What bin do we use (1 Viewer)

Zeiss 8x32 FL probably followed by some Oly 8x25 PCIs (not DPCI) purchased 11 years ago, closely followed by a mixture of EIIs, Habichts, 7x42 FL assorted Minox and Olympi depending on need.

The 8x25 PCIs turned out to be a star buy, being the most useable pocket bins I ever owned (sharpness and handling), despite competing against some costing many times more.

After over 60 years of owning and borrowing bins and being dissapointed by many, remembering to be polite about someones latest 'pet'; that you actually hated, and being pleasantly surprised by others, I have a set that works for me. I have an annual cull of those least used and the bulk are still mid to low in retail cost terms.

Finally, they were not all bought for bird watching anyway, the pair bought when my daughter decided to leap out of aircraft at high altitude have now gone, about the same time as her boyfriend plummeted a long way before his reserve safely opened......

iveljay said:

Zeiss 8x32 FL probably followed by some Oly 8x25 PCIs (not DPCI) purchased 11 years ago, closely followed by a mixture of EIIs, Habichts, 7x42 FL assorted Minox and Olympi depending on need.

The 8x25 PCIs turned out to be a star buy, being the most useable pocket bins I ever owned (sharpness and handling), despite competing against some costing many times more.

After over 60 years of owning and borrowing bins and being dissapointed by many, remembering to be polite about someones latest 'pet'; that you actually hated, and being pleasantly surprised by others, I have a set that works for me. I have an annual cull of those least used and the bulk are still mid to low in retail cost terms.

Finally, they were not all bought for bird watching anyway, the pair bought when my daughter decided to leap out of aircraft at high altitude have now gone, about the same time as her boyfriend plummeted a long way before his reserve safely opened......

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Nehh, her boyfriend excersized HALO (for those who don't know: High Altitude Low Opening) just to impress his future father in law watching him with his new razorsharp bin Didn't you see him blink repeatedly with his right eye?

Nice mixture of bins BTW.

Jan

Hard question to answer as I have multiple binoculars for multiple uses,
zeiss more for birding,
miyauchi and fujinon for astronomy

why- ? just worked out that way

edj

I mostly use mine for birding. Had been some canon 12x36IS for many years, very good detailed views. Recently picked up some eldely, but wonderfully wideangle Bushnell Rangemasters, which I pair with a scope for the zoomed in views. Also have some Papilio bins for butterflies and close up work. Not looking for any others... my “binocular cupboard” is full... so it’s have to be one-out, one-in if I were to change.

PEterW

edwincjones said:

Hard question to answer as I have multiple binoculars for multiple uses,
zeiss more for birding,
miyauchi and fujinon for astronomy

why- ? just worked out that way

edj

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All three A in that aspect.

To bad Miyauchi went bankrupt some years ago, as their bins are superb, but I don't think Monk optics shread any tears over that.

Jan

14Goudvink said:

Bins I have used and use now (the last in the lists are my present bins):

Main bins:
8x30 porro (when I started birding at age 8, 10?)
Noblesse de Luxe 10x50 porro (more power is better! )
Vixen 8x23 reverse porro (didn't do much birding for a few years, mostly hiking)
Kite 8x23 reverse porro
Leica Trinovid 8x32 BA (went to the shop determinded to buy the best there was, which I thought was a Zeiss 8x30 BGATP, looked through everything they had and bought the Leica) (started birding again)
Leica Ultravid 8x32 BR
Leica Ultravid 7x42 BR
Swarovski 8x32 SV
Nikon 8x30 E2 (and Leica Ultravid 8x32 HD for family outings)

Long range observation:
20x50 porro (as a kid)
Nikon 12x50 SE
Swarovski 15x56 SLC

Compacts:
Leica Ultravid 10x25
Leica Ultravid 8x20
Monk Explorer 7x26 (same as Bushnell Custom 7x26)
Vogelbescherming 8x24
Leica Ultravid 8x20
Leica Trinovid 8x20

And some others in between, which have or will be sold.


George

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Hi George,

Got to ask,

Like mine, does every windowsill of your house also contains a bin?

Jan

All Nikons with exception of two Zeiss models Fl 8X32 (The only FL which handles distortion well IMO) Two Octarem 8X50s for viewing the night sky.
Got rid of a Leica Ultravid because of moisture, My Hgs were there also, not a drop of moisture in it.
Birding and nature observation main uses.

A.W.

I only really have one pair I use for everything. Nikon Monarch 5 12x42. Relatively light and rugged for hiking hills and mountains. I observe birds and other nature, aircraft, ships etc. I like the 12x but that might be from ignorance, I’ve not had a chance to try a decent 10x pair. I wear eye glasses and the Nikons give me more or less full field of view with the eye relief they have. Again if I tried a better pair with more eye relief I might change that assessment.

I’m hoping to be able to get to an event where Bino vendors have their wares to try out before buying my next glass.

I had a pair of cheap celestrons in the past that weren’t good.

I’d like to get a pair of Swarovski EL 12x50s but my wife would kill me if I spent £2000 on a pair of binoculars and in all honesty I’m a little worried they’d be too big and heavy for hiking at almost twice the weight of my Nikons.

jan van daalen said:

Hi George,

Got to ask,

Like mine, does every windowsill of your house also contains a bin?

Jan

Click to expand...

Nope, just one cupboard... :king:

When I buy new bins I sell some others. I can't afford to keep all of them and I am not a collector, just someone who takes a very, very long time to find out what he really likes...

First was a Japanese Atco 7x50 received as a Christmas present at the age of ten. Since I began birding 35 years ago there are too many to list, but here's a short list of the ones I considered to be my main birding binoculars:

Bushnell Sportview 7x35, 1983-84
Nikon Action 7x35, 1984-85
CZJ 8x50 Nobilem "Super", 1985-87
Swarovski 8x30W GA Habicht, 1987-1995
CZJ 8x50 Octarem, 1987-1997
Nikon 9x35 "E" (assembled from 8x30/7x35 E parts), 1991-1997
Nikon 8x32 SE, 1997-1999
Swarovski 8.5x42 EL, 1999-2004
Zeiss 8x42 FL, 2004-2007
Zeiss 8x56 FL, 2007-present

So far I haven't found another binocular I like as well as the 8x56 FL, so it continues to be the one I use the most. My most recent purchase, more for sentimental than practical reasons, was a Swarovski Habicht 8x30W GA, custom assembled thanks to the OP of this thread.

jan van daalen said:

Hi Steve,

Via Hermann's post reached us the announcement from Leica that you'll have to wait more that 18 months before you can close the upcoming Leica in your arms:eek!:
I wish you all the strenght in those coming months

Jan

Click to expand...

I'll wait. Aside from those two, nothing really gets my interest right now. By the way, regarding your original question, i started in 1968 as a Biology major with a Swift Nighthawk 8x40 with a 9.5* fov. Used those for many years and still have them. I have a binocular of some sort sitting everywhere I might need to grab one for a quick look.

Hi to all you binocular people!

My first binocular was gifted to me by my parents... at my request o. That was about 35 years ago. It was one of the Nikon Travelite reverse porro.

If you were to consider alpha to be the "most dominant one" ... I suspect it could be the Nikon Monarch series based off of volume sold - and not the so called best from Leica, Swaro, Zeiss.

When I'm out doing my outdoor activities: hunting and hiking and wildlife viewing; I see mostly Nikon binoculars out and about, both Monarch and Pro Staff. I infrequently see the big three.

My first high quality glass was the 10x32 Swaro EL and that was back when it first came out.

Today I'm mostly 7x glass so choice has been decided for me... Leica 7x42 UVHD+, Nikon EDG I 7x42, Opticron BGA Classic 7x35. I also keep Zeiss Conquest HD 8x32 and Maven B3 8x30... and a few Bushnell 8x25 reverse porro.

Looks like I've never gotten away from that compact and lightweight reverse porro!

CG

cycleguy said:

Hi to all you binocular people!

My first binocular was gifted to me by my parents... at my request o. That was about 35 years ago. It was one of the Nikon Travelite reverse porro.

If you were to consider alpha to be the "most dominant one" ... I suspect it could be the Nikon Monarch series based off of volume sold - and not the so called best from Leica, Swaro, Zeiss.

When I'm out doing my outdoor activities: hunting and hiking and wildlife viewing; I see mostly Nikon binoculars out and about, both Monarch and Pro Staff. I infrequently see the big three.

My first high quality glass was the 10x32 Swaro EL and that was back when it first came out.

Today I'm mostly 7x glass so choice has been decided for me... Leica 7x42 UVHD+, Nikon EDG I 7x42, Opticron BGA Classic 7x35. I also keep Zeiss Conquest HD 8x32 and Maven B3 8x30... and a few Bushnell 8x25 reverse porro.

Looks like I've never gotten away from that compact and lightweight reverse porro!

CG

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HI CG

I bet you drink 7Up too :-O
Nice of you to drop by.

Lee

LastStarfighter said:

I only really have one pair I use for everything. Nikon Monarch 5 12x42. Relatively light and rugged for hiking hills and mountains. I observe birds and other nature, aircraft, ships etc. I like the 12x but that might be from ignorance, I’ve not had a chance to try a decent 10x pair. I wear eye glasses and the Nikons give me more or less full field of view with the eye relief they have. Again if I tried a better pair with more eye relief I might change that assessment.

I’m hoping to be able to get to an event where Bino vendors have their wares to try out before buying my next glass.

I had a pair of cheap celestrons in the past that weren’t good.

I’d like to get a pair of Swarovski EL 12x50s but my wife would kill me if I spent £2000 on a pair of binoculars and in all honesty I’m a little worried they’d be too big and heavy for hiking at almost twice the weight of my Nikons.

Click to expand...

For half the SV price you'll have a 12x50HD Meopta. One I reckon for 99% A.

Jan

From 1st [around 1970] to present

Skyline 7x35
Bushnell Sportsview 7x35
Tasco 16x50 [junk]
Tasco 10x42 roof [junk]
Bushnell Custom 10x40
Bausch and Lomb 10x42 Elite V2 [stolen - loved em']
Bausch and Lomb 10x42 Elite V3 [not near the equal of the V2]
Zeiss FL 10x42
Zeiss HT 8x42 [primary and much loved]
Zeiss Conquest HD [super versatile, great travel bin for birds and bugs]
8 other Zeiss collectors and occasional use bins

My first binoculars were for astronomy and they were Bushnell 7x50 with a rocker arm focus bought at some sort of chain store in the mid 1980s. They were only $29.95, but I tried every pair they had until I found one that was well collimated, focused properly, and showed no overwhelming optical problems. It held up well and was passed around to kids and friends for many years. Next up were a pair of Mirador 7x50 bought at an optics shop, but they were quickly traded up for a Fujinon Meibo 7x50.

Because I am binocaholic, I tried a variety of larger and smaller glasses: Alderblick 7x42, Russian Tento 20x60, Fujinon 16x70, but nothing really stuck until I found a Fujinon 14x70 that I continue to use when I want to use an astronomy binocular on a mount.

In the late 1990s, I bought the Canon 14x45 IS. I was skeptical, but it quickly became my most used astronomy binocular and it continues to work well for me to this day. The Fuji 7x50 became part of my astro emergency kit that I always kept in the car. Whenever I was out on a planned observing trip I had both the Canon and Fuji 7x50. I picked up an early version Cannon 10x30 IS because the price was right, and I intended to use it for daytime and concerts, but it was only used rarely.

Then after about 15 years of binocular sobriety, I fell off the wagon a couple years ago and got interested in the new crop of roof prism binoculars for birding. I've been sampling price points: Celestron Nature 8x32, Sightron II 8x32, Cabela's Guide 8x32, Athlon Midas 8x42, Maven 8x30, and Maven 9x45.

The Athlon had a collimation problem and I decided to return it and not to replace it. The Celestron was <$100 and I guess reasonable value, but while the mechanics and center of field are good, the field edges and glare/internal reflection issues leave it far behind the <$200 Sightron and Cabela's. The Maven 8x30 is a pocketable little gem mechanically and optically, and it my first choice for travel, when I am also bringing a scope, or whenever I'd like something relatively compact. The Maven 9x45 is easily my favorite daytime binocular; it's also my most expensive--go figure.

dalat said:

My first binocular, which I bought at the age of 14 or so, was a 8x42 Porro called Esde Adlerblick.

When my interest in birding came back 30 years later (this happened in the tropics and the old Porro quickly suffered a mouldy death), I went straight to the Ultravid 8x42 HD.

I used my grandfathers Dialyt B 8x30 for a while and also tried a Zeiss FL 10x32 and the Nikon EII 8x30, but the Ultravid won and I keep using this one.

For the future, I might consider a 8x32 or 7x35, if something really good comes up. Or go the oppsite direction and for a Canon IS 10x42. Most likely though, I will keep my money and my Ultravid...

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Dalat,

No Kern??
Was ist loss??

Jan

Hi Jan, I'm an immigrant here, don't feel obliged to patriotic purchase decisions

(or no more Kern around when I moved in)

dalat said:

Hi Jan, I'm an immigrant here, don't feel obliged to patriotic purchase decisions

(or no more Kern around when I moved in)

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Hi Dalat,

Can be found regulary on fleemarkets in Der Schweiz.
Hard to find elsewhere for us aliens, or we have to have the luck to know an immigrant with an fleemarket hobby:smoke:.

Jan

In order of use
Zeiss SF 8X42
Kowa Genesis 8X33 car bins
Kowa Genesis 8.5X44
Eagle Denali X42 kitchen bins
Kowa 10.5X44 for trips to the shore
Several others that haven't seen the light of day in years
And no I'm not buying any more binoculars, if I can't see it with one of the above or one of my three Scopes it can't be seen.
Steve