Barska's? (1 Viewer)

marcus · Nov 14, 2005

Is Barska the company that makes those 'new', expensive, binoculars that not too many members are 'crazy' about? You know, with the black bump's on the focus and the diopter, and with 36'' close focus? You know what I mean, right? I forgot what they are called.
Well, I suppose if that's Barska, then I should not be too surprised that the most recent, and hopefully, the last binocular I'll ever buy, is very, very clear and bright, and have a 400' FOV, considering they cost only about $110. The website I bought them from, Opticplanet.com, said that their regular price is $160, but they are selling them for $109.99. At first I thought that Barska is a company about on the same level as Tasco, but then I remembered what Barska actually is. The close focus isn't the best, and when I first got them they really smelled bad. But that 'aroma' is gone now.

Henry B · Nov 14, 2005

Quite right ,Marcus

marcus · Nov 14, 2005

Oh! Brunton! That's right. I knew it started with the letter B. I'm sorry. I just looked in a bird magazine and saw an advertisement for Epochs.
Well, the ones I've got are still good, though I was hoping that Epochs would be made by Barska. I'm sorry.

xenophobe · Nov 14, 2005

From what I've seen of Barska, they make Tasco look World Class. lol.

marcus · Nov 14, 2005

xenophobe said:
From what I've seen of Barska, they make Tasco look World Class. lol.

I won't argue with that. I once bought a real cheap pair of Barska's from a Discovery store. I just threw them out after a week or so.
I went to www.Barska.com and saw that the ones I've got are the best ones they make, but the best 'cheapo' is nothing big. But I'll admit that I saw a lifer, a Neotropic Cormorant, with them two weeks ago. One birder had an EL and an other one a Classic Zeiss. But I suppose that no one will be surprised to see someone like me with a Barska.
Still, I apologize again for confusing Barska for Brunton. Pretty dumb, I know.

ranburr · Nov 15, 2005

I have never found a Barska product of even decent quality. Also, everyone of their products has that offensive odor that you mention. They used to advertise themselves as Russian optics, but the had made in china stamped on them.

ranburr

johnno · Nov 30, 2005

ranburr said:
I have never found a Barska product of even decent quality. Also, everyone of their products has that offensive odor that you mention. They used to advertise themselves as Russian optics, but the had made in china stamped on them.

ranburr

Hi All,
I must be one of the lucky ones.
I bought a pair of Barska 15x70s here on Australian Ebay for $80.00,and am quite pleased with them,they are not the greatest for birding, due to their narrow 4.5 deg fov,I use them for Astronomy,(tripod mounted)
Although they only have multicoatings,and not fully broadband,they do have bak-4 prisms,perfect collimation,and give pretty decent views day,or night.

I believe the main problem with most chinese binoculars,is the Quality control,if you get a pair that has been made to specs,then they are of quite reasonable quality,certainly nowhere near any of the high end brands,but very useable for some of us on low incomes.

Regards.John

Otto McDiesel · Nov 30, 2005

johnno said:
Hi All,
I must be one of the lucky ones.
I bought a pair of Barska 15x70s here on Australian Ebay for $80.00,and am quite pleased with them,they are not the greatest for birding, due to their narrow 4.5 deg fov,I use them for Astronomy,(tripod mounted)
Although they only have multicoatings,and not fully broadband,they do have bak-4 prisms,perfect collimation,and give pretty decent views day,or night.

I believe the main problem with most chinese binoculars,is the Quality control,if you get a pair that has been made to specs,then they are of quite reasonable quality,certainly nowhere near any of the high end brands,but very useable for some of us on low incomes.

Regards.John

I've seen a porro prism 10x50 Barska that had decent views, at $20, but they did not have a close focus to speak of (it was at about 30 yards).

marcus · Dec 1, 2005

Yeah, mine has a close focus of about 10', which is not too great. But I can't lie, they are still my favorite's, considering that I don't have any great, expensive binoculars to begin with. The Swift Warbler's cost the most. $360. And I know, that's just a 'drop in the bucket'.

Tero · Dec 3, 2005

I have a pair of Barska 10x50s
they are fine, much better than similar Bushnells
close focus is not possible, typical of 10x50 in this price range..which is under $100

Tero · Dec 27, 2005

Checking out my Barskas, sold as Northpoint, 10x50, they seem to be OK at up to 10-12m. So if you can live with that, they are fine. Bright, focus is sharp, sweet spot is big enough in the middle.

I end up doing some 7-10 birding with them. I go out and walk around or go to the river. For those little birds that dare to come close, I have a small 7x pair in my coat pocket.

This is probably the best 20 dollars I have spent on binoculars. The worst was the 16x50 Bushnells from Wal Mart. I was able to hold them OK, but the sweet spot was just that, a tiny spor in the middle, less tha one bird spot size. They cost 50-60 and are the only pair I got rid of so far.

In dim light I use my other porros, 8x40.

My Barskas are not these, but similar. Except I have no idea what reverse porro is
http://www.opticsplanet.net/barska-x-trail-10x50-reverse-porro-binoculars-ab10176.html

Marko_ · Dec 27, 2005

Tero said:
My Barskas are not these, but similar. Except I have no idea what reverse porro is

Terve Tero !

I think a reverse porro system means the objective lenses are closer to each other than the eyepieces, if you get the idea. As in many pocket binoculars.

The normal porro system is that the objectives are kind of wider spaced (wider than the eyepieces).

Tero · Dec 28, 2005

That was what I thought, but the ones in the picture did not look like pocket porros.

Terve terve, mies. Is there such a thing as cheap binoculars in Finland? I have heard of people buying some useless things from Anttila or Lidl.

Marko_ · Dec 28, 2005

Tero said:
That was what I thought, but the ones in the picture did not look like pocket porros.

Terve terve, mies. Is there such a thing as cheap binoculars in Finland? I have heard of people buying some useless things from Anttila or Lidl.

Yep, we sure have cheap and inferior binoculars over here. Many places stock pocket roof prisms for something like 29,90 or even 15,90 Euros. You can imagine what they are like. I looked through a pair of 12x25's a couple of days ago, and they were really bad. EDIT: Now that I remember, they actually WERE Barska's !

Anttila usually have Optica 15x70 which I guess work for astronomy, but I wouldn't get them. They cost something like 79 Euros. They also usually stock some cheap Olympus model, and Nikon Actions.

Lidl Finland had an offer for a Bresser 10x50 a couple of weeks ago. It was for 24,90 Euros, I think. I couldn't resist buying a pair of them. They were surprisingly good. The image was very sharp in the centre. But the image got blurry towards the edge, (as you might expect) and had some pin cushion distortion. They also had some internal reflections, and you couldn't speak of a "close focus distance", because it was something like 10 metres. I didn't keep those, Lidl gives a refund.

We have a couple of good specialist stores in Helsinki that carry the high end stuff, and many camera stores sell brands like Olympus, Konica-Minolta, Nikon, Opticron etc.

By the way Tero, what are you doing on the wrong side of the Atlantic ? :bounce:
Been there all your life ?

eliaszuniga · Dec 28, 2005

Yay, a cheap Barskas thread! When my son broke his binoculars a couple of days before our monthly bird walk (a cheap pair that I can’t remember the name of), and I was waiting a month to give him new ones for this Christmas, my brother was kind enough to spend $10 (US dollars) on a cheap Barska compact 10X25. They were awful the subject of many jokes! But then again, for $10 bucks none of us were expecting much, and they were at least good enough to endure for the one walk. For some reason, Barskas are always on sale at the local sporting goods store, Big 5, as well as another brand, Winchester, that also seems to “specialize” in ultra-cheap optics. Sometimes I really appreciate these cheapos, it reminds me that the one of the pleasures I have from birding with my son is its non-materialistic aspect-he doesn’t care WITH what he’s looking at, but rather WHAT he’s looking at. That said, of course, optics do matter, even if they don’t to him. By the way, the ones I got my son (8 years old) for Christmas were Nikon 7490 Sportstars 8x25 binocular. I got them after reading a bit about them here and boy, are they great. I can once again thank the Barskas – this time for really helping me appreciate these Sportstars! Thee American Kestrel now looks like a Kestrel, not a mourning dove!

Tero · Dec 28, 2005

Elias, I have never gone wrong with Nikons. Though prices vary and some can be of only brief use (5 years?) But they are all useable.

I didn't keep those, Lidl gives a refund.

Well, they seem like an OK store then.

Marko, I ended up on the US side in the 1960s when I was exported against my will. I was only 12. The last time I lived in Finland I was 15. I have a 'KESKIKOULU' reportcard. I got an 8 in Swedidh and Finnish, 10 in English.

Marko_ · Dec 30, 2005

Tero said:
Marko, I ended up on the US side in the 1960s when I was exported against my will. I was only 12. The last time I lived in Finland I was 15. I have a 'KESKIKOULU' reportcard. I got an 8 in Swedidh and Finnish, 10 in English.

I spent four years of my childhood in England, we got back here when I was 12.

Sorry for going off-topic.

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