Binoculars

[smifffymoto]

Probably not the right forum but what the hell........you lot are into lenses.I'm after a good set of binoculars but don't really know what to look for.Budget is about £500 ish.

[valve bounce66]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SAKURA-Day-Night-10-70x50-Po...

got these for £15,very happy with them

[Simpo Two]

No idea, but I agree with your logic - binoculars are just two cameras strapped side by side and with the backs taken off... or something. Twice as much glass and you can't record what you see... hmm...

[CarMac]

We looked for some earlier in the year and we were recommended to go for fixed focal length ones and not the zoom ones as the quality of the optics is better. In the end we opted for some Bushnell fixed focal length ones and they were great for spotting the eagles we'd gone to see. Think we paid about £40. I would certainly advise going and trying some out as they're all different (bit like cameras)!

There are some good websites around that explain what all the numbers mean.

http://www.at-infocus.co.uk/choosing_bins.html

http://www.binocularsonline.co.uk/guides/default.a...

http://www.camera-shop.co.uk/acatalog/binoculars_u...

[GetCarter]

Read this:

http://www.telescopesandbinoculars.co.uk/acatalog/...

I bought a really good pair a few years back... provided you don't lose them you'll only ever need one pair, so spend some proper money! (You'll be amazed at the difference between cheap and expensive - a bit like cameras really).

[Yellabelly]

My wife and I have Opticron Discovery WP and LE WP binoculars for bird spotting and general use, excellent lenses down to low light levels and super quality. Price is from approx £150 - 200 per pair. For me they were the best compromise as I could not justify Leica
YB

[CVP]

Opticrons are good and rugged. We have a pair of these http://www.warehouseexpress.com/product/default.as... GBP 189

For a first pair try not to worry too much about magnification, too much magnification can make it tricky to keep what you are looking at steady in the view, approx 8* is a good start and if you have very steady hands 10* is hand holdable.

Lots of birders use Swarovski for binoculares and scopes so they mst be a decent quality

For the sake of your wallet do not look through a pair of expensive Leica or Nikons as you will see where some of the additional cost comes from (the rest of course pays for the badge ).

Chris

[Flying Trotter]

if you want quality binos the budget is too small - leica are a different league - bought a pair before a trip to a rainfoest 10 years ago and they are still superb