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Best value for money? UK (1 Viewer)

D

derekbez

Well-known member
We all hate these questions...

I know nothing about the bino market, so what's the best bang-for-buck binos in the UK?

I want them for birding and I'd prefer the 10x range.
I carry a heavy camera most of the time, so the binos should be relatively small and light.
I'm a cheapskate, so £100 or less.
I'm not precious about brandnames.

On a related note - are scopesnskies any good?

Appreciate some guidance as to what's good (and good value), what's bad, and where to get 'em from please.

Derek
 
I would say that for best value in the UK you should look at Opticron. Excellent value andsuperb after sales service.

For the best view when spending less than £100 go for porro prisms. I currently use Bushnell Legend porro 8x42. Not sure of they do a 10x. They are heavy and large so probably not for you but for the price (£100 or a bit more) they are fantastic.

For even better value go secondhand. You can get some real bargains and higher quality for the same spend as new.

For small & light, have a look at Leupold Yosemite and Vortex Raptor. Both have good reviews but are only available in 8x or 8.5x max. You might find that your happy with 8.5x as a compromise. Personally I don't like 10x because it shows up too much handshake.
 
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So, Martin, not only are you neurotic and obsessive, you also get the shakes when using a 10x binocular, as well as tending towards an unnatural fascination for cameras? I well recognise these symptoms and my diagnosis is that you have 'optico-collectomania' (if you will forgive the use of technical/medical jargon) which is a not uncommon affliction affecting 'gentlemen of a certain age'. I know, I've been there; in fact, I'm still there and enjoying every minute of it...
 
You want something small and light, with 10x mag, and for a £100 budget? Porros give the best view-per-pound, but tend to be big and bulky. Modern budget roofs are a lot better than they were even 5 years ago, and reverse porros are becoming less a gimmick and more serious optics - one of those two is probably your best shot to get all you want, I think.
In order to get a usable image, you won't want less than a 30mm objective with 10x [at this price level].

Look for Hawke [roofs, porros, and reverses], Pentax [reverse porros], Nikon [reverse porros], and Bushnell [roofs and porros]. If you can find a little more money Opticron and Avian are well worth a try.

Another thought - what about a monocular? Very portable and easy to use. Definitely look through second hand bins - you never know when a pair of SEs might come your way! ;)
 
I bought three bins and a monocular from scopesnskies last year. One of the bins, an "Adler 9x27" was faulty - there was a nasty chip in the objective lens. It wouldn't have got through any form of quality control, either at the factory in China or at the distributor, SNS. But SNS replaced it quickly and without hassle. I did (offer to and) pay the return postage, but then whilst I emailed to say it was faulty the day I received it, I left it a long time (months) before getting round to returning it.

The monocular, by the way, has exceptionally good super-close-focus. I'd use it for butterflies, flowers and insects except that I now have a 6.5x21 Pentax Papilio that blows the monocular away. It also beats the larger-objective Adler 9x27. I got it somehow for £49, RRP is £180 and Amazon knock it out for around £100. I myself find the monocular harder to use than bins - it needs both hands on to focus, whereas a bin can be used one-handed. And there's a reason every creature on this planet has two eyes not one: binocular vision is hugely superior to monocular vision. I reckon the only man who should buy and use a mono is a one-eyed man.

SNS have some good prices, and I got good service. I'd buy from them again.
 
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Ok Derek I know you said £100 or less but there isn't that much available at that price for a "proper", birding bin.

BUT I did find these.

Most bins at that price are 10x50's which tend to have a poorer close focus than 10x42's.

As the market goes more to Roof prisms it's getting harder to find good sub £100 though there are still good 8x40's about.

The RSPB optics site also has waterproof 10x42 Porros available at £129.95. Though at that price you are getting into basic range roof prism territory, though I would favour a porro, as it will have better optics at this end of the market.

The Rspb optics offers, all feature products that have been reduced so you should be getting good value and if you buy online you would have 7 days to return if you don't like them.

As Viking supply the RSPB and have their own repair facilities I would say they were a reasonable company to deal with along with the RSPB.

Good luck

Nev
 
I've just bought some Opticron Adventurers 10x42, not in the Opticron catalogue now, think they are about 640gms. I paid £79 for them from a nature reserve shop. I know I could have got them a few pounds cheaper on t'internet. Am I pleased with them, oh yes.
 
derekbez said:
We all hate these questions...

I know nothing about the bino market, so what's the best bang-for-buck binos in the UK?

I want them for birding and I'd prefer the 10x range.
I carry a heavy camera most of the time, so the binos should be relatively small and light.
I'm a cheapskate, so £100 or less.
I'm not precious about brandnames.

On a related note - are scopesnskies any good?

Appreciate some guidance as to what's good (and good value), what's bad, and where to get 'em from please.

Derek
Click to expand...

I would take a look at the Nikon Sporter EX 8x42 here: http://www.sherwoods-photo.com/nikon_bino/nikon_binoculars_fs.htm

Admittedly not exactly what you want - (£125, 8x not 10x) - BUT; I always find little difference between 8x and 10x, these are smallish and light, and excellent quality from the money. I have the old (8x36) version of these and am very happy with them.

Also I've purchased from Sherwoods before without any problems and the price is good, these bins sell for £200 on other sites.

Perry
 
You will have to look at the current 10x42 models. Vortex, Bushnell et al have brought roof prims down to under 200 dollars or so. There are a bunch of other models too.

But I have lots of experience with low end 10x, and though you will see bigger birds at 10x and may enjoy the view, at the low end you will not ID any more birds at 10x than 8x. Spend a little more and you may get some more out of it. Chinese ED glass.

10x36 and smaller models are few, and nearly all are junk. Possibly there is a 9x36 Vortex worth looking at, but have not seen it yet.
 
Tero said:
You will have to look at the current 10x42 models. Vortex, Bushnell et al have brought roof prims down to under 200 dollars or so. There are a bunch of other models too.

But I have lots of experience with low end 10x, and though you will see bigger birds at 10x and may enjoy the view, at the low end you will not ID any more birds at 10x than 8x. Spend a little more and you may get some more out of it. Chinese ED glass.

10x36 and smaller models are few, and nearly all are junk. Possibly there is a 9x36 Vortex worth looking at, but have not seen it yet.
Click to expand...

I used the 9 x 36 Vortex Diamondback throughout most of last summer and fall. I kept it in my car day and night. It is really quite a good binocular for it's price--under $200.00. And it has a FOV of 375' at 1000 yards. In fact, I liked it so much I kept it and I'm going to give the Zen-Ray 9 x 36 a try when it comes out just to see how much better it is and if it is worth the $200.00 plus difference in price.

Bob
 
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derekbez said:
I know nothing about the bino market...
...I'd prefer the 10x range.
Click to expand...
This combination of statements seems to come up quite often. Beginners always want the most magnification available. I sympathise. My first bin was a 10x25 reverse porro that started off poor and became horrible. A small percentage of birders seem to get on okay with 10x, but the majority choose 8x or 8.5x, with a faction favouring 7x or even 6x. I think you would be safer within that range.

derekbez said:
...I'd prefer the 10x range.
...the binos should be relatively small and light.
Click to expand...
10x bins tend to be relatively big and heavy.

Michael
 
I prefer the lower-mag bins. But we should remember that many of us here are "getting on a bit". Younger people will have stronger arms and shoulders, and steadier hands. For them, a 10x might be fine.
 
RayE said:
I've just bought some Opticron Adventurers 10x42, not in the Opticron catalogue now
Click to expand...

The Adventurer WP range is still available and current - detailed info on it lives in our product guide supplement which gets sent out with hard copies of the full product guide. Not sure why we don't post a link to a PDF of it on the website... I'll look into that.

Anyway, summary is as follows:

Nitrogen-filled, waterproof, fully multi-coated, rubber armoured, twist type eyecup, tripod scoket, softcase, lanyard.
Field - 8x 119m, 10x 98m
Close focus - 5m
Eyerelief - 20mm, 15mm
Weight - ~630g
1 year warranty

8x42 £69, 10x42 £79 inc VAT

Cheers, Pete
 
pete_gamby said:
The Adventurer WP range is still available and current - detailed info on it lives in our product guide supplement which gets sent out with hard copies of the full product guide. Not sure why we don't post a link to a PDF of it on the website... I'll look into that.

Thanks for clearing that up. Couldn't find them on the website or advertised in the relevent mags. Really chuffed with the binoculars, thanks Ray
Click to expand...
 
Have to say that Scopes and Skies have a good selection but from astronomy forums they can be poor on delivery.

Like many web sites the items listed may not always be in immediate stock, then things get delayed and that seems to be when problems can occur. Equally they are fairly big and sell a big range so occasional hiccups will occur.

If you can get there then visit and see what they have and try them out, very helpful people when you call in there. Always found it best to try a set of bins first and when a pair suits buy that particular pair if possible.
 
Allthough above the original price range quoted, as the thread title is 'best value for money?' I thought it worth mentioning the half price nikon monarchs currently being offered by warehouse express. Looks like nikon have an updated version so shelves are being cleared!

Perry
 
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