Looking for something light. Tried Steiner 8x30 navigators and liked focus, I wear glasses, and I could use them with no hand shake. But I want something to focus closer. I have read about the BX-1 and do have small hands and close set eyes. But I do not know if there is an alternative. I find the Monarch 5 and 7 I shake. I am in Ontario. In an ideal world, I could find a store where to try them.
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Looking for light binocs for women (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter cdbh12
- Start date
While the BX-1 and it's near-clones the Kowa YF and the Vortex Raptor would make excellent choices, I'm not so sure that you will get along with the eye-relief. Try them out if you can, and if you find that the ER is not suitable, then look at the Sightron SII Blue Sky 8x32. It weighs about the same as the BX-1 Yosemite, but has a bit more ER. There is an extensive thread about the B.S. on this forum.
Odd...the Yosemites aren't too close either (10 ft). I hadn't checked before.
I have some Carson 8x32 VPs that focus down to 6ft.
To get unusual:
The Pentax 6.5x21 Papilio is famous for short focus: 0.5 meters (1.6 ft)
Museums, woods, insects, tidepools, opera, coins, antique stores, etc.
The lower power gives it less shake and helps keep the 21mm size fairly bright.
I'd say the Bushnell Elite/Custom 7x26, but near focus is still 7 ft.
I have some Carson 8x32 VPs that focus down to 6ft.
To get unusual:
The Pentax 6.5x21 Papilio is famous for short focus: 0.5 meters (1.6 ft)
Museums, woods, insects, tidepools, opera, coins, antique stores, etc.
The lower power gives it less shake and helps keep the 21mm size fairly bright.
I'd say the Bushnell Elite/Custom 7x26, but near focus is still 7 ft.
Hi, welcome to the forum.
I'm a little puzzled about one thing. The Steiner Navigator 7x30 (?) has individual eyepiece focus which usually isn't a popular choice for nature watchers. Otherwise a nice binocular, but outshone by the rather expensive Commander. They keep changing their models but the current Safari Ultrasharp has a focus but is an 8x30 and is a similar shape.
There are not too many choices for low powered, light, close focus binoculars. The Busnell Elite 7x26 that O_N mentioned is very nice if the close focus is OK. It worked fine with my glasses, but some might have problems. It's not waterproof though.
The Papilo is the close focus specialist. Opticron have the Traveller which is a bit more expensive. It's light, very solidly made, a 5ft close focus and while it does have a couple of optical niggles for me the 6x32 might be well worth considering. They do have outlets in the US but I'm not sure about Canada.
http://www.opticron.co.uk/Pages/traveller_bga_mg.html
As the others mentioned the Leupold/Kowa/Vortex/Opticron 6x30s are great for the money but that close focus may be a show stopper.
Good luck,
David
PS. I should have mentioned my own favourite, the Opticron Classic 7x36. Closer to the Monarch in size and weight but much nicer IMO.
It's twin, the Swift Eaglet may be more readily available.
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Eagle Optics has their 8x32 Ranger Binocular on sale now for $239.00. It focuses down to 3 feet and weighs 19 ounces. Eye Relief is 16mm and could be enough for some glasses. You can try them out for 3 weeks because they have a 30 day no-fault right to return them if you don't like them which you can ask about. There are 41 reviews of the binocular which you can read that average 5 stars.
http://www.eagleoptics.com/binoculars/eagle-optics/eagle-optics-ranger-8x32-binocular
Bob
http://www.eagleoptics.com/binoculars/eagle-optics/eagle-optics-ranger-8x32-binocular
Bob
Hello cdbh,
Cabela's is always a good bet.
They are opening in Barrie next month, 10th July :
http://www.cabelas.com/stores/store_info.jsp?pageName=C006
Good luck with your choice, and enjoy the Summer !
I guess since I wear progressive glasses and 2 very different eye prescriptions, the steiner looked great and sharp. Thanks for your suggestions. After reading some great reviews and comments on this site, I now wonder if anyone could comment on the 8x32 Mojave bx3. I understand the specs are wrong and it actually weighs 19 ounce. Not being able to try it out, does the added. 3 length and different shape between the 2 models make the binoculars seem heavier in the hand in terms of shake? I also cannot easily find the diopter numbers for each model. Thanks again!
The longer ones are higher-powered and with time generate a bit more tremor form holding
them up....the the visual shaking gets worse.
A shoulder-brace works wonders on shake but it's a bit ungainly for binoculars.
I home-make braced monoculars at 6x30 and 8x30 that are a lot of fun...you see so much more.
The home-made bino brace is less clunky than what I've seen but it's still a bit bulky,
2 1x2s cut at 20 degrees with a plywood platform to bungee the binocs.
Since you're pondering spending some decent cash, they do make gyro-stabilized binoculars.
There is the Canon 8x25:
http://shop.usa.canon.com/shop/en/c...noculars-_-G_Canon_Product Listing Ads-_-7502
Things go up from there...
The modern way to clobber shaking. The 8x25 is as light as it gets, though.
them up....the the visual shaking gets worse.
A shoulder-brace works wonders on shake but it's a bit ungainly for binoculars.
I home-make braced monoculars at 6x30 and 8x30 that are a lot of fun...you see so much more.
The home-made bino brace is less clunky than what I've seen but it's still a bit bulky,
2 1x2s cut at 20 degrees with a plywood platform to bungee the binocs.
Since you're pondering spending some decent cash, they do make gyro-stabilized binoculars.
There is the Canon 8x25:
http://shop.usa.canon.com/shop/en/c...noculars-_-G_Canon_Product Listing Ads-_-7502
Things go up from there...
The modern way to clobber shaking. The 8x25 is as light as it gets, though.
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Simon Wates
Well-known member
Definitely go for nice quality 8x32s (or maybe 8x30s) - avoid compacts 8x20 or 8x25 etc would be sound advice I believe.
Alexis Powell
Natural history enthusiast
As someone who frequently uses binoculars for relatively close viewing (butterflies), I don't recommend the Eagle Optics 8x32 Ranger for that use. Actually, I'm not a fan of them in general--I think they are pricey given their mediocre optical quality (and I've tried several units, and own one). Although they focus to 3 ft, the deterioration of the resolution away from the very center of the field is substantial (i.e. they have a small sweet spot), making them uncomfortable on the eyes for extended viewing at close distances when field overlap (of left and right sides) is imperfect.
The Papilio 6.5x21 are unmatched for close viewing but they aren't the greatest bins for general use.
My close viewing (down to ~5ft) favorites that are also superb for general viewing are the Zeiss 8x32 FL. They are expensive, but if you can afford them they are slightly smaller, have much better eye relief, and have much much better optics than the EO Ranger.
If you can't afford the Zeiss FL, consider the Zeiss 8x32 Conquest HD. Failing that, I'd consider a used Nikon 8x32 LXL.
--AP
The Papilio 6.5x21 are unmatched for close viewing but they aren't the greatest bins for general use.
My close viewing (down to ~5ft) favorites that are also superb for general viewing are the Zeiss 8x32 FL. They are expensive, but if you can afford them they are slightly smaller, have much better eye relief, and have much much better optics than the EO Ranger.
If you can't afford the Zeiss FL, consider the Zeiss 8x32 Conquest HD. Failing that, I'd consider a used Nikon 8x32 LXL.
--AP
Hi cdbh12,
It sounds like my g/f is in a similar boat as you, with smallish hands and a close inter pupillary distance (shopping for glasses is a nightmare!). She chose the Eagle Optics Ranger 8x42 after trying a number of other pairs around that price range (including Vortex Diamondback - poor image, Talon 8x32 - not comfortable for her, and Terra 8x42 - not comfortable for her and suffers from glare). She said the Ranger 8x42 had the best feel for her.
Me personally, I'm the other side - large hands and a normal IPD. I normally use Talon 8x42, but I am currently trying Swaro 8x25 and Zeiss Victory 8x20, because I find that my Talon 8x42 are too heavy for me to hold for long periods of time. I find the image excellent, and so far I find the low-light performance to be acceptable for my needs. I have no doubt they'd fit smaller hands!
Finally, you mentioned wanting to try out some bins. I used to live in Mississauga - so while I know Henry's has a few from time to time, they are not the best choice. I bought my Talon 8x42 from http://www.forthebirdsnatureshop.ca - they have a very generous 30-day return policy, and actually encouraged me to buy a few pairs of bins, test them out, and return the ones I didn't want. I highly recommend them - they also have some of the lowest prices in Canada, to boot.
Best of luck,
Sam
Camera Land still has some discontinued Zeiss 8x30 B T* Conquest binoculars that meet your criteria. Lightweight, narrow IPD, enough Eye Relief for glasses and a close focus. There are Demos on sale for $450.00.
http://www.cameralandny.com/optics/zeiss.pl?page=zeissconquest523208
They have a close focus of 7' according to this old Cornell evaluation. Scroll down to the bottom to see the comparison chart.
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/Publications/LivingBird/Winter2005/Age_Binos.html
Bob
http://www.cameralandny.com/optics/zeiss.pl?page=zeissconquest523208
They have a close focus of 7' according to this old Cornell evaluation. Scroll down to the bottom to see the comparison chart.
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/Publications/LivingBird/Winter2005/Age_Binos.html
Bob
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Hi cdbh12. On my navigators, one side can focus to about 12ft, but the other side is more like 15-16ft, so, effectively, the closest focus is 15-16ft. For 8x30s, this is actually pretty far away. How close would you like to be able to focus? If you need to literally get within an arm's length, then the papilios are a good choice. The effective eye relief on the 6.5x model is similar to the navigators, maybe a bit more. I haven't tried the 8.5x model. If you could be satisfied with 10ft, then the 6x30 BX-1 has a great view and more effective eye relief than the navigators. However, neither of these is the 8x that you seem to be looking for. Just curious about the shakes you got with the Monarchs. Did you feel like it was the weight that caused the shakes, or maybe you were struggling to work the focuser, or some other reason?
Indeed. The binoculars are only as good as your eyes, body, and cortex allow.
So you need to allow for shake (which is also easier to track in the cortex at low power)...or suppress it.
If you have astigmatism you must be looking through far correction only
(dingle-vision grind or old-style bifocals, top pane).
If you shake a bit, try holding the binocs with hands all the way forward,
binocs braced on the eyebrows.
So you need to allow for shake (which is also easier to track in the cortex at low power)...or suppress it.
If you have astigmatism you must be looking through far correction only
(dingle-vision grind or old-style bifocals, top pane).
If you shake a bit, try holding the binocs with hands all the way forward,
binocs braced on the eyebrows.
Alexis Powell
Natural history enthusiast
I'll second this suggestion if you can't afford the Zeiss 8x32 FL (which has 5 ft close focus and 52 mm minimum interpupillary). The 8x30 Conquest has 54 mm minimum interpupillary. Zeiss is really the only company that usually specs minimum interpupillary of less than 56 mm in 32 and 42 mm objective size roof prism bins.
--AP
Hello cdbh12.
About the navigators, I'm guessing that you're referring to the "sports autofocus" feature, which says that 20m to infinity can be in focus at the same time. Actually, this feature is just marketing; they are talking about the typical depth of field that someone with normal vision can get with their binoculars if the focus is set for a medium-long distance. In fact, the navigators have adjustable focus on each eyepiece. You would twist each eyepiece clockwise for distance viewing, and counterclockwise for close-up viewing. As Typo noted above, the weakness of this system is that it is inconvenient to have to twist both eyepieces simultaneously because it is hard to do that in complete synchrony. But some people like it, and it is not too bad if you are typically viewing at medium to long distances, where any focus adjustments are slight.
As far as the bx-3 Mojave 8x32, I think it is an excellent binocular for the price. There are a few threads over on the Leupold sub-forum which discuss the pros/cons of this unit, and I'm sure you've already read them. I haven't looked at the mojave's spec sheet recently, but, in use, I find it to focus as close as about 7-8 feet, which is a few feet closer than the bx-1. The mojave's effective eye relief is slightly longer than the navigator, too. Obviously, there is a big difference in the body shape between the navigator and the mojave, and ergonomics can affect whether or not you experience shake. For me, the curves of the navigator body feel very natural in my hands, and the view is very steady. But on the other hand, the mojaves can be fairly comfortable to hold too. Only you can decide which one feels better in your hands.
I did note that the sightron BSII 8x32 was mentioned above. I haven't tried that model, but I've tried similar bins, and the "open bridge" design can be pretty comfortable to hold, even with small hands. So that might also be worth considering too.
pete_gamby
Birds? What Birds?!
You might try these guys:
http://www.urbannaturestore.ca/shop/pc/viewCategories.asp?idCategory=54
They stock the Opticron Discovery 8x32 which is light, has good close focus and has a minimum IPD of 52mm.
HTH
Cheers, Pete
http://www.urbannaturestore.ca/shop/pc/viewCategories.asp?idCategory=54
They stock the Opticron Discovery 8x32 which is light, has good close focus and has a minimum IPD of 52mm.
HTH
Cheers, Pete
