Sorry - Another which bins thread! (1 Viewer)

Hi all

Apologies for another 'what bins' thread but having read the advice given by clearly knowledgeable people on here and given I have read just about every review of every binocular between £200-500 and I still can't decide I thought it worth asking.

So, currently I have a pair of Nikon Aculon 10x50's which I bought predominantly for a bit of stargazing. I know they are not the most highly thought of bins in the world but I paid £80 for the, they are beautifully sharp, well made for the money and give good colour rendition. Oh, and I do like the focussing action!

I want a pair of birding bins though and am after something around the 600g mark or less and 8x30 or 8x442. Waterproofing doesn't bother me too much as I don't go out when its wet . I would prefer to spend around the £200-300 mark but am one of those people that will push the budget if the return on investment is worth it.

With this in mind I have carefully considered 3 Nikon options as follows:

Nikon Monarch 5 8x42 - Can source them new for £210 - tempting price but as my primary pair of birding bins have concerns over the FoV and they do not get the most stellar write ups (although they clearly sell by the boatload).

Nikon Monarch 7 8x30 - Can get them for around the £280 mark. Seem a good choice. Wider FoV than the 5's above, apparently excellent optically and a nice easy package to carry around but I also really like the sound of;

Nikon 8x30 E II - I have a penchant for all things that can be regarded as a classic - cars, cameras, bicycles - you name it - and from what I can see these are THE porro bins to own full stop. Can be had for around the £370 mark.

Zeiss Conquest T 8x30 - Like Zeiss optics when it comes to cameras but know very little about their 'budget' range of bins. Utters have the 8x30's for £399 and the moment which seems a good deal but would appreciate peoples views on them.

And now for a curveball. I have seen some pretty immaculate Swarovski 8x30 SLC WB (mk II's I believe) for £380. As per Zeiss not a brand I have ever considered as I have never thought them affordable but that seems a good price.

Are there any others I should consider also. Not a fan of Chin Bins due to QC concerns - been there, done that but if there are some stellar performers out there I should be looking at then I am happy to put them on the list.

Thanks all

Have you checked out the Zeiss Terra ED 8x42? Very high quality for the price.

I would definitely look at the Terra ED ahead of the Conquest without the HD glass. I had a pair of 8X42's for three weeks and the only reason they went back was the quick focus. By the way the focus isn't any quicker than the Monarch 5. You would have a leaning curve after the Aculons, I was playing with a couple of models today and was astonished t how good they were for less than a hundred dollars. Try the Terra ED's and maybe the Kowa SV's which have received amazing ratings for the price.
Steve

The EII is astonishing, my absolute favourite bin, try one if you can, but its head and shoulders above the rest of your list (Swaro excepted), a purchase I`ll never regret.

Yes. By all means get the Nikon 8x30 EII. IMO it is better than the Swarovski 8x30 SLC. I have both and have owned the 8x30 EII for 13 years.

Thanks all for your thoughts.

I went out today to have a look at a few pairs and as nowhere locally stocks the E II's thought I would try a few different pairs.

I tried the Hawke Frontier, Viking ED-S and a couple of others and what did I end up with? Some real Chin Bins - Visionary Freebirds!



Why you may ask. Simply they were easily the pair I liked looking through the most. It is difficult to describe but I am sure the more experienced amongst you will understand when I say the view was just 'bigger'. Top to bottom, left to right was much brighter, much clearer and everything just seemed closer - odd given that I only tested 8x42's. It was a murky afternoon and I could take them all out of the shop and have a scan over some fields and they were just nicer than anything else I tried.

Also at the moment being able to spend £150 on a set of bins instead of the £400 mark is advantageous - if I properly get in to birding (which I hope I will) when I have a bit more spare cash I will certainly buy the Nikon E II's (I need these in my life!) as well as try some other, more expensive ED's and I can always have the Freebirds as the pair to keep in the car.

Will attempt a proper review later once I have had a little more time with them.

Torview said:

The EII is astonishing, my absolute favourite bin, try one if you can, but its head and shoulders above the rest of your list (Swaro excepted), a purchase I`ll never regret.

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You coulda been big, you coulda been famous, you coulda been a contender...

Deep down Sheffield close to Creswell Crags
Way back up in High Stones among the old Cro-Mags
There stood a log cabin made of earth and wood
Where lived a country boy named Danny B. Goode
He never ever learned to read or write so well
But with an EII he became the best birder in Margery Hill

Go go
Go Danny go
Go
Go Danny go
Go
Go Danny go
Go
Go Danny go
Go
Danny B. Goode

Your brother, Johnny

brocknroller said:

You coulda been big, you coulda been famous, you coulda been a contender...

Deep down Sheffield close to Creswell Crags
Way back up in High Stones among the old Cro-Mags
There stood a log cabin made of earth and wood
Where lived a country boy named Danny B. Goode
He never ever learned to read or write so well
But with an EII he became the best birder in Margery Hill

Go go
Go Danny go
Go
Go Danny go
Go
Go Danny go
Go
Go Danny go
Go
Danny B. Goode

Your brother, Johnny

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Mighty early to crack the neck on that Jim Beam bottle aint it?

I am also looking for binocularas but maybe now I win some of the ... zen ray ... I`m shure all the reviews are very helpfull, but in the end I know i will just walk into a shop and take those that feel best in my hands and also are the most beautiful ... this may sound like a silly girl but in this way I have chosen two pairs and Im very happy with them. I did look through them too of xcourse! Only they eare lady-size so in weak light I see nothing anymore ... Do you think this is a very bad method for choosing bins? ...you probably do, but men may have a differendt attitude here ...

M dP

marie12 said:

I am also looking for binocularas but maybe now I win some of the ... zen ray ... I`m shure all the reviews are very helpfull, but in the end I know i will just walk into a shop and take those that feel best in my hands and also are the most beautiful ... this may sound like a silly girl but in this way I have chosen two pairs and Im very happy with them. I did look through them too of xcourse! Only they eare lady-size so in weak light I see nothing anymore ... Do you think this is a very bad method for choosing bins? ...you probably do, but men may have a differendt attitude here ...

M dP

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Hi Marie,

I don't think it's bad at all. If you're happy with your choices and if they fit you well then that's all that matters. Any particular binocular may be a good fit for one person while not so good for another.

Enjoy your new binos (whenever you get them) !

~ Beth

marie12 said:

I am also looking for binocularas but maybe now I win some of the ... zen ray ... I`m shure all the reviews are very helpfull, but in the end I know i will just walk into a shop and take those that feel best in my hands and also are the most beautiful ... this may sound like a silly girl but in this way I have chosen two pairs and Im very happy with them. I did look through them too of xcourse! Only they eare lady-size so in weak light I see nothing anymore ... Do you think this is a very bad method for choosing bins? ...you probably do, but men may have a differendt attitude here ...

M dP

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Oui! Mademoiselle Marie De P, you are a silly girl!

Trying binoculars and comparing one to the other is the best way, for sure, but not inside the shop with artificial lighting.

Give them your driver's license or credit card and see if they will let you take the binoculars OUTSIDE. Then you can get a better idea of how they will perform in the field.

Anyway, evaluating them inside the shop seemed to work for you with two binoculars, so maybe you have a better eyesight than most or the lighting in the shop doesn't have that typical green fluorescent color cast.

Then again, who knows which binoculars you might have chosen if you had taken them outside?

Monsieur Brock Le Pew

Mr. Brock
I can take some humour and i am not easily offended but let me say that you are slighltly rude! You know there is something women may knwo more about than man and that is ...intuition!

besides, I never said i looked through them in artifical light ... the shop is in a small town and of course i did go outside so maybe I am not as naive as you made me ...

i've read once in a magazine that those who take there decisions by intuition are afterwards happier than those deliberating long and wide ... but I am not perfect ... i am quite young and still learning and hope this remains so for al ong time ....

M dP

marie12 said:

Mr. Brock
I can take some humour and i am not easily offended but let me say that you are slighltly rude! You know there is something women may knwo more about than man and that is ...intuition!

besides, I never said i looked through them in artifical light ... the shop is in a small town and of course i did go outside so maybe I am not as naive as you made me ...

i've read once in a magazine that those who take there decisions by intuition are afterwards happier than those deliberating long and wide ... but I am not perfect ... i am quite young and still learning and hope this remains so for al ong time ....

M dP

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M dP,

I'm not knocking intuition, and it's not the exclusive purview of women! Men have it, too, but they just don't like to admit because for some reason women have take ownership of intuition. But from what you wrote it sounded as if you were only trying the bins in the store and then deciding on the basis of that. I know from experience that trying bins in a store and outdoors can really make a difference, particularly if its a small shop with not a lot of open space. Many others agree with this on BF. So I'm glad to hear that you did take them outdoors.

I found this out at the Sportsmans Outlet and with all the hunting clothes in the way and the shades pulled halfway down on the windows, I hardly got a view that approximated what I saw after I convinced the salesman to let me take the binoculars outside where the weird distortion in the more expensive model Hawke ED bins was easier to see than in the cheaper model, which I liked better.

Okay, as long as I was only "slightly" rude, I still think you are a silly girl! (that smilie means I'm joking, same as it did in my first post, thought those symbols were universal?).

B lP

Hi Marie, maybe you could tell us what binoculars you have now and what you`re looking for in the next pair ?

I see you`re in the wine industry, what type do you produce ?

John.

Torview said:

Hi Marie, maybe you could tell us what binoculars you have now and what you`re looking for in the next pair ?

I see you`re in the wine industry, what type do you produce ?

John.

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Hello John
and thank you for your answer. It is not exactly indurstry as we understand it but a rather small business. The business is outside of the Bordeaux region in Sud-Ouest and formally we produce simple vin de pays of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon mainly, which is more or less table wine though teh classification is rather complicadet. I daresay though that they are very good ... we could have an appellation etc. but that is only a lot of controls and limiting the creativity ... Sorry that I can not give any details, but father alwyas say we should not make too much fuzz about it ... let alone give the name on the internet ... we are somewhat tired of tourists coming to the front door (it is rather idyllic ...) asking for a degustation or if they could buy a crate or two .... we dont do that, we sell directly to some restaurants in teh region and to a few connoisseurs.

My binoculars now are the CL Pocket 8x sandcoloured and the Ultravid 10x aubergine-beige. They are both of 25mm, I think.

There are rather many owls where I live and in the night you dont see anything with my binoculars ... so I think i will need something bigger. But as I said dont take too much trouble in the end the decision will be spontaineous ... as everything I do ...

M dP

I may consider ...

brocknroller said:

M dP,

Okay, as long as I was only "slightly" rude, I still think you are a silly girl! (that smilie means I'm joking, same as it did in my first post, thought those symbols were universal?).

B lP

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Monsieur Brock le Pooh

I have read your half-hearted apologies and I may consider them some day when i feel extremly bored ....
In any case I will pay bacvk the rest of the bill when you have forgotten all about it, and that is a promise!


When it comes to the smilies I did not and I do not take notice of them because i consider them a toy of the illiterate ...

M dP

BTW are you the little brother of Winnie the Pooh? You can give him my regards then!

... the littel curly head ...

Mr Brock

you should thank god that the law has saved you from a silly girls wrath! I will say no more .... the case is closed.

(.... the post from KCFoggin that chided me at midnight for my harsh anser has been deleted by now ...)

M dP


BTW did you ever consider the far remote possoibility that a seemingly deadserious anser could be riding on a wave of laughter even if there is no grinning button at the end ..... NO?

You see ..... this is exactly my true reservation against the smilys ..... my favorite author wrote once that a novel should have no title because a novel is a machine meant to generate interpretations and a title limitees the posibilitys of the reader to interpretate ..... I hold that this is true also for the smilies .... instead of reading betweeen the lines .... understadning the subtext as we say in french .... the subtle meanings ...... or even discovering the secret message hidden in a seemingly harmless sentence (I love to hide messages especialley.....) we just look at the smiley and have a readymade interpretation, thereby overlooking the obvious ..... fast-food for readers!

Zorry if you had to learn in zis way zat my curly little head is not filled to ze brim wiz vin de pays and pastell colours .... say what you like, women always know it by intuiotion (maybe except a few specail persons who have to look before they know what zey are .... LOL .....) but men alwayz have to be told!

If I liked the smilies I would post one here .... wether it would be smiling like a human or smiling like my bullie-dog when he greets the postman ...... i leave that to your imagination!

I may have deleted it but I still meant what I posted and I was foolishly hoping that postings would get back to the topic of the thread and not a spitting war. Now back on topic please.

marie12 said:

Monsieur Brock le Pooh

I have read your half-hearted apologies and I may consider them some day when i feel extremly bored ....
In any case I will pay bacvk the rest of the bill when you have forgotten all about it, and that is a promise!


When it comes to the smilies I did not and I do not take notice of them because i consider them a toy of the illiterate ...

M dP

BTW are you the little brother of Winnie the Pooh? You can give him my regards then!

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Oh Jesus,

I learned that lesson with the EL 10X42 SV at Gander Mountain. The splendor of the SV view was made to look average inside the store, but out in the parking lot, WOW !
This smiley is for you Brock, you silly boy.:-O
Sorry KCFoggin:hi:

brocknroller said:

I know from experience that trying bins in a store and outdoors can really make a difference.

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