Florence said:I am leaning towards the Leica but as a novice would appreciate others' views.
Florence said:I am leaning towards the Leica but as a novice would appreciate others' views.
Florence said:I am leaning towards the Leica but as a novice would appreciate others' views.
Florence said:I am leaning towards the Leica but as a novice would appreciate others' views.
Paul Jarvis said:Pete you are correct not to rule the nikons out, they have a nice sharp image and the best focus mechanism on the market in mho. 8x42 would be choice apposed to 10x42.
Maybe a really good 8x32 is all you need.
It´s impossible in my experience to persuade the significant other that another pair of bins is a priority, so try my method: siphon off 50 euro per week from your normal spending, cutting back on whatever, creating a cash slush-fund until you´ve saved up enough for a mega-purchase. Then arrive home with a spanking new pair of bins, and announce you got them really cheap in a sale (like all her shoes). The long wait in accumulating the slush-fund is pleasant anticipation, and makes the final acquisition all the more special, a bit like Christmas when you were a kid.Nick Elliston said:Anyway, off to the pub now to try and think of a cunning plan to persuade her indoors that additional binos are preferable to replacement windows ... could be a challenge.
B
And books. I know it´s a sacrilege, but I have weeded out my library, the benchmark being "will I read this again when I´m retired and have the time?". If the answer is no, I take it to the secondhand bookstore and add the proceeds to the slush-fund. I may go to bibliophile hell for this. But think of the people in the optics trade that I´m keeping in jobs!Tero said:Yes, stuff those bills into the mattress, or sell useless memorabilia from youth, such as CDs and LPs. LPs actually may get you something. Sell 100, get maybe $100 here. Extra sets of golf clubs, electric guitars that you no longer have an amp to. Try eBay.
graphicjoe said:I just got a pair of Leica 8X42's, and did a lot of trying and reading before ordering them. They are great and I have no regrets. However, I suspect I would be just as happy with any of the high end binoculars. They are all so good that reviewers and advice givers are generally driven to picking at very small nits. I suspect that a lot of the differences that people report seeing would not be present if blind testing was used.
I didn't like the way the Zeiss model looked--silly I know, but hey, it's my money and I have to look at them every day. The other factor for me was my long experience with Leica M series cameras and lenses. I won't go into details because this is not a camera website, but suffice it to say that the Leica lenses are peerless, and the cameras are stout and dead reliable--for decades. My 1958 M3 cost about $300 new. It is now worth about $1200, and has worked perfectly for the better part of 50 years. There aren't many 1958 cameras in daily use, and most have gone in the trash long ago.
So buy what feels right to you and go watch birds and be happy.
Joe Stephenson
Sancho said:It´s impossible in my experience to persuade the significant other that another pair of bins is a priority,