn't touch them This is why it's important to buy where you can give them a good test.

CamperMan

OK, what if I stretch the budget to €200??

Smartypantsdig

For €200 you should look at Opticrons. I think they are available on the Birdwatch Ireland site too.

CamperMan

Smartypantsdig wrote: »

For €200 you should look at Opticrons. I think they are available on the Birdwatch Ireland site too.

thanks,

but which ones would be best out of these http://www.opticron.co.uk/Pages/compacts_menu.htm

lorkie

i recently bought a pair of bushnell binoculars for e100 and they are brilliant. they are 10-30 /50 and i find them really good until you go all the way out to thirty. they lose light then but are brilliant around the 18 mark. think they are just called bushnell vari-zoom

Judgement Day

All this advice is great but there's no substitute for experience - surely the OP has some birdwatching pals he could go out with and try out their binos? Nothing anyone says here is much use compared to trying out different ones in the field. 7x50, 8x40 or 10x50 Nikon or Carl Zeiss were my favourites - 100 years ago. I'm preparing to do some serious birdwatching again soon, for the first time in 30 years or so, and I'm more concerned with footwear than binos! I spent my first few years birdwatching in the late 1960's with no binos at all and then graduated to my grandfather's WWI pair which had the strange affect of making things seem even further away! Having no binoculars to start with did mean a lot of crawling through undergrowth and keeping still for hours to get close to birds, and it also led to an ability to identify bird song which has never left me. Just my tuppence worth.

bogtreader

I am using a pair i got from aldi for i think 15 euro does the job hope to
upgrade at christmas.I was using my friends scope last weekend and i
struggled with it took a while to get used to it i couldnt understand
why i found it so to see properly with it.Not everyone can afford
expensive binoculars as they can be dropped or left behind

CamperMan

bogtreader wrote: »

I am using a pair i got from aldi for i think 15 euro does the job hope to
upgrade at christmas.I was using my friends scope last weekend and i
struggled with it took a while to get used to it i couldnt understand
why i found it so to see properly with it.Not everyone can afford
expensive binoculars as they can be dropped or left behind

I have a cheap pair myself but the problem is a blur at the edges, it seems to take me a while to find the subject through them, when I am using binoculars I want crystal clear detail, so prepared to buy a decent pair

bogtreader

I wasnt sure if i would stick with birdwatching as a hobby so started of cheap
So if im good santa might bring me a more expensive pair:)