mfunnell
Registered Confuser
In what I hope is the spirit of this thread (having just re-read the 1st post) I'll tell a story that doesn't have me going quite as far afield as high-country Nevada
In fact, I only went as far afield as my front balcony.
Now, I've not been around here much in the last little while, but I've re-visited while researching whether I should buy a set of Nikon 10x35 EIIs. I did: mainly because I figured I might not be able to buy brand new ones for too much longer; plus I was given a nice discount code to use and took full advantage. I've discovered that rather than buying a "white elephant" I've actually bought bins I use rather more than my 8x30 EIIs - which rather surprised me.
But I wasn't using my new 10x EIIs from my balcony. No, I was using (for purpose of comparison) an old (1997) set of Nikon Action Naturalist III 8x35s I recently disinterred from my garage...when who should arrive but a bunch of rather cheeky sulphur crested cockatoos. I didn't want to go inside to change bins (the cockys would, of course, have flown away immediately if I'd done such a thing) so instead I enjoyed their antics for quite some time through the oldy (but not at all mouldy) bins I had to hand.
And, you know what? The view was pretty good! Old, pre-fully-multicoated porro-prism bins can do an amazingly fine job given good light.
Eventually, I did go inside to change - not for different bins, but for a camera. The birds, of course, then immediately hid behind foliage and tried not to show themselves, just because they're birds. Nonetheless I did take a photo or two.
And when the cockys did fly away I grabbed my new 10x35s - because that's what I'm using them for: "balcony bins" to look at birds which are usually a bit further away from me, making 10x magnification an advantage and where I find nice relaxed views, in the daytime, from those 10x35 EIIs quite enjoyable. They gave me very nice in-air views of those sulphur crested cockatoos as they screeched and flew about.
...Mike
In fact, I only went as far afield as my front balcony.
Now, I've not been around here much in the last little while, but I've re-visited while researching whether I should buy a set of Nikon 10x35 EIIs. I did: mainly because I figured I might not be able to buy brand new ones for too much longer; plus I was given a nice discount code to use and took full advantage. I've discovered that rather than buying a "white elephant" I've actually bought bins I use rather more than my 8x30 EIIs - which rather surprised me.
But I wasn't using my new 10x EIIs from my balcony. No, I was using (for purpose of comparison) an old (1997) set of Nikon Action Naturalist III 8x35s I recently disinterred from my garage...when who should arrive but a bunch of rather cheeky sulphur crested cockatoos. I didn't want to go inside to change bins (the cockys would, of course, have flown away immediately if I'd done such a thing) so instead I enjoyed their antics for quite some time through the oldy (but not at all mouldy) bins I had to hand.
And, you know what? The view was pretty good! Old, pre-fully-multicoated porro-prism bins can do an amazingly fine job given good light.
Eventually, I did go inside to change - not for different bins, but for a camera. The birds, of course, then immediately hid behind foliage and tried not to show themselves, just because they're birds. Nonetheless I did take a photo or two.
And when the cockys did fly away I grabbed my new 10x35s - because that's what I'm using them for: "balcony bins" to look at birds which are usually a bit further away from me, making 10x magnification an advantage and where I find nice relaxed views, in the daytime, from those 10x35 EIIs quite enjoyable. They gave me very nice in-air views of those sulphur crested cockatoos as they screeched and flew about.
...Mike
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