best binoculars for $300 or less (1 Viewer)

Tero said:

But if you find some Zeiss and Leica to look at, compare them to the Nikons at the store. Most well stocked stores have both. But as you have noticed, the stores are few, and we shop a lot at mail order places. Do you have a Cabela's?

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No Cabela's. The few sporting goods stores do not carry these brands (mostly Bushnell). The places that carry Zeiss and Leica do not carry Nikon. In fact, many places say they no longer carry Nikon, or have only limited items.The birding stores carry EO or Audubons (and of course Swarovski), Audubon shops carry Swift and Swarovski. One place only carries Brunton and discontinued the Nikons. I've been making a lot of phone calls! It might be time to go to the "big city" in search of optics.

Have you tried Dicks Sporting Goods, Gander Mountain, Sports Authority...heck even Kmart/Walmart? You never know where some of these brands may turn up.

Loonsong,
Yes, 8x will be alot brighter and easier to hold steady. I strongly recommend 8x. With a roof prism in this price range you are already sacrificing optical quality. The extra power of 10x will MAGNIFY the sins of the inferior optical pathway that much more. I often wish they would start making inexpensive roofs in 7x for this reason. It's an affordable way to compensate for the less bright & too narrow image of an 8x roof, let alone 10x. I would not be considering 10x if I were you.
Your problems with the image blacking out while you have the eye cups down are an issue of EYE RELIEF. It can be solved. Every bin has an eyepoint, a certain number of milimeters your eye ball should be from the ocular lens in order to see the whole field of view on one hand and not "black out" on the other. The eye cups screw in and out to be adjusted depending on your eye glasses and your nose and eye brow shape.
Hold the bins as you prefer to, if you see blacking out you must unscrew the eye cups a click or 2. This will hold your eye ball a little further away from the lens and thus allow you to see the full field without occasional "black outs." As an eyeglass wearer, you will often see the worse problem of getting "keyhole view" even with the eye cups screwed in all the way. Sadly, such a bin can never work for you with your current eyeglasses. Next time you pick eyeglasses, go in looking for a frame that allows the outer lens of the eyeglass to be as close to your eyeball as possible, thereby reducing the milimeters of eye-relief you need. You'll find more bins useable.
If you liked the Swift Audubon 828s, I strongly recommend you consider buying them. At least, use them as the standard from your memory to judge other bins. You will probably find they are the best of all the bins you have discussed, others that you try wil disappoint. They are better than the 8x Monarchs too, in my opinion.
Marc

Speaking of 7X Roof Prisms, Astronomics still carries Swift's 7 x 36 Eaglets for $329.00. Better View Desired (www.betterviewdesired.com) had a nice review on them even though they aren't phase coated. Check www.astronomics.com. It's an Astronomy site but they sell lots of Birding Binoculars under their other business name of Christophers. Just click onto binoculars to get there from Astronomics. The Eaglets have 17mm eye relief and a 379'FOV.
Bob

If you do consider 7x bins then I would also suggest the Bushnell Discoverer 7x42. I have seen them as low as $325-$350 at a few internet outlets. They have a wide, bright view and are ergonomically very good. Eye relief is very good as well.

The 7x does not really increase her choices that much. It will be difficult to match all her criteria for under 300. I would recommend some porros as starters, the lightest porros she can find. The CA will not bother her and a few models have decent eye cups, screw out. The Wild Birds stores carry the Swift 8.5x porros. And E2 might still be around
http://www.mosquitocreekoutdoors.com/cgi-bin/SoftCart.exe/nikon_e2.html?E+scstore
as an example, you can Google it yourself for other stores
weight 22 oz
8x42 Monarchs are 21.5 oz.
OK, loonsong, make a decision. I can guarantee these will NOT be your final binoculars. We all play the game.

Tero said:

OK, loonsong, make a decision. I can guarantee these will NOT be your final binoculars. We all play the game.

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Well, I am trying. They may not be my final pair, but they'll have to do for many years! I know $300-400 doesn't sound like a lot compared to the money spent of some binoculars, but it is a considerable chunk of money for me. I am trying to spend it wisely and get the most for my money largely site unseen because of very limited local stock. Like many beginners, I am taking the "crash course" in choosing.

Ok, since some folks are saying I would get a better value in Porros, if you had $300 (maybe stretched to $400 when the husband isn't looking), what is the best Porro to be had that doesn't weigh a ton? All the less expensive Porros I have had to date have gone out of alignment rather easily, so I am skeptical.

Oh, and thanks for your patience.

Loonsong,
Porros are the way to go. And contrary to other advice here, I don't recommend you rush into buying something on the principle you will buy more anyway in the future. $300 is indeed alot of money. You want to buy the best bins for you and that takes hands on research and time! You don't want to become obsessed with bins instead of birds! and you don't need bins you find not as good as your best pair in your closet!

You mentioned some of the Porros you tried had bad alignment. Can you say which models? The cheaper bins widely available from Kmart or Walmart will have these problems. Is that the type you mean? Maybe a $50 Bushnell? Here are a couple of quality Porro prism designs you might find at the birding stores you mentioned before which carry Swift:

Swift Audubon 8.5x44 820 (the Porro version):
It's probably the best optics in your price range. But, it's size is not suited to small hands. The eye relief is short -- probably 14mm, though its advertised as 17mm.... Even if you don't wear glasses, you may have to lower the eye cups. The result is sometimes there is glare from stray light against the ocular lens. However, these are the best bins I have found under $500 and I use them every birding day, with pleasure, for 2 years now. But, they may not be for you give your criteria in your first post. Also, they come with a terrible case.... But, I think they are the best.....

Swift Ultralite 8x42 Porro:
These bins show alot of promise. I may get a chance to try them this weekend, will report back if so. Meanwhile read this review of both the roof and Porro versions of the new Ultralites: http://betterviewdesired.com/01-06/Swift UltraLite.htm
Notice that the reviewer concludes that the Porros are "significantly sharper" with less color fringing and they cost $50 less. The field of view is a bit narrow for Porro bins however. They seem to be comfortable design for medium size hands.
Marc

The reason I say not the last, people will often try roof prisms and porros and then eventually settle on the other. SOme people never get used to porros, so for that reason it is also a risky business ti spend a lot on those. I had some strain problems with my Nikon Action EX 8x40s when staring at the same spot close by for 30 minutes. We staked out a known Harris Sparrow. I could have stared at that spot better with roof prisms. I was unable to focus with both eyes for long. It seems to be the one incident with the porros. Never happens looking for restless warblers that you see for 10 seconds at best. Never happens at longer distance.

With porros, the 10x choices are less than 8x because many 10x have poor close focus, some 20-25 feet. The 8.5 X may be close to ideal.

we have FANS of both roof and porros here:
http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=52596

Notice the original list didn't include wide FOV or good low light capabilities; small mercy I suppose

Reckon the number of small, light porros with adequate eye relief for glasses and waterproofing must be pretty minimal. Add a wish for close focusing...
Be interesting to see if 8x30 versions of the new crop of WP porros appear soon.

Someone in UK with the list of requirements stated in first post would probably consider the Opticon Traveller 8x32 :
http://opticron.boson.posiweb.net/pages/page10.html
Don't know if there's a version of this on sale over there.

If those Bushnell compacts are really yucky, maybe a bargain basement 8x30 porro is a possibility as a stop gap while you're looking?

Hey, best of luck anyways.

I did not think of it until now but norm's last post made me think of the Leupold Wind River Cascade Porros. They are one of the new crop of waterproof, internal focus porros on the market. Though not small compared to most roofs in this price range they are relatively "compact" compared to some of the other porros of the 8x42 configuration. Price is around $300 the last time I checked.

normjackson said:

Notice the original list didn't include wide FOV or good low light capabilities; small mercy I suppose

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Well...now that you mention it...;-) I have been considering some 8x32/33/36's for increased FOV. Low light is not so much an issue as anything will likely be much brighter than my 10x25 Bushnells. But more FOV might take away from the tunnel effect of some 8x42 roofs perhaps? I should move this to a new thread entitled "good 8x30-somethings for $300-400."

loonsong said:

Well...now that you mention it...;-) I have been considering some 8x32/33/36's for increased FOV. Low light is not so much an issue as anything will likely be much brighter than my 10x25 Bushnells. But more FOV might take away from the tunnel effect of some 8x42 roofs perhaps? I should move this to a new thread entitled "good 8x30-somethings for $300-400."

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Loonsong

Just got to tell you that I love your pen-name. The sounds that Great Northern Divers / Common Loons make are the most thrilling and evocative noises I know.

Lee

http://www.ebay.com/itm/221624065847?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

These are 10X, I'm not aware of any 8X being available but I haven't looked lately.

FrankD said:

I did not think of it until now but norm's last post made me think of the Leupold Wind River Cascade Porros. They are one of the new crop of waterproof, internal focus porros on the market. Though not small compared to most roofs in this price range they are relatively "compact" compared to some of the other porros of the 8x42 configuration. Price is around $300 the last time I checked.

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You guys realize the last post in this thread was made 10 years ago?

Duh, excuse me just a minute while I pull my head out of my ass.3

james holdsworth said:

You guys realize the last post in this thread was made 10 years ago?

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Troubador said:

Loonsong

Just got to tell you that I love your pen-name. The sounds that Great Northern Divers / Common Loons make are the most thrilling and evocative noises I know.

Lee

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Troubador that you are, Troub,

Does her Loonsong, like a famous perfume, stay on your mind?3

Bob

james holdsworth said:

You guys realize the last post in this thread was made 10 years ago?

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Hi,

the thread was re-animated by a spammer which I reported. It seems the mods were thorough and removed the post and poster...

Thanks,

Joachim