sub ED 8x42s (1 Viewer)

I'm totally new to binoculars so tell me if I've got this all wrong but I want a reasonable pair for:

1) Birds in my back garden (close focus would be useful so probably roof prisms)
2) Walks in the countryside
3) checking out stars at night

I've pretty much settled on 8x42 and from what I've seen the price jumps up significantly when you go to ED glass so I was thinking of the level below that. That is those promoted as phase corrected.

I've been thinking about:
1. Barr & Stroud Savannahs
2. Hawke Frontiers PC
3. Nikon Monarchs
4. Minox BF/BVs

What seems very good value is the Barr & Stroud Savannahs which I've seen at £130. These have a very big FOV: more than 8 degrees or 143m @ 1000m. But the minus point is they're one of the heavier pairs around at 819grams/28.9 ounces. As I have zero experience I don't know if that would be too heavy to leave round your neck for hours or not?

I have also read very little about these apart from one review that was positive.

A second pair I've been looking at are the Hawke Frontiers PC. The ED version gets very good reviews but is roughly double the cost of the PC version which is what I was thinking of. I've seen a pair at £150. These too have a a huge FOV and are lighter than the Savannahs. But I read one forum post where a Hawke user couldn't get his realigned and they had to be completely replaced which was a bit off putting.

I've also seen the Minox BF/BVs at £150 too.

Finally I thought about the Nikon Monarchs. Seem to be very well reviewed and are nice and light but quite a step up in price on the above: the cheapest I've found have been £215. They also lack the big FOV of the Barr & Strouds and Hawkes so are they really worth the extra?

Looking though here I see Zen-Rays are highly rated but I don't think they're available in the UK are they?

Any views on the above would be appreciated and are there any others I should consider?

Thanks

Syntarsus:
Welcome to the Birdforum, it is a good place to find advice. I am wondering what
a sub means, ED glass, I do understand, and the Nikon Monarch is a nice glass,
so just try some for your liking. Sometimes, just mentioning a budget will gain some
good pics.

Jerry

Welcome! Syntarsus,

I've never seen the Barr & Stroud Savannah roofs before (they also have a Sahara line, not sure where that fits price wise with the Savannah). I'm only familiar with the brand name from collectible WWII binoculars.

But from the look of them, it seems like they've taken some design elements from Zen Ray and Vortex rather than "Bentley, Aston Martin or even a Supermarine Spitfire," and that the brand's "great heritage" now includes being "Made in China".

I doubt if they would be able to make them in the UK for only a little over $200.

In the video, they look larger than I expected from their specs (or perhaps the handler in the video has small hands).

Here's a video of the Sahara line with a narrative instead of a muzak track:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAsZJz06B9I&feature=related

The Savannahs are nice looking bins, and although the review details some of the features, the repetition of "excellent value for money" doesn't tell me enough. I could say the same thing about the ZR ED2, the Vortex Fury, the Pentax DCF CS, and they are all quite different from each other.

The fact they have phase coatings but there's no mention of silver coatings or dielectric coatings on the glass would put the ED2s on the top of the heap even w/out the ED glass.

Zen Ray's Website states: We ship our fine optics products to US, Canada, Australia, Norway, and European Union member countries Addresses Only using Fedex or USPS Priority Mail.

As far as the B & S, we need a meatier review that gets into the "nitty gritty" and tells us much more than the listed specs.

Perhaps you can try one at a camera/sporting goods store an review it for us. They don't sell B & S bins on this side of the pond, though I have seen their rifle scopes listed on some hunting optics Websites.

Brockosaurus

Syntarsus,

I've not seen the Barr and Stroud either I'm afraid.

Binos are a set of optical and production compromises. The more you pay the fewer compromises. Up to about £200, they can be pretty significant, and it's really down to you what you find acceptable. Look out for fuzzy edges, colour fringing, field curvature, contrast, and quality of build amongst quite a long list. A large field of view is only good if most of it is usable. If not I feel it's very distracting. Many here have been critically appraising binos for a lot of years and are sensitive to all of them. I'm a relative newcomer, and sensitive to some and indifferent to others. You are going to have to figure out what works for you.

Rother Valley Optics is pretty close to you. It's mostly mostly an astronomy shop, but they carry a range of binos, and the staff are nice. See what you think. You will have to go elsewhere for the Monarchs etc. I think most would agree that the Monarch is a very good package if you can stretch for the price. Yes, I would say the Frontier ED is better optically but perhaps not on build quality. Both are far from perfect, but really what is?

Good luck,

David

Hi Syntarsus,

I have both the Monarch and the Frontier ED and IMO the Frontier ED are the better bins optically.
As to the build quality of the Frontier ED there is nothing wrong with them, certainly not with mine anyway or many others that I have seen. Mine are very, very well made.

Good luck. :t:
Deano

The Monarchs have never been bad, more of a standard of the 90s and 00s. But we have moved on, we have cheap ED glass now. So shop around. The Monarchs will be light, sturdy and reliable.

If you want to get ED glass, the HAWKE frontier readily available in UK is the way to go. FWIW, its US equivalent is Zen ED1, which seems to have only 8x43 right now for about $295.

http://www.zen-ray.com

do consider their ED2 version which has dielectric and features like rainguard. Without ED glass, i can think of Nikon Monarch III and Zen-ray ZRS HD. Both have dielectric coating.