For everyday use, scrying at various different things whilst out and about, bit of night sky oggleing etc etc .
What would be best mid-oriced type? (dont want those long-lensed Navy type that require a stabalising stick/stand )
What magnification?
whats the red-lensed ones?
various other questions!
cheers folks
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I've never been able to make the 'bi' bit of binoculars work as it should - balance and so on.
So it may be worth adding monoculars to your thinking.
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Aoarrently theres a knack to tuning binocs! - set width then close the eye that has the adjustable eye piece, and adjust centre knurled wheel till open eye clear, then reverse eyes, and adjust eyepiece till other eye clear, open both eyes and voila! binocs!!
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>> These are quite good ~ www.amazon.co.uk/Olympus-10-50-DPS-Binocular/dp/B0000AKGX3/ref=pd_cp_ce_1
10x50 are a good compromise for general use but 7x50 may be better (closer focus/less shake and better in low light).
We keep a couple of pairs of classic prismatics like that to hand but also ultra cheap 8*20 'straight throughs' on window cills and in the cars for birds and planes.
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Good advice Bromptonaut, 10x magnification is the absolute maximum magnification for hand held use and then only for long range. 7 or 8x magnification for general purpose use.The standard issue navy bins are 8x50s.
Devonite has the focusing sussed. :-)
Last edited by: Old Navy on Tue 17 Jan 12 at 22:15
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I like 8x40 or so for general use. Big enough objective (the 40 bit) for moderate light, and not too difficult to hold steady enough. 10 x 50s are unhandy, harder to spot with and hold steady if you're out and about.
Porroprism (traditional) will be cheaper for the same quality than the more compact roof prism ones. We don't cart ours about much so we use porros, we have a Pentax 'waterproof' pair and an Opticron pair- the Opticrons were cheaper and are actually better to look through than the Pentax. The Opticron were these, or the equivalent -
www.cleyspy.co.uk/opticron-aspheric-8x40-i2707.html
The water proof bit isn't about dunking them, more about not misting up inside, but we haven't had a problem with the Opticrons.
Roof prisms at the same price are unlikely to be as good, but you should go somewhere that you can try a few out unless you are spending a very moderate amount. Cheaper roof prisms that are not phase corrected will always seem less bright and clear than porros of the same magnification and objective size (phase correction is unnecessary for porros)
We do a bit of bird spotting but we aren't serious - my pal who is, and his wife, have £600+ roof prism jobs.
Not a clue about red lenses, but they look cool.
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Just googled the reviews for the two pairs you`ve listed - both seem highly regarded by thier purchasers. I hear what ON says about 10x50`s with regard to stability so I think 7x50 or 8x40 may be wiser for me, but as for which??? what function does the 40=50 perform, bigger field of view?, more light for the image?, what would the extre 10mm lens size of the 50 have over the 40?
We dont have an optical outlet handy that i can try different pairs out at, so i will have to rely on your recommendations before buying on line! - so if i ask silly or too many questions, Sorry! ;-)
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The 40 / 50 bit is the diameter of the object lens in millimeters. Bigger lets in more light, but is more cumbersome to carry. Personally I would go for the best 8x40s I could afford.
I use 8x40 roof prism bins.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Tue 17 Jan 12 at 22:57
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The Olympus 8x40 DPSI aspherics are only £50 on Amazon and get great reviews. The Opticron are £75. I suspect better (BAK4) prisms in The Opticron aspherics than the Olympus (probably BK7 or they'd tell you) but they both look good value.
When we bought the Opticron at Cley we tried them against £200+ roof prism ones that weren't as good. I bought the Pentax in Edinburgh and took the Opticron along as a benchmark - they didn't have any as good that I was prepared to pay for.
Quite how much difference the BAK4 prisms make I don't know from experience, but some burble here.
www.birding-binoculars.net/buying-guide.html
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>>- the Opticrons were cheaper and are actually better to
>> look through than the Pentax. The Opticron were these, or the equivalent -
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>> www.cleyspy.co.uk/opticron-aspheric-8x40-i2707.html
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Another vote for the opticrons. When I was in Assynt in Scotland a few years ago, I tried a few different binoculars of other guests to watch wildlife. The opticrons are great for their price, I seriously thought them superior to some of the more expensive pairs apart from maybe compactness.
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I can recommend the Nikon Travelite 8-24 x 25 if you want something small, light, will fit in a jacket pocket and has good optics.
Too small for night sky stuff but so is anything less than 10 x 50.
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Here's what Jodrell Bank say about buying binoculars.
tinyurl.com/89zrenh
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If you know someone who works for RSPB, there is a large discount on their 8x42 range: of the order of 40% I think. They ask £499. I tried them recently, against some Opticrons, Leica etc. For the dosh compared with other high-grade bins, given the retailer would knock off about £100, they were excellent. Other matters to consider, especially if you use spectacles, are the "eye-relief" and the size of the exit pupil. Specs here: shopping.rspb.org.uk/p/Binoculars/RSPB_HD_binoculars_new_models.htm
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excellent find L`escargot! - just the job! - I`ve now decided to go from zero pairs to two! a pair of lightwieght 8x20/40 maybe zoom! for out an about, And, a pair of decent 10x50`s for night-time sky oggleing.
Cheers folks! it pays to ask! I would probably have ended up with a pair of 20x80`s if i hadn`t!
Right off to E-bay! ;-)
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I luvs my 10 x 50 bi nocs, I researched em thoroughly when I bought em 5 years ago and wouldn't want nuffink else, they are Minolta Classic 10 x 50 WP 6.6 Sport - look out for em on ebay, y'all never know!
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Has nobody mentioned that you really need to try the things before you commit yourself? Binoculars are almost as personal as shoes and there's no guarantee that what's wonderful for one person will even be usable for another.
For example, Mrs Beest has a pair of 8x40 Audubons that she loves, but they won't go far enough apart for my eyes, so I can barely use them. She doesn't like my pocketable reverse-porro Opticrons, but in all but the murkiest light I actually prefer them to my bigger 8x32s.
Once you have a good pair of binoculars you'll be amazed at how much use you get out of them. It's well worth spending a couple of hours with a good dealer - and paying a little more than the online price - to be sure you're getting what you need.
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"but they won't go far enough apart for my eyes, so I can barely use them.
Are you really a wildebeest? ;-)
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Yes. I like a deeply knurled focus wheel that I can work with a cloven hoof.
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I mentioned monoculars earlier.
For a quick squint at something in the distance, why is a binocular superior?
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I guess you need to see those lions
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Iffy, if a quick squint is all you'll ever want then yes, a monocular would do, and would be less to carry - if not much less in practical terms than a nice pair of pocket binoculars.
But binoculars are better. Once you have a pair that really suit you, you can watch something through them for long periods - far longer than would be comfortable with a monocular. You also get the benefit of two magnified images for some stereoscopic effect - although a separation of 80-90mm at a range of 30m or more means this is much more limited than some would have you believe.
The main benefit is simply that looking with two eyes is generally easier and more natural than looking with one while keeping the other screwed shut.
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>>Has nobody mentioned that you really need to try the things before you commit yourself?
Yep I would have liked to do that! but as mentioned earlier, we dont have an outlet nearby, it would mean a "day-out" by train for us, and i dont really fancy ordering things, trying them, and sending them back if they`re not right. So going by all the good info on here i at least can try and make informed choices, i.e makes, magnification, uses, types etc all more info than i had before. I think if i stick to recommended makes etc i shouldnt go too far wrong! (fingers crossed!)
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>>Has nobody mentioned that you really need to try the things before you commit yourself?
22.25 yesterday -
"you should go somewhere that you can try a few out unless you are spending a very moderate amount"
It's worth restating though, if Devonite is thinking of pushing the boat out.
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What you really need is night vision so when your up to no good as a peeping tom you get to see much much more!
Give me a ring i'll come with you. :-)
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binoculars - Iffy
