Cheap 7x42 - was thinking Opticron Imagic TGA WP?

[Guizotia]

Hi,

I am possibly going to buy a pair of 7x42 binoculars for around £130 in the next few days.

I have a pair of Opticron DBA Oasis for going out birding, when I wear contact lenses.

What I want is something for the walk to work/at work, when I wear glasses. The distance from my glasses lens to the front of my eye is around 20mm, so I am thinking 7x42 for the long eye relief and also because I find it slightly harder to get onto birds when putting the bins quickly up to my glasses.

So I am thinking of buying a pair of Opticron Imagic TGA WP 7x42. Would you buy these or do you have any other recommendations?

Thanks! :t:

[matt green]

I have this exact model, and unfortunately while the optics are very nice they do suffer from a wobbly bridge/focus mechanism which gives the impression of a faulty dioptic setting when focusing from close focus to infinity...in other words because of this movement the two barrels are out of alignment with each other!

Personally I'd recommend Nikons compact little 8x36 Monarch's or the Minox 8x32 BL BR..though these might not have quite so much eye relief as a 7x42 etc.

Matt

[FrankD]

Not sure about the availability issue across the pond but the Bushnell Discoverer 7x42s have been going for around $200-$225 US recently. They are the least expensive of the 7x42s and offer very, very good optical performance for the price.

You might also consider waiting just a bit. Vortex is coming out with the 7x36 Diamondback very soon and it specs are very interesting...size, weight, field of view, eye relief, etc... all look excellent and the price, again, should be in the mid-$200s IIRC.

[Guizotia]

Thanks for all the suggestions, all good but don't quite give me what I need in terms of eye relief and price (can't stretch the budget at all for once in my life!).

Matt - have you tried any other TGAs? I would still buy them but if they exhibited this problem would send them back.

BUT... if this is a problem that occurred over time i.e. a deficiency in the design that would be different.

[matt green]

Matt - have you tried any other TGAs? I would still buy them but if they exhibited this problem would send them back.

BUT... if this is a problem that occurred over time i.e. a deficiency in the design that would be different.

To be honest they were like it from new, I tried out some slighlty pricier roofs prism bins but they all sucked..nothing upto £250 odd could touch the TGA's...even with the movement in the bridge! I have sent them back to be serviced, there was a slight improvement for a while but they soon worked themselves free again...however they haven't got so bad that they are unusable and they still offer a very good image.

Although I complain about them frequently I have to admit I'd be losing image clarity if I replaced them with a roof prism binocular costing less than around £250. The only binocular costing less than a Leica or Swarovski I'd consider to replace them with is Opticrons excellent HR WP 8x42, a similar porro prism but with an internal focusing design rather like a conventional roof!! These are available from about £189 but might not have the eye relief or field of view you're after...they do have stunning optics though and as close to anything to the big four under £600!!

Only other area worth looking at that I know of is Nikons 7x36 action extreme porro's, not handled a pair myself but have attracted some praise on these forums...

Matt

[Guizotia]

Thanks Matt. I will continue to look around at what is available.

[Guizotia]

Matt - can you tell me what the usable eye relief is on the Imagic TGA you have?

i.e. how recessed are the lens into the eye pieces?

[matt green]

Matt - can you tell me what the usable eye relief is on the Imagic TGA you have?

i.e. how recessed are the lens into the eye pieces?

They're stated as 22mm (7x42 model), probably just under three of those are reccessed into the eye pieces and the rubber eye cup.

Matt

[Guizotia]

They're stated as 22mm (7x42 model), probably just under three of those are reccessed into the eye pieces and the rubber eye cup.

Matt

Thanks that's what I was hoping.

They are still at the top of my list, even knowing of the "wobbly bridge" problem... I can't find any other binoculars that are comparable.

[Guizotia]

Currently I'm settled on the Opticron Imagic TGA WP 8x32. Well I'm wavering between that and the 7x42.

[Guizotia]

What does it mean to have an external focus?

[FrankD]

External focus typically means that the eyepieces move outside of the body of the binocular in order to focus the binoculars. Most porro prism binoculars operate in this fashion. The two eyepieces are connected via an eyepiece bridge. The entire bridge assembly moves as you rotate the focusing knob.

The only recent roof prism binocular that I am aware of utilizing this design was a version of the Bushnell Trophy a few years ago.

[Guizotia]

External focus typically means that the eyepieces move outside of the body of the binocular in order to focus the binoculars. Most porro prism binoculars operate in this fashion. The two eyepieces are connected via an eyepiece bridge. The entire bridge assembly moves as you rotate the focusing knob.

The only recent roof prism binocular that I am aware of utilizing this design was a version of the Bushnell Trophy a few years ago.

Now I remember this from old binoculars I think, thanks.