• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

2nd mid-priced pair? or sell-and-upgrade? (1 Viewer)

Merg

Merg

Well-known member
My GF is recently interested in birdwatching and is looking for a pair of "good" binoculars. Her price range is in the $300-ish range.

I have a pair of Pentax DCF WP 8x42's which have served me really well.

The question is:
If this were your situation, would you let her get another pair of mid-range binocs? Or would you sell her the Pentax, and upgrade to something else?

My price range for an upgrade would be <$1000.

Will I find anything in that price range that will be significantly improved over the Pentax that I already have?
 
There are not many poor binoculars in that price range. The Pentax WP still stands pretty well in that arena today. As has been discussed here (too often to recount much) is the exceedingly good ZEN ED, Hawke Frontier ED, and Promaster Infinity Elite ELX ED. You can get a ZEN ED to your door for about $360. The image compares to anything regardless of the cost.
 
Chinese EDs are one obvious upgrade. Rather less than $1000. Nice view but with all the trade offs of new companies and total quality. But I think for most people it's all the bin they'll need. If they need more they can upgrade. So you could get two pairs for $700ish: one for you and one for the GF.

The other options that spring to mind:

Meopta (which Frank likes but I' ve not used) seems like another option.

Pentax ED, maybe?

Demo or secondhand alphas start to appear at $1000 or just over too. Take a look at EO ebay store for some options. Or hunt around the secondhand market.

There are plenty of options in the $500 to $1000 range. I'm sure we'll get a decent list from others.
 
I agree with both Kevin and Steve.

The Zen ED, Promaster ED and Hawke Frontier ED would be my suggestions in that order. But, if you have the money and want to spend it then the Meopta Meostar, the Vortex Razor, Pentax ED and some of the demo Nikon Premier LXLs would be my follow up suggestions.
 
I had the 8x42 WP for ten years and loved it. I recently sold it for a Nikon 8x32 SE and a Leica 8x20. It it weren't for the money I would have kept the WP because it was SHARP, dead center anyway. Not a flat field, not a wide FOV, but sharp for birding.

Last year I bought the Pentax 8x32 ED and it's got a much flatter, wider field but it is not as sharp dead center. It's brighter (daylight anyway), has much better color and contrast, less CA, but I do miss that extra edge of sharpness for birding.

My advice: take the WP with you and compare (if you can). As you say, the WP holds up well. What you'll get with newer binocs will relate to color, contrast, brightness, FOV, and flatness, but perhaps not much in terms of center sharpness (for some reason I find sharpness highest on my list of priorities). By the way, my guess is the Nikon 8x32 SE trumps anything under $1000. The thing is simply stunning. It's not waterproof and the eyecups are annoying, but it beats anything I've looked through (I haven't seen the ZEN, but I preferred the SE to a Zeiss 8x32 FL, which is saying something). The SE is bulky in the case, moreso than the 8x42 WP, but it's my first choice.
 
Kammerdiner said:
I had the 8x42 WP for ten years and loved it. I recently sold it for a Nikon 8x32 SE and a Leica 8x20. It it weren't for the money I would have kept the WP because it was SHARP, dead center anyway. Not a flat field, not a wide FOV, but sharp for birding.

Last year I bought the Pentax 8x32 ED and it's got a much flatter, wider field but it is not as sharp dead center. It's brighter (daylight anyway), has much better color and contrast, less CA, but I do miss that extra edge of sharpness for birding.
Click to expand...

There is another thread here (comparing the WP to SE)

http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=140522

where I posted pretty much the same comments and noted the center field sharpness of the SP was worse than the WP 8x32.

But I though that was just product variation.

But someone else added the same comment: WP sharper than SP or ED.

And now a third ... maybe it isn't product variation after all!
 
Last edited:
I was the other one Kevin. FWIW the first time I looked through the 8x42 WP it was in direct comparison to a Nikon Venturer LX of the same configuration. Other than the slightly narrower field of view and the more neutral (blue-green even) color representation in the WP I really could not tell the difference between the two at the time. I have yet to handle the ED but I never saw the equivalent of it in any of the subsequent Pentax purchases.
 
I ended up buying a pair of Zen Ray ED's 8x43.

If they end up being better than the WP's, then I'll pass those on to her. If not, then the Zen Rays will be hers. o:D
 
Merg said:
I ended up buying a pair of Zen Ray ED's 8x43.

If they end up being better than the WP's, then I'll pass those on to her. If not, then the Zen Rays will be hers. o:D
Click to expand...

If you don't want the ZEN ED to be hers, better not let her have a look at them. They will likely replace the Pentax rather rapidly.
 
Steve C said:
If you don't want the ZEN ED to be hers, better not let her have a look at them. They will likely replace the Pentax rather rapidly.
Click to expand...

No worries with that... she's been using my crappy Nikon Travelites in the meantime... when she's caught a glimpse through the Pentax, she sighs longingly.

;)
 
USPS Tracking says that they've been delivered!!!

WOO HOO! I might run home at lunch to get them :king:
 
What do I think?

I think USPS Tracking info needs some improvement.


I'll definitely update you guys when I get them and have had a chance to play with them a little bit... :)
 
Last edited:
So... I got 'em.

And... I like 'em. :t:

I'm no opticalphile (yes, i just made that up), but it seems to me that there are two distinct areas where the Zen Ray is better than the WP's:
1. brighter overall image.
2. wider FOV.

also, it seemed to me that there was a slight sharpness advantage to the ZR's around the edges... but I had to really pick it apart and keep checking back and forth between the two bins to discern it... so it's not likely to be a meaningful difference in the field for me.
 
Thanks for the feedback Merg. I had a feeling you would like them.

...and I do like the fact that I, as well as a variety of the others here, have a new noun to refer to ourselves.

;)
 
Warning! This thread is more than 15 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Similar threads

L
Upgrade to mid-range price binoculars
2
Replies
26
Views
3K
Rufus1401
R
Snuffleupagus
2nd Pair / Upgrade for Birder - Advise Needed
2 3
Replies
44
Views
3K
jring
J
D
New binoculars under 200€
2
Replies
32
Views
2K
Davide_Videvitt
D
R
Looking to decide on a new binocular
2
Replies
29
Views
2K
tenex
tenex
A
Looking for long eye relief binoculars
2
Replies
25
Views
4K
jring
J

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)
Back
Top