Advice on bins please

[WULF]

This may be a stupid question but im looking for a new compact pair of binoculars,at the moment i have a pair of opticrons 8x21!
Am i right in thinking that a pair of 8x42 will let you see further???? Im not clued up on bins..

thanks

 

[Barn Owl]

You won't see further as the magnification is the same but the image will be clearer and brighter.
The view will be more relaxing on the eyes too.

Have you a particular model in mind?

 

[WULF]

Thanks mate,abit clearer for me now.
To be honest i'd love another pair of opticrons but im no expert but only looking to spend £50 or so so im going to struggle.Advice would be appreciated.i want them for spotting in the lakes.

A pair of these maybe,.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/350514353632?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649 or

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/140597608941?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

You won't see further as the magnification is the same but the image will be clearer and brighter.
The view will be more relaxing on the eyes too.

Have you a particular model in mind?

 

[Barn Owl]

Further to my pm, the Barr and Stroud will be a good choice.

I've tried some of their models at the country fairs and been impressed.

You want a good field of view,119m is ok.

Keep it to 8x mag', the image shakes a good bit more at 10x, so you'll actually see more through the more stable lower mag'.

 

[WULF]

Appreciate your advice tom:You_Rock_

Further to my pm, the Barr and Stroud will be a good choice.

I've tried some of their models at the country fairs and been impressed.

You want a good field of view,119m is ok.

Keep it to 8x mag', the image shakes a good bit more at 10x, so you'll actually see more through the more stable lower mag'.

 

[WULF]

Got my bar and strouds today,very pleased with them and much less strain on the eyes.Hopefuly see some buzzards in the lakes at easter.
Comes with a decent case and a handy bird watchers book

 

[Barn Owl]

Nice one!

 

[WULF]

Used these all easter in the lakes,so much clearer than my old pair.Unfortunatley only saw one buzzard!!

A good buy
Cheers Tom,you advised well mate:You_Rock_

 

[mrcairney]

I bought these recently. Very good for the price. The internet will agree with you if you have a look for reviews etc and they're bang on budget.

http://shopping.rspb.org.uk/rspb-puffin-8-x-32-binoculars.html

 

[WULF]

They look ok steve
Cant believe the difference from my old 7x21 and my new 8x42.

I bought these recently. Very good for the price. The internet will agree with you if you have a look for reviews etc and they're bang on budget.

http://shopping.rspb.org.uk/rspb-puffin-8-x-32-binoculars.html

 

[mrcairney]

haha! I didn't catch on that you'd got sorted. Doh!

 

[WULF]

haha! I didn't catch on that you'd got sorted. Doh!

 

[Barn Owl]

Good to hear you're pleased with them.

 

[ged]

They look ok steve
Cant believe the difference from my old 7x21 and my new 8x42.

As you know, the first number is the magnification and the second number is the diameter of the objective lens.

Other things being equal, the image you see gets brighter if you have a bigger objective lens because the light collected by the objective lens and poked in your eye is proportional to the area of the lens.

The lens is circular. The area of a circle is the old pi-R-squared thing, so the area of the objective lens (and so, other things being equal, the brightness of the image) is proportional to the square of the diameter.

So if you double the diameter of the objective lens your image is four times as bright.

It works just the opposite with magnification. If you double the magnification your image is one quarter of the brightness. Increasing the magnification from 7 to 8 times reduces brightness in a ratio of about 7x7 / 8x8 or about three-quarters as bright.

So overall, ignoring things like lens quality, coatings, prism styles (which you can't really ignore) your 8x42 will be about three times as bright as the 7x21.