[Chucao]

Hi,

First post sorry it’s a long one, but I need some help ¡!

I have my daughter staying in London for a few months and I thought
It would be a good opportunity to buy a new pair of binoculars!!!
I have an old pair 10X50 and I am looking for something more compact

My wish list is:

Power: 8X30 // 8X32

Size: Small to medium
I think 8X30 is OK ; I will use them for trekking
In the mountains, They don have to be to heavy and bulky, if there is a 8X32 compact and lightweight fine !!.

Waterproof / fog proof: This point Its very important for me.

Type Prisms:
I would prefer Porro due to the 3D effect, and I suppose better quality in the
Price range I am looking for.

Eye relief: I wear very low grade glasses, its not so important as size and general quality.

Price Range: £ 100 - £200 ( I can stretch a bit more than - £ 200 , but I do not want to regret all day long If they get lost !!)

I am looking for a manufacturer with some regularity in their quality as, my daughter is going to buy them for me and we will not have to many chances to change them if they are faulty or have some issue that can not be detected first hand in the shop.


I have seen these that seem quite promising but maybe I am losing something in my search!!

1// Opticron 8x30 Savanna WP

2// // Leupold 8X30 BX-1 Yosemite
I have seen that there are some issues regarding focusing wheel, but they seem
To have good reviews

3// Kowa YF 8x30 Porro seem to be better than Leupold ??

3// The Steiners 8X30
It seem they do not have a focusing Ring and I don’t like that. Please correct me this is not so.

Thanks in advance

Chucao

[FrankD]

The only one in your group I have experience with is the Yosemite. It is a solid performer but I prefer the 6x30 to the 8x30 optically. Brighter and sharper image with better depth of field.

You might also consider the Vixen Foresta porro as well.

[typo]

I got to try out the Opticron and Kowa 6x and 8x30 last summer, and the original Yosemite 6x and Vortex Raptor 6.5x a while back. The optical characteristics build and feel are very similar. The same factory we believe. Generally I preferred the lower power for the reasons Frank gave, but the Kowa 8x I tried did seem to have the edge on sharpness, but that may have only been sample variation. The UK price for the Kowa is about £150, and the Opticron Savannah about £80.

The only Steiner 8x30 I've tried is the Navigator. It's a big step up in build quality and sharpness in my opinion from the Yosemite clones. That model has individual eyepiece focussing and I suspect, reduced blue transmission to reduce glare. Nice, but maybe not ideal for birding. The Safari series is not waterproof. The Wildlife Pro seems to have some odd limited focus, but I don't know how that works.

Hope that helps.

David

[steve@37n84w]

I bought two of the Leupolds (6x30) for my grandsons two years ago and they're a great bino but I haven't tried the 8x30 version. If you can purchase Opticron I highly recommend the 8x32 sr ga, not waterproof but superb optically. Its almost as good as my premium porros for a lot less money.

Steve

[Chucao]

Originally Posted by FrankD

The only one in your group I have experience with is the Yosemite. It is a solid performer but I prefer the 6x30 to the 8x30 optically. Brighter and sharper image with better depth of field.

You might also consider the Vixen Foresta porro as well.

Frank, I will search in the WEB for the Vixen foresta.
Are these better tan the rest or by what I can see are all the same thing
with different trademarks.

By the way I am impressed by your collection of 7X35 Classic porro !!

Typo and steve@37n84w thanks for your suggestions !!

I see you all like more the 6X instead of 8X
May be I am barking to the wrong tree here !!

Is it possible that I might find closer match to my wish list in a bino in the 7X35 family ?. Always talking of waterproof Bino and maybe as step up in price.

Bye

Martin ( chucao)

[FrankD]

Martin,

Thank you for the compliment on my collection. I am having a great deal of fun just trying out the classic models to find that "diamond in the rough". I think many individuals would be surprised by the performance level of many of these classic porros. Sadly though, none of them are waterproof in the sense of what you are looking for so they would not meet your needs.

I did upload the pics/description for the 8x42 Vixen Foresta porro a day or two ago. They are optically very impressive with a massive sweetspot and a very bright, sharp image. I would definitely recommend those if you were looking at that configuration.

The model on the bottom right hand corner of this page is what I was referring to:

http://www.vixenoptics.com/binoculars/foresta.htm

I have not tried the 8x32 model but have seen several positive comments on various optics forums about them. If they perform equally as good as the 8x42s then I certainly would be happy with them.

They also have the Ascot model in 8x32 with an even larger field of view but I have no experience with it:

http://www.vixenoptics.com/binoculars/ascot.html

You may well want to stick with the 8x30/32 as opposed to the 7x35 as current 7x35 offerings from any manufacturer are limited. If you did want to pursue one then I would suggest the Nikon Action EX 7x35:

http://www.google.com/products/catal...d=0CFcQ8wIwAA#

[typo]

Martin,

I've not managed to try the Nikon action EX 7x35. At £90 (best price), 17mm ER, 163m@1000m and an aspheric element for a flatter view it looks good on paper. However at 800g it's not exactly light.

One I have tried is the Opticron TGA WP 7x42. £135 (best price), 22mmER, 122m@1000m and 682g. There is field curvature, but a broad sweet spot and nice 3D perspective.

Not a porro and way over budget, the Opticron Classic/Swift Eaglet 7x36 particularly appeals to me. £300+, 19mm ER, 126m@100m, 623g. (Eaglet slightly different). Rather dated design, but a delight to use, with a surprisingly good 3D effect.

David

PS, Don't forget the UK has 20% sales tax, which might be recoverable.

[John Dracon]

Chucao - Based on your anticipated use, with emphasis on treking, get the Leupold Yosemiti 6x30 porro. Very light, large exit pupil (walking will raise your pulse rate and it is noticeable with binoculars), good optics, and inexpensive. Higher power is just a bigger blur when things get shaky. Later you may wish to move into the alphas including Nikon which make superlative compacts in the 8x20 and 10x25 persuasions. But be prepared to spend 4-5 times more for those. Eagle Optics makes a nice compact roof in 6x30 with most of the bells and whistles of the alphas. John

[normjackson]

Seems Steiner have been revising their range :
http://www.steiner.de/en/binoculars/outdoor/index.php
Wildlife Pro and Safari Ultrasharp could be candidates as long as focusing method is not a problem. Top of budget at either side of £200.

Sherwoods have the Opticron Imagic 8x32 TGA WP at £115; looks like they have a demo model for £85.

Opticron 7x36 BGA Classic demo model at ffordes for £210.

[jaymoynihan]

I have the 8x version of the Yosemites mentioned above. For general use, i suggest the 8x version. Focus wheel issue is primarily that at freezing it gets slow to like tar as temp lowers. small body, not recommended if you have large hands. Optically, my pair is really good, playing way above its price point.

[hinnark]

Originally Posted by typo

The Wildlife Pro seems to have some odd limited focus, but I don't know how that works.
David

I seems to me that the advertising at Steiner cause this kind of confusion. Infact the Steiner Wildlife Pro has central and internal focussing. The focusser works smooth, fast, with good grip. Low temperatures doesn't have any effect to that. It's simply the best focusser of a Porro prism bin I've ever used. The Wildlife Pro focus down at about 2 metres. Additional to that central focusser this binocular has diopter focussing at both barrels so that one can choose what is suitable.

Steve

[mayoayo]

How is the image quality of the Steiner porro models with central focus..Im interested in one of those since I saw them

[mooreorless]

I don't think there will be a problem with cold weather and focuser in Buenos Aires most of the time.

[hinnark]

mayoayo: bright, sharp in the center, not exactly wide angled, some veiling glare while looking to bright sources of light. Excellent built quality for a decent price.
http://www.allbinos.com/255-binocula...o_8x30_CF.html

Steve: What if he wants to use it in Patagonia?

Steve

P.S. This is about the Steiner Wildlife Pro II. The model that came first under this name was another Steiner porro with IF.

[Chucao]

Hi all,

I am following with interest the feed back from the forum !! and want to thank you all for the info.

I would like to know if any of you have used the Opticron Imagic 8x32 TGA WP and how they compare to the Opticron SR GA(shame the are not waterproof, very good reviews in the forum)

The UK price for the Kowa is about £150, and the Opticron Savannah about £80.

I cant find much info in the forum regarding the Opticron 8x30 Savanna WP, Should I leave these to one side ??

Chucao - Based on your anticipated use, with emphasis on treking, get the Leupold Yosemiti 6x30 porro. Very light, large exit pupil (walking will raise your pulse rate and it is noticeable with binoculars), good optics, and inexpensive. Higher power is just a bigger blur when things get shaky

John,
I get your point, the thing is that I like 7X as a minimum in a binocular
In my country walks I usually take a long cane with me, and use it as monopod to make thing more stable.


hinnark and mooreorless, here we have all type of weather in fact the Chucao is a local bird that you find in Patagonia near the Andes.
most of the time I will use these binoculars in moderate climate with high humidity that's why I need them waterproof. My old 10X50 are not and are starting to show fungus in some places!!

PS, Don't forget the UK has 20% sales tax, which might be recoverable.

David good point !!
I have to find out if it is possible.
My daughter is Italian and she will be staying studying more than two month In the U.K.

Well I am filling in an Excel with all the data, hoping to put things together in my mind.



Martin (chucao)