With the Leicas I tried you didn't need the 50mm to let light in; they generated light themselves. There's something about the quality of the glass in Leica binos that gives a clarity I have not seen in others. Shame I can't afford them 
Wildlife watching binoculars
- Thread starter Riven
- Start date
I've owned 32,42 and the 50mm Leica BA/BN's but the colours in the 50's are just unreal Bit of a pain to carry though which is why I never go above 32mm nowadays.
Bit of a pain to carry though which is why I never go above 32mm nowadays.
If you are on a budget look on Amazon for the Barr & Stroud Sierra 8 x 42 binoculars. I have a pair of these and the larger 10 x Sahara and I must say the optics are excellent for the money (about £80). The only difference between these and my other high spec bins costing 10 times as much is the low light gathering qualitiies of the more expensive lenses. So unless you need to do a lot of dusk/twilight work you won't go wrong with these for general use - they are also rubber cased so quite robust.
Believe me the difference between £80 and £800 bino's is far more than light gathering ! You should have gone to Specsavers Let me see .. there's ..
Weight
Size
Robustness
Comfort
Warranty
Close focusing
Definition, centre and to edge
Colour rendition
Image contrast
Focusing speed and accuracy
Field of view
Eye relief
Waterproofing
Coatings
Baffling
Chromatic Aberration
And probably 10 others things I forgot about
Let me see .. there's ..Weight
Size
Robustness
Comfort
Warranty
Close focusing
Definition, centre and to edge
Colour rendition
Image contrast
Focusing speed and accuracy
Field of view
Eye relief
Waterproofing
Coatings
Baffling
Chromatic Aberration
And probably 10 others things I forgot about
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Professional hunters (guides and outfitters) here all use Leica and Swarovski.
You really get what you pay for. The optical quality really puts the $250.00 to shame.
Lens coatings, optical clarity, color correction, and resolution, exit pupil diameter, all cost money to make.
You really get what you pay for. The optical quality really puts the $250.00 to shame.
Lens coatings, optical clarity, color correction, and resolution, exit pupil diameter, all cost money to make.
was at bird fair last month and tried loads of different makes, from the high end, remortgage ones to sub £80 ones. my fav, the newer version of my old Hawks, the Sapphire eds. Not as light as the leicas et al, and maybe the colour rendition wasn't quite as good, but with a £2000 price difference, i can't complain. My good Lady picked up a new pair of the Bushnell Legend M 8x42s for less than half price, and they really are very good indeed. It was a good chance to try and compare a lot, and having so many next to each other, you soon get a feel of what suits you.
My go-to binos are the Hawke Frontier ED 8X43, and my son uses the ED 8x36s. I recently picked up an excellent used pair of ED 10x43s for under £150 from a red-brick shop online. Recommend any of them.
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