The perfect car bins (1 Viewer)

I recently bought a minty pair of Audubon 804 HR/5s on ebay for $150. That's right, $150. They don't quite have the resolution of my SEs, but they're bright and give a very, very good view and they cost...$150.

They are great for sure! And the price you paid for them was great. I have one (along with SE's) but I don't think I would want to use it as an everyday car binocular. I want something for that purpose that is easier to conceal and if stolen from me would not cause me as much grief as if I lost my 804! Like the Vortex 8 x 42 Diamondback I use for that purpose!:eek!:
Bob

Those 804's are surely a neat binocular. I sort of agree with Caesar about the car binocular though. The life of a vehicle binocular can be tougher than might be assumed. There can be a lot of bouncing, vibration, and temperature swings that have the potential to bode ill for a binocular, especially a large porro design that is known for having over sized prisms. But if you can put it in the proper sort of case and can keep it from temperature swings while it is in the car, it will certainly give a good view. I do not need any lesser optic in a car binocular than I need for any other purpose, so I never saw the need for just a so-so car/truck binocular.

Actually, I use my Promaster ELX ED for my vehicle binocular. Three reasons. One, it is optically the equal of the task at hand, two, it has the water and oil repellent coatings. I often have very less than clean hands when I need to grab the binocular, so I like that feature. Third, the sort of WW-II retro leather looking case gives small hint that it contains a decent binocular. Also that case fits just right in the space in front of the seat and just behind the extended cup holder and sits right beside the 4WD transfer case lever. It can be easily covered there with a jacket or something and really gives no hint of its presence. Also that case will sit upright on its flat bottom and is big enough to get the binocular in and out quickly.

On another topic, I sent my 804 to Nicholas Crista. He was the head optical department man at Swift before the moved from Boston to California. I really didn't think it needed anything. Nicholas charged $50.00, cleaned the binocular, found one of the prism adjustment plates a bit loose, double checked prism alignment, found one of the prism mounts was starting to loosen up a bit, re-cemented the prism assemblies on both sides, and collimated it "HIS" standard and replaced the rubber eye cups. His comment on collimation was "it is maybe OK for the factory, but it is not OK for me and it is easy to fix". He said the same thing about my 7x36 Eaglet and I had him collimate it too. Anybody that does not think a small collimation change for the better can make a substantial difference needs to do a before and after like that. The difference is remarkable. Let me know if you want his contact info. That 804 had seen light duty as a birders car binocular before I got it.

My car bins have it pretty good. I park in covered parking and they ride in a pajaro bag slung over the back of the passenger seat, gently swaying as we bang along the roads when I'm out birding. It never gets cold enough down here for low temps to be an issue.