Binoculars

[Beardy Adam]

Hello there. Now that I'm at college and I've got plenty of free time, its finally about time I started to get outside and learn more about nature. I've got Collins Pocket Guides to Trees, Wild Flowers & Birds. However for bird spotting I could do with some Binoculars. Preferably as cheap as possible without being naff as I'm a student still looking for a part time job! Does anybody have any suggestions? Would this monocular be any good to start with?

Any help is appreciated as always.

 

[MartiniDave]

I was surprised at the apparent quality of a pair of Bushnells 8x25's I saw in PC world of all places. About £40 from what I remember.

 

[Bigfoot]

I don't think that monocular would be much good to you for birdwatching, the objective lens is a tad small and hence its light gathering qualities will not be good. Martini Daves's suggestion is pretty much on the money, 8x to 10x magnification is all you need for general spotting and an objective lens (ideally) from 32mm up to 50mm will stand you in good stead. At 50mm and above you get weight penalties for not much more performance. A half decent set of bins ( a good compact set will be 8x 32 or 8 x 40) will set you back between £60 and £90 but there are cheaper options.

There have been a few good threads here on binoculars over the last year - do a search. As I recall, a few folk recommended a site which sold bins for around £20 but I can't recall the name.

 

[Graywolf]

I have been using these since last christmas,cant praise them enough.
Visionary Wetland 10x25 Binocular

 

[redandshane]

http://www.7dayshop.com/catalog/def...13&y=13&filterwordsalldb=1&filterwordsdescs=1

would be the ones supposed to be excellent value

 

[ateallthepies]

7 day shop were doing a set for £19 delivered. I got a set and they are very good and nice and bright. I don't think they have any at the moment so they are no longer listed but Amazon has a description of them here...

If you can get a pair they are very good bins for under a score!

Steve.

 

[Beardy Adam]

What about these?

 

[Barn Owl]

Opticron Oregon 8x32 mate.

You can get them for £85 from a few places, don't pay any more.

Just about the best sub £100 bins you'll find.

 

[Kepis]

http://www.7dayshop.com/catalog/def...13&y=13&filterwordsalldb=1&filterwordsdescs=1

would be the ones supposed to be excellent value

These are excellent bino's, i bought a load of them and put a few pairs into store for future use, bit more info on them on my bloggy thing here

 

[Beardy Adam]

Think I'm going to order the 7x50 pair for £14.99. Cheap and cheerful will do me for now, I can splash out on some good ones when they're more needed.

 

[spiritwalker]

i recently got a set of 8 x 42 opticrons about £120 but well worth the money i have had many sets in the past but the clarity on brightness on these is amazing for the price

think they are trailfinders of the top of my head