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10x50 Bins (1 Viewer)

pete seaman

pete seaman

Well-known member
Just wan to pick a few brains again,I am looking at purchasing some reasonable priced 10x50 bins either porro or roof. As the main use will be to watch a local gull roost or two later in the year I am not looking at the Alpha names but probably need the 50mm for poor light. They may also be called into use for looking fo raptors on a forthcoming visit to the Isle of Arran. I am not expecting them to take over from my Opticron 8x32 Countryman as they just feel right.
 
If you really are going to get into gulls a scope might serve you better than 10x50s. Watching gulls for prolonged periods, a stable scope on a tripod is a lot nicer than heavy bins in hand!
 
Have a look at the Olympus EXPS range, decent IQ, good build quality & reasonably priced! I use the 12 X 50 version.


Shane
 
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pbjosh said:
If you really are going to get into gulls a scope might serve you better than 10x50s. Watching gulls for prolonged periods, a stable scope on a tripod is a lot nicer than heavy bins in hand!
Click to expand...
I quite agree that a scope/tripod combination is ideal for long term watching and will be using my 65mm Hawke scope on a tripod as well but I've got into the idea of just a scope and no bins also a couple of spots need a bit of a hike to the best viewpoint so maybe only one scope between us.
 
Pete,

Another Opticron product that might suit your needs is the Discovery 10x50. There was a thread on here within the last year or so from someone that purchased one and was impressed with it overall. The thread may still be in the Opticron forum.

http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=315459


Price in the US is right around $275-$300. Not sure on your side of the pond but obviously Opticron's reputation over there should be considered.

Shortest 10x50 I have ever owned/handled with a very large apparent field of view.

http://opticron.co.uk/Pages/discovery_wp.htm
 
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Pete,

If they fall in your budget range, Frank has a good suggestion with the Opticron Discovery 10X50 (@ B&H with correct specs & good review)!

Unfortunately, the Eagle Optics specs shown for the Opticron Imagic BGA VHD 10x50 (in post #2) are incorrect...See Here for OEM listing.

Good Luck,

Ted
 
Theo98 said:
Pete,

If they fall in your budget range, Frank has a good suggestion with the Opticron Discovery 10X50 (@ B&H with correct specs & good review)!

Unfortunately, the Eagle Optics specs shown for the Opticron Imagic BGA VHD 10x50 (in post #2) are incorrect...See Here for OEM listing.

Good Luck,

Ted
Click to expand...

Called Eagle Optics...Opticron Imagic BGA VHD 10x50 Binocular specification errors now corrected! :t:

Ted
 
I had an Opticron 10x50 Discovery for awhile and I felt it showed more CA than I preferred. It all depends on how sensitive you are to CA. I think the Imagic with it's ED glass would be worth the difference if CA is important to you.
 
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[email protected] said:
I had an Opticron 10x50 Discovery for awhile and I felt it showed more CA than I preferred. It all depends on how sensitive you are to CA and also remember it has a polycarbonate body, whereas, the Opticron Imagic has a magnesium body and ED glass which would control CA a little better. I think the Imagic is worth the difference in money.
Click to expand...

True Dennis. At $400 more US Dollars, the Imagic BGA VHD view should be superior (except for the 303ft vs 345ft FOV, 11.5ft vs 4.9ft CF and 7" vs 5.7" height). Hopefully, Pete will be able to try these before buying...anything!

Ted
 
[email protected] said:
I had an Opticron 10x50 Discovery for awhile and I felt it showed more CA than I preferred. It all depends on how sensitive you are to CA and also remember it has a polycarbonate body, whereas, the Opticron Imagic has a magnesium body and ED glass which would control CA better. I think the Imagic would be worth the difference if CA is important to you.
Click to expand...

Actually according to Opticron the Discovery 10x50 has a Magnesium body, only the smallest binocular in the series is polycarbonate.
 
I would think that at this price level there would be a lot of sample variation.
I would try at least 3 in the same shop and buy the best one.
Also, will the alignment remain good if knocked, and is it good to start with?

I don't know if the Nikon Action EX is made in 10x50.

P.S.
Nikon Action EX is more expensive.
Personally, I'd get an Aculon 10x50, but I don't wear glasses or need waterproofing.
 
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[email protected] said:
The Nikon Action 10x50 EX is still made and it is a pretty good binocular. I had one for awhile.

https://www.amazon.com/Nikon-7245-Extreme-All-Terrain-Binocular/dp/B0001HKIK4
Click to expand...

Always laugh when the Action 10x50 comes up because of a personal prank a buddy played on me a few years ago.

I had just bought a pair of Vortex Razors (first generation-a HECK of a pair of bins) and a buddy told me he had a really nice pair of bins he wanted to show me also. He got the 10x50 Action bins out. Although I knew about them and almost to the dollar what they should have cost (around $150) I had never looked through a pair. He was SO PROUD of them I was careful not to appear a binocular snob and I DID want to look through them. I was scanning some countryside adjacent to our work parking lot and looking for deer and/or birds while he talked...

I heard him telling about wanting a "really nice set" and shopping around and finding these at a local gun/pawn store we frequent. He continued telling me he how he negotiated with the owner for several visits and then said "I must have caught him on a weak day because he finally let me have them for THREE HUNDRED AND TWENTY FIVE DOLLARS-out the door!" :eek!:

By the time I processed this I lowered the bins slowly and gawked open mouthed (he said) and was SPEECHLESS, thinking "HOW can I POSSIBLY someone THIS PROUD of their bins he was swindled for three times the value...?" I was lost for words and just stared...

He finally burst out laughing and told me he was pulling my leg. :-O He was so dry and so serious I bought it hook, line, and sinker. He STILL tells this story many years later when binocs come up around work. :-O
 
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Good story David....have you duplicated it for other unsuspecting victims...err, I mean friends??! :-O ;)

Ted
 
Kowa SV 10x50

I'm pretty happy with my SVs. They are relatively light, have great ER and a nice sweet spot of resolution. The also get soft at the outer third of the image circle and have noticeable color fringing there as well, but for $220 (@ Eagle Optics) there was nothing that could touch them for performance to price ratio, and I tried every binocular I could at Cabela's and Sportsman's Warehouse.

They've become my second most used binocular, and are great for game out 1000+ yards, distant eagles, etc.
 
Do you really have to have 10x50's? I had the Swarovski 10x50 SV's, the Maven B.2 9x45's and the Canon 10x42 IS-L's at one time and I decided I only needed one higher power binocular. I ended up keeping the Canon's. Why. I felt for 1/2 the price the Maven's had 95% of the performance of the Swarovski's so I sold the Swarovski's. The Swarovski's are probably the best 10x50 you can buy but they are not that much better if any than the Maven's. Then I compared the Maven's to the Canon's many times and I preferred the Canon's because the Canon's have a bigger AFOV, they are sharper at the edge and you can see more detail easier with the IS stabilization. Try the Maven's or the Canon's. You just might find you don't need that 50mm aperture.
 
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