Small Binoculars

[cliffords]

I want a small pair of binoculars that I can easily carry. Have them in the car glove box, put in a jacket pocket, take with me walking or motorcycling etc .
Look at buildings, wildlife, my roof etc .
I bought a small pair off eBay but they are unusable as far as I can see, or can't .

May I have some advice please say £50 or so

Thank you .

[LunarOne]

cliffords said:

I want a small pair of binoculars that I can easily carry. Have them in the car glove box, put in a jacket pocket, take with me walking or motorcycling etc .
Look at buildings, wildlife, my roof etc .
I bought a small pair off eBay but they are unusable as far as I can see, or can't .

May I have some advice please say £50 or so

Thank you .

With anything optical, you absolutely get what you pay for, and I'm sorry to say that anything you could get for £50 is likely to be not much more than a toy. In fact you really should be spending 3-4 times that amount to get something usable.

Without wanting to give a PH answer, good binoculars can cost several hundreds and great ones, thousands of pounds. Pick up a birdwatching magazine and you'll see that half of the pages are ads for optics.

But this pair comes in at under £50 and I'm told it punches above its weight:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bushnell-Powerview-Multic...

If you can push the budget a bit, then these will be MUCH nicer:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Vortex-Unisex-Adult-Diamo...

[Easternlight]

As said you get what you pay for but for small budget bins I would recommend.

https://www.opticswarehouse.co.uk/hawke-vantage-hd...

Or
https://www.opticswarehouse.co.uk/opticron-oregon-...

[M11rph]

I'd second Easterlight's suggestion of the Hawke Vantage HD 8x26.

After using my good quality binos a friend wanted something along the OP's lines recently and we went and tried all of the compact binos at London Camera Exchange.

The Hawke's were a clear winner, suprisingly good optics and don't feel like a toy in build quality terms.

[Easternlight]

Hawke are also a British brand , not made here obviously.
Their HQ is in Woodbridge, overlooking the river.

[M11rph]

Easternlight said:

Hawke are also a British brand , not made here obviously.
Their HQ is in Woodbridge, overlooking the river.

They also have a lifetime no fault warranty, which is nice at the price.

[jontymo]

Have a look at Barr & Stroud, had mine for years

[cliffords]

Thanks for the advice. Hawke now ordered.
Albeit although I am 61 my wife says I can't have them until my birthday next weekend