A postscript to that reply: Yesterday I tested two other compacts in a shop (I'm looking for a good pair for walking the kids). I tried two others recommended by birders, the Nikon Travelite V 8x25, and the Olympus PC1 8x25. I don't 'do' technical, I just go with what my eyes tell me, and these two are brilliant, my eyes found them as good optically as smaller but much more expensive roof prisms by Leica and Zeiss. They retail here at 130-170 euros, which means you can get them in the UK for less than 100 sterling. I haven't decided yet, but I think I'm going to go with the Olympus PC1. They have a 6 degree Field of View, they're bright and crisp, weigh only 280g, measure 114x98x48mm, and even though they're chunkier than porros, they still fit in a small pocket. So check the Nikon Travelites, the Opticron Taigas, and the Olympus PC1, you won't be disappointed and you'll save a lot of your 150 sterling budget! Best of luck, Éanna