Which binoculars on a budget?

[Nomad]

If I was to buy a new pair of binocs on a budget, what are good makes and models to go for? Main use would be watching wildlife, with occasional looking at the terrain. I'd like to have something that focusses close. Must be waterproof.

At the moment, I have a pair of Miranda 8x21 roof prism jobbies that I got cheap in Dixons years ago (I think the price back then was £30 or something). They're okay, but nothing special - go reasonably sharp but nothing startling, contrast isn't very good, and I guess their low light performance could be better. They are light and compact, which I do like, but the rest is pretty uninspiring.

I"ve been looking at various Hawke binocs for up to about £100. The Nature Trek ones seem to be the cheap'n'cheerful budget ones that perform very well for the money, and get pretty positive reviews. There is also the Endurance range, which are about the same optical quality, but made of cast ally rather than polycarbonate, and come with a decent case and strap. It was notable in one review that the 8x32 Endurance had slightly better light transmission than the 8x42 Nature Trek (better lens coatings, I assume).

Typically, how much size difference is there between 8x32 and 8x42? Although the brighter the better, I'd like to stick with something compact and fairly light if I can.

Any other makes/models around the same price that are worth looking at?

What's all this 'phase corrected' stuff I see in some binocular specs?

 

[Dave]

I wanted something portable and light so after some research, I went for a 8x21 Docter Optiks monocular. [80 grams, and slips in a pocket, so light enough you never leave it behind]
Docter Optiks bought the old Carl Zeiss factory, where they made their binos' so you know the quality is top notch.
I also tried the opticron 8x42, which was good. I have an MTC 10x44 scope and the japanese optics are very good.
At your price point, you'll get better optics if you buy a porro prism. Not a roof prism.

Having said all that, my £20 tascos, do the job and can see as far....

 

[Bowlander]

I'd go for 7day shop 10x42's.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/product-reviews/B002OM61YQ

There are more reviews on Birdforum.

I bought a pair out of curiosity when they were £19, and they are fab. They are lightweight enough for my 4 year old to use them.

I keep a pair in my car as a back up for my Swaro's. No connection with 7dayshop!

 

[Dave]

They seem to get good online reviews Bowlander.

 

[HeltorChasca]

Hawke glass gets the thumbs up from me. Got bins and a rifle scope that I love. Go for the 8x42 if you can. Someone once told me to stick to "divisible" ratios. ie 8x40s, 10x50s etc and you are on a winner. Happy birding...............hc

 

[WULF]

Ive got a pair of barr and strouds,very pleased with them..

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Barr-and-...UK_Photography_Telescopes&hash=item51a54ad0ec

 

[spiritwalker]

the opticrons are very good here are the ones i have and they compare with much more expensive ones http://compare.ebay.co.uk/like/1208...ixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar&adtype=pla&crdt=0

 

[Paul_B]

I was in a Rspb reserve recently and was actually impressed by their own range. Seemed to me to be as good as other brands at twice the price. I nearly got a pair of 8x42 I think for about £55.

 

[oldtimer]

I'd go for 7day shop 10x42's.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/product-reviews/B002OM61YQ

There are more reviews on Birdforum.

I bought a pair out of curiosity when they were £19, and they are fab. They are lightweight enough for my 4 year old to use them.

I keep a pair in my car as a back up for my Swaro's. No connection with 7dayshop!

+1 on this. I bought a pair for my 7 year old grandson and was so impressed I bought another pair for myself to keep in the van. They are nearly as good as my Practica Sport pair at a fraction of the price.

 

[Bowlander]

+1 on this. I bought a pair for my 7 year old grandson and was so impressed I bought another pair for myself to keep in the van. They are nearly as good as my Practica Sport pair at a fraction of the price.

I bought 3 pairs in the end! I've shown loads of people them and asked how much they'd pay for them - everyone said £150+. I quite often take them instead of my £750 Swarovskis. The build quality isn't to the same standard though.

 

[redbranchwarrior]

+1 for the Barr & Strouds

Ive got a pair of barr and strouds,very pleased with them..

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Barr-and-...UK_Photography_Telescopes&hash=item51a54ad0ec

 

[Shambling Shaman]

the opticrons are very good here are the ones i have and they compare with much more expensive ones http://compare.ebay.co.uk/like/1208...ixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar&adtype=pla&crdt=0

+1 for Opticrons, I have trailfinder II 8x42

 

[ged]

It's worth considering second hand if the budget is the limiting factor, the ones I use the most are 8x40 which cost me 8 quid from Oxfam a couple of years ago, and I found an identical pair in Dr. Barnardo's for 4.50 last year. The wife uses those so she doesn't have to keep twiddling with the focus on mine!

But there are plenty of binoculars out there that are quite affordable new, several good options have been mentioned here already.

I would tend to go for 8x40 rather than 10x40 for wildlife watching. 8x isn't a lot less magnification than 10x but they're a lot brighter and it's easier to hold the image steady.

Don't worry about the arithmetic of the magnification and the objective size but do consider the exit pupil if your eyes are getting older. No point wasting light...

Some models with 30mm lenses are nearly as big and heavy as some with 40mm, it might be worth going to an RSPB open day to try a few out if you can get to one.

Get yourself along to a few high street stores, but don't be pressured by the sales people into getting something too quickly. Make it clear that you're looking around from the very start. Only go on dull days.

Don't forget to test the closeness of focus on the model that you buy, they can vary a lot even from one maker. The one thing I miss on the cheap pairs from the swap shops is a really close focus.

 

[Opal]

Ive got a pair of barr and strouds,very pleased with them..

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Barr-and-...UK_Photography_Telescopes&hash=item51a54ad0ec

I have the 8x32, a bit on the heavy side but close focus of a metre is brilliant and no need to take my specs off, love them.

 

[Hrafnmann]

I can highly recommend the Vortex brand of binos. They have many options to match budget and have a no fault, life time guarantee which offers a great peace of mind when you buy the higher priced ones. If they get dropped or broken somehow, send them back and they will fix or replace free. Can't beat that. I personally wouldn't go below a 42mm objective lens diameter due to the lower light gathering. My 8x42s are great all-rounders. One of the Diamondbacks may suit your budget.

 

[Gaudette]

If you don't mind second hand some great value can be found here. I've always found them very helpful.
No affiliation etc

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

 

[Nomad]

Thanks all. Been trawling through reviews for what seems like hours. In the end, I went for Barr & Stroud Sierra 8x42 - found them on eBay for 74 quid. I went for these because...

Good price at 74 quid.
Hardly any bigger than the 8x32 (135x125x52 compared to 128x121x47), and pretty compact compared to other 8x42s.
Reasonable weight at 596g (exactly the same as the 8x32).
Good close focus distance of around 2m.
Fast (and reportedly smooth) focussing with short-travel knob.
Decent FoV at 129m / 1000m.
Fully multi-coated, waterproof and nitrogen filled, phase-thingy coating on BAK-4 prisms.
Twisty eye cups seem to be better than average (rubber coated metal).
Decent caps, including dangly objective caps.
Tripod bush.
All comments I could find spoke well of build quality and general feel of solidity.
They come in the correct colour and look quite nice.
Brand name sounds like I drive a Range Rover rather than a beat-up Defender.


I plumped for the 8-quid special delivery (so £82 total), so my hopes should be fullfilled or dashed by Thursday. (Will post my first impressions once I've had a play.)



For what it's worth, some general comments about reviews...

It seems to be very hard to find a bad one about any binocular. I suppose that suggests that the budget models are all pretty good, or reach a standard that is generally very acceptable for the money. On the other hand, none of the reviews goes into much detail about the optical quality - very few had anything to say about how much of the field of view is sharp, or how soft the image is at the edges. Chromatic aberration is sometimes mentioned, but very little detail (eg, where in the FoV, how bad or not). Pincushion and barrel distortion seems almost unheard of.

As a photographer, I'm well used to seeing all sorts of data on lenses which can allow one to draw valid technical comparisons, and by dint of what they are, camera lenses lend themselves very well to seeing high resolution examples of the image quality in a variety of conditions. Binocular reviews by contrast seem to be very vague, subjective, and exceedingly light on quantifiable data. Basically, they are bordering on useless. Consequently, I have elected to assume that virtually all half-decent budget binos coming out of China (and they all do!) are of acceptable image quality, certainly compared to the Miranda grot-tubes that I currently have, and that it is therefore a case of choosing a pair that have the right sort of specs for what I'm after (or that I think I need).

Another thing I've noticed is that many shops (and reviews) neglect to tell you the dimensions of the things. How they can think people don't care about the size of something that they are going to carry around a lot, and often put in their pockets or otherwise pack away when not currently in use, is beyond me. A lot of makers also don't tell you how 'thick' they are - they tell you how tall and how wide, but not how much they're going to bulge out when in your pocket. And, none of them said what width they are when folded compared to fully opened.

 

[KayakFisherFinland]

I'm late as usual, but I've liked these http://www.amazon.com/Bushnell-10x42-Waterproof-Fogproof-Binocular/dp/B0000A0AEK
Then again, I look at things from a rather wet point of view

 

[Nomad]

The Barr & Strouds have arrived (late - but they refunded the 8 quid P&P). Initial impressions after a quick play...

Bigger and heavier than expected, particularly the general feel of heft in the hand. They just fit into the patch pocket on my Ridgeline Monsoon jacket - anything bigger would have been too big. The focus knob is two turns in total, so I don't know where the one turn thing came from.

The negatives...

• There is noticable pincushion distortion with straight objects like gutters and drainpipes. It starts to become apparent (ie, slight) about midway from centre to edge. For natural subjects, this wasn't apparent.
• If the eyes aren't centred vertically, there is some chromatic aberration in the middle of the field. Moving the eyepieces up or down a little eliminates it.
• The neck strap is pretty rubbish. The webbing has acquired folds due to packing. Length is fine, but I'm tempted to replace it.
• The case is okay, but the shoulder strap is far too short - wearing it bandolier style is simply not an option, and it's marginal for over the shoulder. The velcro closure is a bit small in size, and feels like the lid could get pulled open when in a rucksack.

The positives...

• Build quality feels very good...
  Focus knob is nicely weighted and can be quickly adjusted with a finger tip.
  Interocular distance adjustment is fairly stiff and stays at the desired setting.
  Dipotre ring is also quite stiff and doesn't move once set.
  Eyecups have three click stops (min, middle, max) and feel reasonably positive, if not great. In practice, they stayed where they were set and the motion felt fine.
• I like the lens caps. Feel quite soft and bendy. The objective caps are tethered to the binos themselves, and the ocular cap to the strap. All are easy to get on and off, and feel like they will stay on when you want them to. When using the binos, the caps are barely noticable and don't get in the way.
• Image quality...
  Overall, the image seems very good. The central sharp area is quite large (maybe 70-80% of the diameter), and feels almost like looking through an SLR viewfinder with a fast lens fitted. They worked well in low light - watching waterfowl just before dusk in an area surrounded by trees, I got a nice bright image where it was easy to see details. Far clearer and brighter than the Miranda grot-tubes (blows them away, in fact). Much better colour as well - the Mirandas seem almost grey in comparison. No sign of poor collimation (I had to adjust the Mirandas when I got them - had a very bad double image).
• Adjusting the dipotre was easy - a few seconds when I first got them out, and that was that.
• Changing focus to various distances with the longer travel knob was, in practice, not an issue. I was able to track birds in flight and follow focus as they moved around. Did not notice any backlash in the focus knob - felt very smooth and positive, very nice to use, and things just popped into focus.
• Depth of field seemed okay in conjunction with the focus knob - it was easy to isolate a subject and get it nice and sharp, while the rest was softer.
• Close focus was very good - 2m seems about right, and the image was still nice and clear (although I didn't look for any flaws - just wanted to see how close they would go).

Overall...

• Good build quality, good image, sharp, clear and easy to use.
• A bit big and heavy for a habitual carry - you have to decide you're taking them.
• The case, and especially the straps, could be better.
• Plenty of bang for the buck (especially at 74 quid). I have no particular desire to try and find out if other binos in the price range are better.