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New Binoculars £200 (1 Viewer)

TR3K

TR3K

More Human than Human
Sorry in advance for the newbie post:-O

I'm looking to purchase a new pair of binoculars for general birding, 8x42 roof prism binoculars would be preferred but I'm open to other suggestions. I know you pay for what you get but hopefully I can find a decent pair of binoculars for £200 or less.

I have been looking at the following models but I'm sure I have missed more suitable models.

Hawke Frontier PC 8x42 (open hinge)
Viking MD 8x42
Opticron Countryman BGA 8x42


Thanks for looking any help or suggestions are most appreciated.
 
TR3K said:
Sorry in advance for the newbie post:-O

I'm looking to purchase a new pair of binoculars for general birding, 8x42 roof prism binoculars would be preferred but I'm open to other suggestions. I know you pay for what you get but hopefully I can find a decent pair of binoculars for £200 or less.

I have been looking at the following models but I'm sure I have missed more suitable models.

Hawke Frontier PC 8x42 (open hinge)
Viking MD 8x42
Opticron Countryman BGA 8x42


Thanks for looking any help or suggestions are most appreciated.
Click to expand...

Forget everything else and buy Hawke Froniter EDs now - before they go up, I bought a pair as a spare for £269, as my Nikon HGs are off being repaired. I got an extra 10% off as I was kept waiting for ages but they're widely available for under £300. For the money they are mind blowing. My Nikons (about £750 now, and probably a bit of a bargain for that price compared to the competition) may well become the spare pair. I have not had a pair of binoculars that were not one of the 'top brands' since the 80s but these'll do me fine.

Slight above your £200 budget but beg/borrow/steal to get the extra. Well maybe not the later.
 
Thanks for all the replies I would love a pair of Hawke Froniter EDs but I have already doubled my original budget of £100 if I keep increasing it I will end up with a pair of swarovski ELs ( I can dream)
 
TR3K said:
Thanks for all the replies I would love a pair of Hawke Froniter EDs but I have already doubled my original budget of £100 if I keep increasing it I will end up with a pair of swarovski ELs ( I can dream)
Click to expand...

Somehow find the money, these are really high quality binoculars for the price of budget brands. To put it in perspective the Nikon HGs I am comparing them with were described as the best binoculars you could buy for birding - they got a better review than the swarvoskis of the time- only a few years ago on Better View Desired, probably the most highly rated review site. If you get a budget pair and you really get into birding you will want to replace them very quickly.
 
Steve Babbs said:
Forget everything else and buy Hawke Froniter EDs now - before they go up, I bought a pair as a spare for £269, as my Nikon HGs are off being repaired. I got an extra 10% off as I was kept waiting for ages but they're widely available for under £300. For the money they are mind blowing. My Nikons (about £750 now, and probably a bit of a bargain for that price compared to the competition) may well become the spare pair. I have not had a pair of binoculars that were not one of the 'top brands' since the 80s but these'll do me fine.

Slight above your £200 budget but beg/borrow/steal to get the extra. Well maybe not the later.
Click to expand...

TR3K said:
Thanks for all the replies I would love a pair of Hawke Froniter EDs but I have already doubled my original budget of £100 if I keep increasing it I will end up with a pair of swarovski ELs ( I can dream)
Click to expand...

Right, LCE Worcester are knocking out Hawke Frontier ED's for £200. I know, I bought a pair last week and they asked me to let others know. This is my sixth pair of Hawke Ed's, I can't fault them
 
Forget the Hawkes..

Opticron HR WP 8x42 (£229 from most places) trounces EVERYTHING except the most expensive roofprisms from Zeiss, Leica, Swaro etc..

In fact, I've compared them to a Swaro EL 8x32 and clearly see the Opticrons are brighter, sharper and have greater contrast!! I'm considering buying some Swarovisions soon but will never let my Opticron HR WP's go!

Matt
 
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Steve Babbs said:
Slightly worried now! Why have you needed 6 pairs?
Click to expand...

I own two pairs again now. Previous pairs were sold when I was out of the country and I couldn't use them. I have a bad habit for chopping and changing.
but I keep coming back to the ED's.

In my experience, I have yet to see any Opticron bins come anywhere near the Hawke's and that's after considerable viewing when In-focus visit Upton Warren and this years bird-fair.

Edit, I have not tried the Opticron HR WP's in fairness.
 
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Interestingly the assistant at LCE was saying that Opticron were really suffering since the Hawkes arrived as the Hawkes had 'completely taken their market away.'
 
Steve Babbs said:
Interestingly the assistant at LCE was saying that Opticron were really suffering since the Hawkes arrived as the Hawkes had 'completely taken their market away.'
Click to expand...

I am sure that they have had an impact, but I find it difficult to believe they have completely taken their market away, after all the EDs are stiil a fairly limited range compared to what Opticron offer.

Paul
 
Paskman said:
I find it difficult to believe they have completely taken their market away, after all the EDs are stiil a fairly limited range compared to what Opticron offer.

Paul
Click to expand...

Well he didn't quite put it like that, also Hawke provide a wider range than just the ED. Either way I am delighted that these (& Opticron) provide the user with relatively cheap bins that compete favourably with the Alpha's. In some cases better than.
 
Veracocha said:
Right, LCE Worcester are knocking out Hawke Frontier ED's for £200. I know, I bought a pair last week and they asked me to let others know.
Click to expand...
That is a extraordinarily cheap price - £140 cheaper than direct from the UK distributors Deben and around £80-£90 cheaper than most other retailers. I guess there must be a huge mark-up on them if they can sell them at that price and still make a profit. It's almost worth buying an armful and selling them on that well known auction site for a tidy profit. ;)

I tried three pairs of Frontier EDs. The first two had a slow and spongey focusing action which I hated. On the third pair the focusing was still very slow but better in feel and I thought they were quite good.

Ron
 
NoSpringChicken said:
That is a extraordinarily cheap price - £140 cheaper than direct from the UK distributors Deben and around £80-£90 cheaper than most other retailers. I guess there must be a huge mark-up on them if they can sell them at that price and still make a profit. It's almost worth buying an armful and selling them on that well known auction site for a tidy profit. ;)
Ron
Click to expand...

The thought had occured to me.
 
Veracocha said:
Right, LCE Worcester are knocking out Hawke Frontier ED's for £200. I know, I bought a pair last week and they asked me to let others know. This is my sixth pair of Hawke Ed's, I can't fault them
Click to expand...


Can they be ordered on line or is it a in store promotion as Worcester is a bit far for me to travel with no car.
 
Paskman said:
I am sure that they have had an impact, but I find it difficult to believe they have completely taken their market away, after all the EDs are stiil a fairly limited range compared to what Opticron offer.

Paul
Click to expand...

The Eds are just the top of their range. I find the focus very smooth but it is slow I do prefer the 3/4 turn from one extreme to the other in my Nikon Hgs when focusing but it not as simple as that when it comes to focusing you are less likely to overshoot when focusing with the Hawkes.

It doesn't take away from the fact that these are amazing value for £300 at £200 it really is worth considering buying a few pairs.
 
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