black crow
Well-known member
DELETED:
I changed my mind about the value of this thread. Carry on folks.
I changed my mind about the value of this thread. Carry on folks.
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like any other sport/hobby....you have....the producers....maniac users/watchers...casual users/watchers... .and those that see the final score on the late night news.....
I don't consider myself an elitist and I have normal 20/20 vision. I can easily see the difference between a Zen Ray and a Swarovski optically and quality wise and I think the majority of people can. If they didn't nobody would buy the alpha level binoculars. They must see a difference to pay the difference in price. I can see differences as you move up in price although they do become incremental after $1000.00. A lot of times when you pay more for a binocular you are not just buying the optical performance, you are paying more for a better warranty and good customer service and brand reputation and resale value down the road.
I don't consider myself an elitist and I have normal 20/20 vision. I can easily see the difference between a Zen Ray and a Swarovski optically and quality wise and I think the majority of people can. If they didn't nobody would buy the alpha level binoculars. They must see a difference to pay the difference in price. I can see differences as you move up in price although they do become incremental after $1000.00. A lot of times when you pay more for a binocular you are not just buying the optical performance, you are paying more for a better warranty and good customer service and brand reputation and resale value down the road.
I have to wonder if all these technicalities are that meaningful to actually looking through and enjoying a binocular.
No, that would be my year of birth. I didn't want to go through the hassle of changing my profile name once a year :-OLooksharp65. If that's your age it is also mine.
I tried to get into birding but I don't like to travel much anymore so I birdwatch when one shows up. Yesterday I had want I would call a banner birding day. On one of my favorite trails I walked into a grove about half a city block of Madrone trees covered with red berries. In that tiny area was maybe close to 150+ Robins (thrushes lol) and maybe two dozen Cedar Waxwings going insane on the red berries. The berries were dropping from the trees like hail and every dozen steps I'd kick up 6 to a dozen Robins on the ground and the rest were flying back and forth just above my head. It was delightful but as I had 10x bins I didn't get to look at much. They didn't want to sit still. Half a mile later I spotted two Pileated Woodpeckers and heard a third that I never could find. (that's the most in one day I've ever seen) I got right under a snag that one was on and so got a great view of him in those 10x. Most days up there I don't see five Sparrows or Chickadees and a Raven or two. If birdwatching was my meat I might be much more critical of what I see in my binoculars.
Mostly because I live right at the foot of mountain ranges and one side of my valley is open grasslands as I'm close to the Great Basin desert and so I hike up the tree filled other side of the valley and just scope the other side which could be three or more miles away. On my upper deck I have a pair of 25x100 Oberwerks and often see the elk and coyotes, Golden Eagles and Red Tails, fairly close up or some hikers passing a joint on top of Grizzly Peak. That's fun as it's about three miles away or more as I said. I'm a spy on a mission doing surveillance so watch out lol. I often look down into town and watch all the humans like a giant colorful ant hill of action. I love a wide FOV as I deal with winter blues and If it's a sunny day I love just to see bushes and brown grass in the sunlight. I think that's my favorite sight in a bino. You don't really need top notch optics for that.
I don't mean to start a war or offend anyone but it's something I've thought about for a long time. Do you think most of you regulars are actually binocular elitists?
For me the wonder and enjoyment of binoculars comes from watching behaviour of birds and animals, from getting unfeasibly close views of insects and flowers through them, from watching almost anything in nature.
Other people get off on those technicalities (different strokes for different folks) and I too find them fascinating but they aren't what I use binos for.
As to how many members actually post here. I remember some while ago noticing that a review of mine had notched up 12,000 hits but at the time only about 25 members had posted anything on the review thread.
And I have to take my hat off to our technicality-loving members and in fact all regular visitors here because I don't think there is anybody who hasn't pitched in to help a beginner or even a more experienced person who came to Bird Forum looking for help.
Lee
I don't care for your word elitist. To me it's pigeon-holing and isn't accurate for what goes on around this forum.
It is the natural evolution of any forum, anywhere on the internet, to start discussing the minutia. After all, and after a while, what else is there? You have an interest in binoculars or you wouldn't be here. You have (or had) 20 some pairs of the things. Though you describe yourself as an "average user", average users won't own 20 pair of binoculars in their lifetime.
To the BS: Yes it's piles up sometimes around here and one will identify the sources after a while. Don't take it too seriously would be my advice.
There are also some valuable sources of useful and objective information here and I don't consider them elitists either. Take and give from this forum what you will but try not to knock people who don't see things (or not in your case) the same as you.
Cheers
ps "elitist" is a loaded word, whether you say differently or not.
No, that would be my year of birth. I didn't want to go through the hassle of changing my profile name once a year :-O
You're truly blessed, living at such a location! And I love your poetic description of the Robins and Waxwings. After all, that's what birdwatching is about :t:
My place is fine with several reserves in the area, waders and seabirds, marsh, lowland with horses and cattle grazing, a couple of fairly big rivers and a few small and then the hilly woodlands, all within reach with a bike.
If I'm sick (like now with the flu), I can look out through the balcony door, covering about 3 kilometers with a scope or binoculars.
So I too avoid travelling, but twice I went away 300 kilometers by train to the southwesternmost corner of Sweden, famous for its hawk migration in the beginning of September.
Regards,
//L
I'm not exactly a "regular" here but I think everyone who even lurks on a forum like this must really enjoy using binoculars and want to learn (or share) how to get even more enjoyment out of them, if they can. You seem to have learned, or perhaps just confirmed, what matters to you and what doesn't, which is a good thing -- and the less does, the easier a time you should have. ("Details" like FOV or smooth focusing matter much more to me.) So where's the problem: does it matter who's more typical?