A decent set of cheap bins (1 Viewer)

Recently I have been searching for a set of small inexpensive set of bins for a 6 year old grandson who likes to tag along birding with me. I tried the Vortex Diamondback, Opticron Oregon and Discovery models all in 8x32. prices for these models range roughly between $135 and $235. I was checking out a web site called Best Binocular Reviews that gave an award to the Meade RainForest Pro for the best inexpensive model for 2015. I had been aware of this model for about a year but had'nt tried it because I never heard anything positive about cheap Meade bins. However B&H dropped the price on the 8x32 model down to $81 and so I gave it a look and I am glad I did because I would easily pick it over the above models and not because of it's price. It is Phase Coated, Fully Multi-Coated and 425 ft Field of View, twist up eyecups and a very nice view. Give it a look! Jim

Sounds interesting! But the big questions left unanswered is: did the grandson like it, and did the IPD fit him?

hawken 12 said:

However B&H dropped the price on the 8x32 model down to $81

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and with a limited lifetime warranty to boot, looks like good value.

Best wishes,

Phil R. - I will know on Christmas Day if he likes them and I think he will. These will be his first that are not really toys. The IPD is very small, I don't have an actual number though. In fact the whole unit is quite small,about the size of the Oregon or Discovery with thicker Rubber armor. Well made and weighs about 16 oz.. Close focus is listed at 8ft. but is really about 5ft.

They look excellent. The eye relief is good for an 8x32,
which also suggests a more advanced eyepiece than usual.
No complaints about defects online, so as long as the IPD is OK,
they should be very well received. That general body type from
China usually goes down to an IPD of around ~57mm.

Hawken 12,
House of Outdoor in Maarssen has a 30 euro 4,2x22 porro, which is excellent for a child. You can send an e-mail to [email protected] and you will know more about it. Kamakura showed me once also a porro binocular which was especially designed for children, but I do not know where you can buy it.
Gijs van Ginkel

hawken 12 said:

.......However B&H dropped the price on the 8x32 model down to $81........ Jim

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Seems that they raised the price again by $11. :C

Swissboy said:

Seems that they raised the price again by $11. :C

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Yeah, but I bought a pair anyway. Then waited, and waited, as they needed to be ordered in by B&H then shipped to Oz. (Note: they're in stock, now, for US$89. You can probably thank me that B&H re-stocked.)

As the OP noted, these are surprisingly good binoculars for the price. I've only had about an hour with them so far, so all my impressions are preliminary - but here goes:

• The Meades are small (shorter than my Vortex Diamondback 8x28s and only slightly wider) and reasonably light-weight at around 500g (a bit over 16oz; compare to roughly 400g for my Diamondback 8x28s). They seem, in design, quite similar to some of the Vortex offerings and may well derive from a similar source - the black vs green armour being the only very obviously noticable external difference - if you don't read the markings.
• Construction seems solid, the focus wheel moves smoothly (counter-clockwise to infinity) and the hinge seems nicely weighted. The range of IPD adjustment seems good. Dioptre adjustment is a ring near the right eyepiece, does not lock but does hold it's position firmly. The 3-position twist-up eyecups work well and seem well-matched to the available eye relief (stated as 14.7mm; which I see no reason to doubt). The adjustments I find comfortable, with my nearsightedness, put the eyecups fully up without glasses and in the intermediate position with. ER for those wearing glasses for longsightedness might be more problematic.
• The field of view is wide - I've no reason to disbelieve the quoted 8.1 degree, 141m@1000m (425' @ 1000yd), manufacturer's figures. (Note that the 8.1 figure features on the focus wheel.) Close focus is specified as 2m, but I have my doubts. I can normally focus more closely than specification due to nearsightedness, but can't with the Meades. The sweet-spot seems decently wide, with degradation towards the edges mostly due to field curvature (I can sharpen them up by altering focus). CA is quite well controlled (though present) in the centre of the field, but becomes apparent fairly quickly off-axis, though it is not at all bothersome until well towards the edges (note: I'm not especially susceptible to CA). I've not really had a chance to check for glare and flare - it's quite dull in Sydney today.

Overall I find the view, so far, quite good and nicely comfortable. A quick comparison to my Sightron BS II 8x32s suggests the Rainforest Pros are slightly less bright, slightly less sharp, have a different colour balance (perhaps tending more red? I'm not really sure yet), have somewhat less overall contrast - and the Meades don't seem to control CA as well as the Sightrons. However, on all these things the differences are minor and might suit some more than others (except, probably, the CA). Nonetheless, in combination, the differences add up to a view through the Meades that I don't find quite as satisfying as the Sightrons - even with the Meade's wider field of view, which I don't find all that big a deal (though others might). The Rainforest Pro's size certainly makes them easier to pack than the Blue Skys, so they might well displace the Diamondback 8x28s from my camera bag (though the additional weight means they might not: camera bags get heavy!)

I might post something further as I become more familiar with these Meades. I'd certainly say they're good value at the USD$91 price I paid (a whole $2 more than current pricing :C ).

...Mike

P.S. In the 2nd attached photo the bins are, from left to right, the Meade Rainforest Pro 8x32, the Vortex Diamondback 8x28 and the Sightron Blue Sky II 8x32

P.P.S.

Swissboy said:

What's your species on the avatar? I often have no clue!

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Mine's fairly obvious (but perhaps not to a non-Aussie?) - a Sulphur Crested Cockatoo (photo taken in my back yard, many years ago).

Thank you for the review mfunnell. I enjoyed the way you presented the info and your experiences with this model.

After looking at your pics of the bin for a bit and reviewing the specs I felt like I had seen the binocular before under another label. With a little digging I now wonder if these two are the same binoculars.....

http://promaster.com/spec-sheet.html?catalog[name]=ProMaster-Infinity-EL-8-x-32-Binoculars-%236944-Binoculars-and-Scopes&catalog[product_guids][0]=1093052

....which then made me remember back to the Tumi Dakota Elite 8x32 and 7x28 models that were put out on clearance 7 or 8 years ago. IIRC they were moving the 7x28s at $20 and the 8x32s slightly more. A bunch of us here bought them. Here are the links.....

http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=137491

http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=207214&highlight=Dakota+Elite

Ah, well: my Meade Rainforest Pros won't be replacing my Diamondback 8x28s as my "camera bag bins". This morning, as the rising sun peeked occasionally through the clouds, I discovered their primary optical sin: flare. I mean FLARE! Most especially veiling flare, if given the slightest provocation. These things don't just lose contrast, they lose the view - as if trying to peer through skim milk. No: make that full-cream.

Looking at Frank's comments above (thanks for the kind words, BTW) and following the historical links, I'm pretty sure he has nailed it: these are likely minor variations on the Promaster/Dakota "Elites" he mentions. The coatings seem a little different (more blue than purple with my Meades) and the assembly perhaps slightly improved, if a look through them with a LED flashlight is anything to go by (hard to know from a sample size of 1) - but otherwise I kept thinking "sounds about right" as I read through the old threads Frank linked to.

I still think they're quite a nice little binocular, in many ways, but the flare I saw this morning means they won't be a constant-carry type of bin for the use I initially thought of after my first views. No big deal, though: I bought them more out of interest/curiosity than anything else, as about the cheapest phase-coated roof bins I could find in the 8x30-something format.

...Mike

P.S. The rain stopped, the sun broke through the clouds and I was able to compare the Rainforest 8x32s side-by-side with my Diamondback 8x28s. For all their fussiness about eye position and less-than-perfect flare control the Diamondbacks performed better, and by a decent margin. That wouldn't be so in low light, but in bright morning sunshine and with flare easily provoked the Diamondbacks were clearly better.