[headington7]

A little while ago I asked for help re: binoculars.Whilst I am deciding I took advantage of the ones on sale with 7dayshop.com.
These cost £5.99 !! I have a pair upstairs and a pair downstairs.They are 10 x 25 DCE 101m/1000m.
I would recommend them for a pair to have around the place.I was rewarded to-day with my first ever siting of a Goldfinch,well two actually.What a colourful bird !
Mervyn.

[redshift]

Another good cheap deal at present are the Opticron 8x42 Countryman Porros at Warehouse Express ( http://www.warehouseexpress.com ) which are going for half-price at £65 . My daughter already had a pair, at this price I had to get another for my wife! Great value for money.

[Mickymouse]

They sound like the cheapies I bought at my local Tescos, the 10 X 25s that is and I was well pleased with them in fact I now have 5 of 'em dotted about all over the place
Mick

[headington7]

Thanks for the advice,I will check regularly in Mr.Tesco !
Mervyn

[John P]

I have used 7day.com for some other products and can vouch for their good service and value, but just a word of warning having looked at the cheap binoculars on their website.

Not all of them say in the specification that they have separate eyepiece adjustment. So read the spec carefully before you order if this is a requirement for you.

[Tero]

Some brands are to be avoided. One is a small 8x21 at Wal Mart, Sports something brand. Good enough for kids. Also Simmons. Cost here under 20 $. Their lenses are lousy compared to Bushnell etc.

[Tero]

Cheap Binoculars. I checked the ones at Wal Mart here, and one seems to be Tescobrand and one Simmons. These looked identical. I had the guy show me the SImmons, as they had a display pair. The image is bad near the edges of the lens on the Simmons.

Even the Bushnells of the same type, some 20-30 dollars here aren't much better, as the eye cups don't fit that well. They work OK looking out from your window, with no stray light from behind.

I've used these types from time to time, and they are certainly better than no binoculars. These are roof prism, the straight tube compact shape.

Went over to the sports store as well, same shopping center. Moving up to the first porros, Minolta or other names familiar from cameras you are now moving to real binocular range, for some $50 here. Some were 8x21 and very compact for porros, I think Bushnell again, or may have been Japanese brand. I liked them, but don’t need a 5th pair right now. I always check, though, still looking for the ideal compact pocket size pair, water proof and solid as a rock and cheap!

[RockyRacoon]

I recently got a really cheap pair, for £25, these were 10x50, my last pair were 10x25 and they also cost £25. My new binocs have greatly improved my birdwatching!

[Tero]

One more thing about the cheapos. Make sure they have eye correction. Usually you focus with the left eye only, then adjust the right one to match. The cheapos have a lot of error in this I'm sure, so zero on the dial does not mean 20/20 vision. But I would check it outside the store. Focus on near things and far things, adjust for both. If the dial is at the end of the range, you may wish to exchange for a better pair before going home.

Just because they are cheap does not mean you should not get the most of them.

Some of you high end people may be saying you can't focus these. We of course mean "get least foggy image available" by "focus."

[alan_rymer]

I bought a pair of eyetx 10x42 waterproof nitrogen purged roof prism from 7Dayshop a month or so ago for £28.99 and am extremely happy with them. I have proved they are waterproof as I slipped down a muddy bank and into a stream with them under me whilst doing conservation work. I had to rinse them off and then later wash them at home!.
The neck strap & attachments and fron objective covers are crap!. The twist up eyepieces can work there way down. But if you can live with that they are fantastic value. http://www.7dayshop.com/catalog/prod...ducts_id=90464
I have ordered a pair of 8x40 Porro ( Non waterproof ) for her indoor to try to encourage her out when this weather improves.

[mark.dathorne]

Damn, Alan, all that effort to prove they're waterproof.
Not on the label then?

That's a wicked price, mate, but contact their quality assurance section for a top-up on your testing fees!

MarkieD
Beds

[Tero]

By the way, there was talk of how to test binoculars. The cheap binoculars are easy to test. Focus on an object in the center of you view. Then move binoculars slightly so the object is near the edge of the circle. If it is now unclear, that is a cheap set of optics. Probably lenses poor.

[PeterR]

Originally Posted by alan_rymer

I bought a pair of eyetx 10x42 waterproof nitrogen purged roof prism from 7Dayshop a month or so ago for £28.99 and am extremely happy with them. I have proved they are waterproof as I slipped down a muddy bank and into a stream with them under me whilst doing conservation work. I had to rinse them off and then later wash them at home!.
The neck strap & attachments and fron objective covers are crap!. The twist up eyepieces can work there way down. But if you can live with that they are fantastic value. http://www.7dayshop.com/catalog/prod...ducts_id=90464
I have ordered a pair of 8x40 Porro ( Non waterproof ) for her indoor to try to encourage her out when this weather improves.

Carefull Alan, encouraging her in doors to get out what ever next.
have you seen anything interesting on your walks lately? I'm off to Spain next week (got some pointers from the forum) so with some luck I should see some interesting birds.
PeterR

[marcus]

Hello
I have a BSA 8x32 pair. They only cost $79. I ordered them from Cabelas.com. Their optics are very, very good for some binos that only cost that much. Their just not as bright as a better pair, like my $350 Swift Audubons.
Marcus

[alan_rymer]

Originally Posted by PeterR

Carefull Alan, encouraging her in doors to get out what ever next.
have you seen anything interesting on your walks lately? I'm off to Spain next week (got some pointers from the forum) so with some luck I should see some interesting birds.
PeterR

Pete
Only thing of note were a pair of Dunlin on Lea Farm Scrape on Monday Evening.
Enjoy Spain and the birds , feathered of course. See you soon I hope!.

[Chris D]

Hey, I bought my wife a pair of Minolta Activa 8X40 wp fp Bino's --$140.00. They've been to Andes, Amazon, Highland and Lowland New Guinea. Wish I owned the patent. Can't say enough about them. Literally dozens of people have tried her's then bought pairs of their own. If given to someone starting out, they could really make a difference. Especially new guides in developing countries.........

[Nezvanova]

Hey Chris D, (or anyone else who might know)...I'm just starting out, don't know a thing about binocs. What does "WP FP" stand for?

I've been using a pair of Dakotas (cost my husband less than $20) which were just fine for the park where I usually watch birds. At Tinicum (Philadelphia) the lake is relatively small, the birds are often used to people, it's a walking trail, you're pretty close up. When I wanted to look at far-off ducks, I used our DV or Digital 8 cameras (18x and 22x) with teleextender lenses. Now I've been going to Bombay Hook (Delaware) to look at shorebirds where everything is much more spread out. It's a lot harder to get a good look and even the cameras with the teleextender lenses aren't quite enough.

Any suggestions for decent binocs that cost around $100-200 thereabouts, or for telextender lenses, same price, would be appreciated. As I'm not the expert in the family and haven't shopped for this kind of stuff before, I don't even know if that's a reasonable amount to start off spending...

Thanks!
Amy

[Chris D]

Dear Amy, WP and FP are "Water Proof and Fog Proof ". While I wouldn't bathe with my wife's bino's, they did work quite well in tropical heat and humidity. Philly can get a tad steamy in the summer. I know some might argue, but I believe the difference between your 20 dollar bino's and the Minolta's is far greater than the Minolta's and "Serious" glass. Sure, you can go to a store and really be amazed by what's out there. try the Minolta's. They also have large eye pieces for using your eye glasses. Honestly, I first checked them out because of Consumer Reports magazine. You can order them via the Internet from the Camera Shops in New York. I've had friends order them from "Out of This World" Camera and Telescopes in Mendocino CA. I got my Pentax bino's and wife's Minolta's from them. Great helpful bunch. And no, I'm not one of them. Just think good people deserve business. Enjoy you weekends in Ocean City........I grew up in NJ.....

[Tero]

Originally Posted by Nezvanova

Any suggestions for decent binocs that cost around $100-200 thereabouts, or for telextender lenses, same price, would be appreciated. As I'm not the expert in the family and haven't shopped for this kind of stuff before, I don't even know if that's a reasonable amount to start off spending...

Thanks!
Amy

Nikon Sporter 8x or 10x, runs about 200.

[marcus]

Hi Amy
I agree with Tero 100%. The Nikon Sporter. I bought my 10x for $199 about 2 years ago. Those binoc would be good at Bombay Hook. I've been there twice.
Marcus

[angigator]

Originally Posted by headington7

A little while ago I asked for help re: binoculars.Whilst I am deciding I took advantage of the ones on sale with 7dayshop.com.
These cost £5.99 !! I have a pair upstairs and a pair downstairs.They are 10 x 25 DCE 101m/1000m.
I would recommend them for a pair to have around the place.I was rewarded to-day with my first ever siting of a Goldfinch,well two actually.What a colourful bird !
Mervyn.

Why would you need a cheap pair of binoculars to site a goldfinch? surely you could do it by hand, or perhaps you meant a cheep pair?

[headington7]

Well I am a football referee,with glasses,so I do need binos to find the car keys ! They are great for £5.99,I must say.
Mervyn