Bresser Roofs in Lidl (1 Viewer)

I notice that Lidl in Ireland are advertising Bresser waterproof roofprism "Yachting" binoculars, available week starting Monday 19th March. They have Bak4 prisms, "coated" optics (with what it doesn´t say, hope it didn´t come out of a sheep...), and are nitrogen filled. They also have a compass and a clock built into the top (presumably there are folk out there who don´t have compasses and clocks in their yachts already, poor souls). They cost 80 euro, which is phenomenally expensive compared to previous Lidl Bresser offers. This could mean that they are a) very good, or b) very bad and aimed at very stupid people with too much money who call ropes "sheets" and wear ridiculously overpriced deck-shoes. In any case, they might be worth a look, one could get a pair of decent mid-range back up car boot bins at a good price.

Bought a pair of these "yachting" bins from Lidl. Tried them at home (thought they might be good for the kids or the car boot). Optically very good ("for the price", as the saying goes), slight yellow cast, the kind of image I´d associate (in my abysmal absence of technical know-how) with, say, Avians or mid-price Opticrons. Good eye-relief, pretty clear edge-to-edge, however that´s not saying much because the FOV, although claimed at 105m, seems a lot less. Dodgy focussing wheel, lots of play. Rubber-armoured, but they´re the most uncomfortable bins I have ever held. My eyes are fairly far apart, but the IPD in these Bressers is designed for cows. To see through them at all I had to almost close the central hinge fully. They raise up in the middle along the hinge so it´s like holding an outsize Toblerone bar. After trying them out in the open for a bit, I decided to return them. No use for the kids, too cumbersome to use. Pity really, considering they´re quite good optically. If you only have eighty euro to spend, spend it on something that doesn´t have the ergonomics of a brieze-block.

80 euro? why did you buy them?

I still have on[e] such Bushnell toy, 10x. They would be pretty nice at 8x. I paid I think 30 dollars. I wanted to see what 40mm roofs you get for 30 dollars. Now I know.

Happy birding.

Tero said:

80 euro? why did you buy them?

I still have on such Bushnell toy, 10x. They would be pretty nice at 8x. I paid I think 30 dollars. I wanted to see what 40mm roofs you get for 30 dollars. Now I know.

Happy birding.

Click to expand...

I bought them because usually Bressers in Lidl cost about 20 euro, and are "very good for that price" (i.e. some good features but mostly junk). So I foolishly thought that these would be 4 times better. Which they are, optically. And, as in your case with the 30 dollar bins, curiosity got the better of me. And of course in the knowledge that Lidl would give me my money back or, in the worst case analysis, a credit note, which I could use as we do a weekly shop in Lidl, don´t know if you have them Stateside, but they´re a superb German-owned cut-price supermarket that sells excellent food from Continental Europe. On returning the bins, I bought a pair of gardening slip-on rubber shoes, a pair of neoprene yachting gloves (for cycling), and a motorcycle balaclava mask (as there are Arctic winds thundering down over Ireland at the moment and I´m going to look for Iceland gulls tomorrow!). But now I know (should´ve simply asked you, Tero! ) what you get in bino terms for a pittance - I´m getting over the addiction, but it´s one day at a time!

I know of Lidl, my mom and aunt shopped there in Finland a short time, then she got in poor health, but I did get reports on how to be stingy in Finland. Some labels were in German. Which is closer to English than Finnsih.

We have Aldi, though. Food only.

My in the car trunk binoculars are Nikon Sporters, the ones I thought were the last ones I would need a few year back. Only they too are the wrong power. But they are still brighter than Bushnell 30 dollar bins.

I heard someplace that Aldi and Lidl are owned (separately) by two brothers, who don't get on. Sibling rivalry in the game of world retail outlet domination, or something.

Nikon Sporters? Good back-up bins, are they?

Sancho said:

I heard someplace that Aldi and Lidl are owned (separately) by two brothers, who don't get on. Sibling rivalry in the game of world retail outlet domination, or something.

Nikon Sporters? Good back-up bins, are they?

Click to expand...

Without boring everyone, Lidl and Aldi are two totally seperate companies.

Lidl is owned by the Schwarz group, that also owns the (seperately run) Kaufland chain of compact hypermarkets in Germany & CEE.

Aldi, however, has two seperate divisions - Aldi Sud and Aldi Nord. Each is owned by a seperate Albrecht brother (Aldi = Albrecht Discount). The Aldi Sud logos are yellow & blue (like in the US and UK, inc Hofer) and Aldi Nord the logos are blue & white (like in France, Netherlands etc). The brothers are very secrative and may, or may not get on...

Never thought I'd write that on a Birdforum thread...

Ben

Birder and, by day, global grocery retail analyst. Heck, it's means I can travel a lot - writing this from Warsaw airport