Binoculars - useful, essential, unnecessary or just nice to have?

baords dyslexic

You mean like these - after cropping and compressing

After downloading your pic on a flaky 3 Mobile Broadband connection thought I might as well make some use of it.

I took a look at those and several other similar before I bought the Busnells and I thought the optics were fine but not constructed quite as strongly as I wanted. I did think about buying them as they were light weight if they had been any cheaper I might have done.

ShadowFox

baords dyslexic wrote: »

You mean like these - after cropping and compressing

After downloading your pic on a flaky 3 Mobile Broadband connection thought I might as well make some use of it.

I took a look at those and several other similar before I bought the Busnells and I thought the optics were fine but not constructed quite as strongly as I wanted. I did think about buying them as they were light weight if they had been any cheaper I might have done.

I like the Brushnell ones and was going to buy them was talking to the mate about it and he gave me the praktica ones for nothing

ShadowFox

Picked up one of these on ebay
http://www.ebay.ie/itm/260928351384?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649
For a china knock off its quite good

baords dyslexic

grapeape wrote: »

Picked up one of these on ebay
http://www.ebay.ie/itm/260928351384?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649
For a china knock off its quite good

Is that an anti glare shield for the objective lens when the thing is fully extended?

ShadowFox

baords dyslexic wrote: »

Is that an anti glare shield for the objective lens when the thing is fully extended?

Its a magnifier

baords dyslexic

Finally got to a Lidl to day and picked up a pair of their 12x32mm bins for
€12.99 (they still had plenty, stock came in yesterday).

OK so I really don't need another pair of binoculars but thats never stopped me buying a "bargin" before .

Only had a chance for a quick look and a scan around outside with them but so far I'm impressed, optics are good (for the money) and the 32mm objective lens lets in a good deal more light than the 25mm lens on my Busnells. Another plus over the Busnells is that they will focus on much nearer objects. Some of the claimed features are as ususal crap, can't see that you can use them easily with glasses and the bit bit of string neck strap will have to go. Case isn't bad inculdes the obigatory belt loop and the bins themselves are very light yet still have a nice solid feel to them. Focusing is easy and "obvious", some binoculars have a crappy fussy focus and you can't tell if you have them in the best focus with these its obvious when you have the best focus.

Will try and use them in place of the Busnells for a month an let you know how I get on. Unless they fall to bits in the next month I can't see how they aren't a bargin at €12.99.



Magnification: 12x32, Field of view: up to 84m wide at 1,000m distance
Handy all-purpose binoculars - ideal for viewing nature, sports, concerts and more
Variable dioptre setting and flexible eye cups – perfect for use with glasses
Robust, lightweight housing with slip-resistant rubber
Includes: belt bag, neck cord and cleaning cloth



Edit> Just been out with them now and the "neck cord" has now been removed, if you use it as intended the cord gets in the way every time you lift the binoculars up to your eyes.
Otherwise still more good than bad points.

the_syco

grapeape wrote: »

I'm looking for a good monocular anyone have any ideas on a brand the more compact the better

This is something that I'd also be interested in, to carry in my camera bag, to spot stuff to photograph without having to take out the camera and putting the large lens on it to see what it is first.

Posy

I'm looking to get my uncle a nice pair of binoculars for a present- he lives on the coast and would often like looking across at the boats passing on the sea and watching the wildlife etc... Has anyone any tips? I'm clueless about binoculars!

I was looking at argos.ie to get a few ideas but no product doesn't have a handful of really bad reviews so I'm just as stumped now as I was! I think he would prefer a wider field of vision as opposed to strongly zooming in on one specific thing, if that makes sense.

baords dyslexic

Posy wrote: »

I'm looking to get my uncle a nice pair of binoculars for a present- he lives on the coast and would often like looking across at the boats passing on the sea and watching the wildlife etc... Has anyone any tips? I'm clueless about binoculars!

I was looking at argos.ie to get a few ideas but no product doesn't have a handful of really bad reviews so I'm just as stumped now as I was! I think he would prefer a wider field of vision as opposed to strongly zooming in on one specific thing, if that makes sense.

To save me talking just tooooooo much rubish take a look here

http://www.opticsplanet.net/how-to-buy-binoculars.html

then come back and ask any questions. Read the general notes on Marine Binoculars but don't forget you don't need the expense of waterproofing if they are not used at sea.

One other point, if your uncle has the room and you have the money you could also consider a telescope on a stand, but obviously thats not a lot of use for looking at passing birds.

Edit> From what you say the basics would be lower magnification (compared to some of the mad ones available) say x8 or x 10 at max with large objective lense so I'd be looking at somthing like 8 x 50's. But you could go larger on the objective lens but don't go to high on the magnification as it just makes the bins more difficult to hold steady when sea watching. Check also for how close the bins can be focused you might need to focus down to say 10 or 12 feet to get a really good look at birds in the garden.

Posy

Thanks for that, really helpful.:)

I am thinking of these in argos- they have wide lenses and are 10x50, which I hope wouldn't be too hard to keep steady! :eek:
I will look in a few other places too though-- but it seems like the wide objective lens and low magnification will be the key here.

baords dyslexic

Posy wrote: »

Thanks for that, really helpful.:)

I am thinking of these in argos- they have wide lenses and are 10x50, which I hope wouldn't be too hard to keep steady! :eek:
I will look in a few other places too though-- but it seems like the wide objective lens and low magnification will be the key here.

Those are the nearest I can see from the argos catalog that fit your requirements - not that they have a massive range. The 10x magnification shouldn't be much of a problem so don't let that worry you, but I mentioned it as people sometimes think that the bigger the magnification the better the binoculars.

No mention in the description of the point of nearest focus but as the reviews talk about watching birds on a bird table I think its reasonably safe to assume that they will focus up quite close. No mention of lens coating which is really quite important.

If you want a look at a bigger range here try one of the bigger Sam MaCauley chemists and see what they have for the same sort of money.

Try also Amazon.co.uk and search for binocular (try 8 x 50 binocular etc to reduce the number of results) a quick look gave Olympus 8 x 40 DPSI Binocular and Pentax 10x50 XCF Binoculars With Case were 2 that I quickly found that might suit? Those would both afaik be chinese made budget models but at least they have the quality control from a brand name company. Little bit more expensive than Argos but you can often get free delievery if Amazon have them in stock themselves. From checking shops here and comparing with Amazon I know that you can get nearly twice the quality for the same money from Amazon

baords dyslexic

One quick point on the Argos Bird Watcher Binoculars - they look almost identical to the Meade 10x50 that Lidl were selling for €16.99. Nothing wrong with the Meade 10 x 50 mine are a couple of years old and still work great, but I have heard you can get a duff pair so you need to open a box in the shop and check them before you buy. Anyway I wouldn't want to pay the Argos price especially as I noticed that in the UK they have discounted them to half price in the past

baords dyslexic

Continuing what seems to be my cheap binoculars blogg....

Checked out the Aldi 10x25 Compact Binoculars €7.99 in store this week, tried a couple of boxes testing them from back to front of shop and all I can say is sh!te. A bargins only a bargin if you can use the item and I found both pairs I tried foggy and poor to focus even down the lenght of the shop. In comparison the Lidl 12x32 where a much better cheap binocular deal. Not suggesting that Lidl stuff is always better than Aldi as iirc Lidl have in the past sold the same cheap 10x25 under a different "brand" name.

Would have like to taken a look at the Aldi Spotter Scope (about 25euro) but no chance as they had them locked up, their loss as I'd have bought a pair if they were anyway useable.