Binocular tactics??? (1 Viewer)

Kevin Purcell · Dec 11, 2008

Sancho said:
Why is that? You´d imagine soldiers would have to focus quickly, what with folks trying to kill them and all......

IFs work fine for distant targets which the military is most interested in so you can set the bin at the hyperfocal distance and see everything from closer than that to infinity.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperfocal_distance

Then you never need to worry about refocusing the bins ... pick them up and scan. What could be quicker. And they never get knocked out of focus either.

Same goes for sailors and anyone else interested in stuff 100m or more away.

If the person is close enough to easily kill you with small arms you don't need optics to see them. The iron sights (or low magnification reflex gun sights these days) work fine.

A secondary effect is the (mostly) young soldiers have a big accommodation range to they can come in even closer by changing their eyes focus. Doesn't work for older farts like me but I find that Yosemites set to the hyperfocal distance I can see "clearly" down to 75m or less. Actually IF Yosemites probably would sell well.

Peter Dunne observed that most birders using field marks to ID birds (i.e. passerines) do so at a range of 40m or less. That's the same as shotgun range with bird shot. Some things haven't changed (except the birds get to fly away).

Perry Grin · Dec 11, 2008

ReneZ said:
I'm in doubt what to do and would appreciate your advise. I understand that you get what you pay for, but if I take a budget of £350 and want to get the best for that money, you can do the following:

1 Buy second hand an earlier version of the big brands - probably not their best line(something like 7 or 8 X 40).
2 Buy second hand a smaller size, but better quality line (same 7 or 8 x 20/25) with the latest coating T* or similar.
3 Buy new a second-tier brand, but with multi-coating, Bak4 etc?

The difficulty is that you can't really compare all possible offerings.

Appreciate your advice! Thanks, Rene.

Hi,

I was recently in the market for some new bins and looked at 2nd hand and new. I found that the used bins being offered by retailers were very expensive. I plumped for 10x42 SLC's £699 new (at the time) vs £589 used (and not perfect). There are much better bargains to be had privately, though often there won't be a guarentee or the chance to try before you buy. Not sure if the recent credit crunch will mean cheaper bargains as no one has any money or no used bins as no one has the cash to upgrade!

If you are set on second hand then I would just be very patient, take the time to try a few out at various retailers/field days to decide which models you would be happy with and then wait until a bargain appears.

Perry

Sancho · Dec 11, 2008

Thanks for that explanation, Kevin!:t:

Rene, we are all in a state of suspense....what are you going to buy? (I can´t buy anymore bins so I´m living vicariously through your purchase).

Steve C · Dec 11, 2008

ReneZ said:
Indeed, something suitable for low-light conditions. 7 or 8 x 42/43/44/45 with very good low-light qualities. Something must be out there that doesn't break the bank as I'm not ready (yet) to steal the study funds of the kids. Appreciate your help! Cheers, Rene.

Rene

That post, and your post just before it, have just defined the Promaster ELX ED and the Hawke Frontier ED. My Promaster is the best low light binocular I own. Its image qualities are on par (or close enough not to make a noticeable practical difference) with anything else. And they will not leave you with the feeling that you have deprived your kids of basic necessities.

Kevin Purcell · Dec 12, 2008

Steve C said:
Rene

That post, and your post just before it, have just defined the Promaster ELX ED and the Hawke Frontier ED. My Promaster is the best low light binocular I own. Its image qualities are on par (or close enough not to make a noticeable practical difference) with anything else. And they will not leave you with the feeling that you have deprived your kids of basic necessities.

Given Rene is a Scot (nay, a Glaswegian!) she would be looking at a Hawke Frontier ED for £270.

And we have a report elsewhere on the board of another Glaswegian using a Hawke looking across at Mull one late fall afternoon (probably not from Glasgow ... that would be rather good for a pair of bins

) and being rather happy with the late in the day view.

You might hunt down his post, PM him and see what he has to say.

ReneZ · Dec 12, 2008

Good one team, many thanks!! (and for the record, I'm a 6'5" bloke):-O
Cheers, Rene

Sancho · Dec 12, 2008

ReneZ said:
.......(and for the record, I'm a 6'5" bloke):-O

Yeah, sure...everyone says stuff like that about themselves online!!!

Northern Viking · Dec 17, 2008

ReneZ said:
I'm in doubt what to do and would appreciate your advise. I understand that you get what you pay for, but if I take a budget of £350 and want to get the best for that money, you can do the following:

1 Buy second hand an earlier version of the big brands - probably not their best line(something like 7 or 8 X 40).
2 Buy second hand a smaller size, but better quality line (same 7 or 8 x 20/25) with the latest coating T* or similar.
3 Buy new a second-tier brand, but with multi-coating, Bak4 etc?

The difficulty is that you can't really compare all possible offerings.

Appreciate your advice! Thanks, Rene.

Northern Viking said:
Today I got my hands on a few binos that I wanted to check out, this is my short resume.

The weather was cloudy but clear, with deasent light.

Leica Ultravid 8-42 they were very good on optics, but didn't like the feel of the focusing wheel and they are not worth the price at all. they cost 2,9 times the Imagic

Swarovski EL 8,5x42 WB Brilliant optics, but they feel clumsy compared to Opticron. However the optics are excelent, but pricy! they cost 2,5 times the Imagic.

Zeiss Victory 8x42 + FL this was a disapointment, they are good, but for the price they were not good enough. They cost 2,4 times the Imagic

Opticron Imagic BGA se 8-42 These bins are unbelievable, optics and feel are totally insane for the price and the competition.

I couldn't really tell the difference between Imagic, Leica and the El. I could probably look for things that could separate them, but I used them like I would use any bins and I am surpriced on behalf of the Opticron Imagic, I also tried the DBA and Aurora and they were not better. However, the Aurora was very compact, but they cost almost twice the price and are not worth it.

I did switch between all the binos I mentioned, back and forth and there is no doubt in my mind when the day comes

However, the best binos that I tried was the Swarovski SLC 8-56 but at 1,29KG or almost 3lbs, they will stay at home, but they were insane good!!!

This is a short review i did a few months ago, and my honest opinion is that you don't get what you pay for when you buy one of the big 4.
They are good, but Opticron Imagic BGA se gives you the same for a lot less.
I had all the socalled best binos and different Opticrons and there is no way I'll spend 2,5-3 times the cost of the Opticron Imagic BGA se to get simmilar or even lesser performance(Zeiss Victory 8x42 + FL) because of the Brand.

ColonelBlimp · Dec 18, 2008

Hear hear, I actually preferred my Imagic BGA SE's to some ELs at a testing day a while back.

Sancho · Dec 18, 2008

FWIW, Opticron´s After-Sales Service is, in my experience, as superb as that of the legendary Swarovski equivalent.

John M Robinson · Feb 13, 2009

Kevin Purcell said:
I can see the difference in view with my -1D (left) and -3D (right) of astigmatism between wearing and not wearing my glasses with a bin (assuming I can deal with the spherical -3D in both eyes with the bins) with any halfway decent bins. So for me not wearing glasses is not really an option anymore.

Kevin have you considered contact lenses. I don't know about you but I am often out in the rain and my glasses frequently get wet and hard to look through. After 57 years of never needing glasses I tried contacts, it was hard at first but then I got used to putting them in. I don't use them on a daily basis, only when I'm outdoors in the field in bad weather.

Kevin Purcell · Feb 13, 2009

John M Robinson said:
Kevin have you considered contact lenses. I don't know about you but I am often out in the rain and my glasses frequently get wet and hard to look through. After 57 years of never needing glasses I tried contacts, it was hard at first but then I got used to putting them in. I don't use them on a daily basis, only when I'm outdoors in the field in bad weather.

No, I've not tried contacts.

I've worn glasses since I was a teenager (I can't do without them). And as a chemist (in a previous life) some always-on eye protection helped when things went wrong plus you don't want to be wearing contacts in a lab (too many things to get in the eye and a contact won't help then). So I never considered them.

Plus I have moderate astigmatism (-3D) in my right eye that contacts used to have problems correcting for. I suspect it's better today than it was.

I think my next step is to get progressive lenses in my eyeglasses. I went bifocal at my last prescription (time waiteth for no man) but I think PALs might be in my future.

Hmmm, Zeiss eyeglass PALs with Lotutec (they do have them!). Now how do I make sure the logo is visible

ColonelBlimp · Feb 14, 2009

Kevin Purcell said:
Hmmm, Zeiss eyeglass PALs with Lotutec (they do have them!). Now how do I make sure the logo is visible

I'm putting an order in for some today-my current glasses are terrible and when I look through bins with them they reduce it to mud.

To get some new ones with AR coating to stop me having to put my specs on my head all the time would cost £60-odd anyway, so an extra £40 for Lotutec and brand loyalty can't go amiss!

Binocular tactics??? (1 Viewer)

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