[ikw101]

I'm looking for a pair of lightweight porro's to give somebody as a birthday present.

Whilst I realise they're seriously unfashionable surely there must be something out there apart from the Nikon E II and SE that will give a reasonable performance.

The Opticron SR GA 8x32 sound like a possible and at sub £160 good value for money. The binoculars are to be used primarily as a walkabout pair. The owner has another pair of larger Swift Audubon porro's which are great for use in a hide however climbing up and down mountains with them is a bit too much. Compacts eg. Nikon Travelites are out due to the limited depth of field and narrow field of view.

Suggestions welcome - please!

Thanks

[sf01457]

Warehouse Express have Opticron TGA 8x32 at £69 which sounds great value. I have used the 8x42 TGA WP and they are great. Not sure if the ones on offer are the waterproof version though.

[dafi]

I havent tried them but the 8x40 Nikon Actions look a great buy for £49 in warehouse express as well.

[matt green]

Originally Posted by sf01457

Warehouse Express have Opticron TGA 8x32 at £69 which sounds great value. I have used the 8x42 TGA WP and they are great. Not sure if the ones on offer are the waterproof version though.

I have the TGA WP 7x42 model, this is seriously one of the brightest binocs I've looked through ~ also very sharp with an easy on the eye view.

There is some play in the bridge mechanism but due to the excellent depth of focus it's no big deal.

Matt

[elkcub]

Originally Posted by ikw101

I'm looking for a pair of lightweight porro's to give somebody as a birthday present.

Whilst I realise they're seriously unfashionable surely there must be something out there apart from the Nikon E II and SE that will give a reasonable performance.

The Opticron SR GA 8x32 sound like a possible and at sub £160 good value for money. The binoculars are to be used primarily as a walkabout pair. The owner has another pair of larger Swift Audubon porro's which are great for use in a hide however climbing up and down mountains with them is a bit too much. Compacts eg. Nikon Travelites are out due to the limited depth of field and narrow field of view.

Suggestions welcome - please!

Thanks

Hmmm, if the person is used to Audbon porro quality (let's say an 804 HR/5), I'm afraid other porros may be annoying by comparison. To add new dimentions outside the Audubon's performance limits, however, have have you considered the little Pentax Papilio 6.5x21. http://www.epinions.com/content_182398783108 They are probably priced near what you'd like to pay, and by all reports they're probably great on walks. Just a thought.

Ed

[Tero]

There are a few 8x30 porros around, just look at local brands. Even the nikon 7x35 Actions work OK for many people. The 8x40s tend to be heavy.

Opticron 8x32 specs look OK, 540g weight.

[FrankD]

I am surprised they have not been mentioned but the 6x30 and 8x30 Leupold Yosemites offer very good optical performance considering their $75 and $95 price tags. Other than that the 7x35 and 8x40 Nikon Action EXs and the Minox and Leupold Cascade internal focus porros should be worthy of a look.

[Tero]

Well, we had to wait for you. I have only seen one Yosemite once. It was cute.

[ceasar]

[quote=FrankD;1007675]I am surprised they have not been mentioned but the 6x30 and 8x30 Leupold Yosemites offer very good optical performance considering their $75 and $95 price tags./QUOTE]

I have the 6 x 30's. Very fine little binoculars indeed; rugged and waterproof to boot! I don't know if you can get them in Europe though. Robert (Swissboy) in Switzerland recently managed to get some 8 x 30's for his students.
http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=55591&page=3 See thread 59.
Cordially,
Bob

[Perry Grin]

I've just bought the opticron taiga's 8x25 - £90 and very nice (not waterproof though)

[ikw101]

Thanks everybody for the replies.

We went out earlier today and tested a few pairs of 8x32's at WWT Martin Mere. The test itself was to ignore all the birds and look into an old timber barn at just over 1000m away. The more detail that could be resolved inside the barn the better. After testing an Opticron imagic porro's, Nikon Monarch 8x36, Minox BN 8x32, some larger Monarchs 8x42 -I think and Delta 10x40-ish the clear winner was the Minox 8x32 roof prisms.

We were astonished by the quality of the Minox and with the benefits of being waterproof, a generous guarantee etc. that's what we bought. Since then I've been trying to find out who Minox are. Apparently until a fairly recent management buyout they were a subsidary of Leica. As Leica have retained 49% of the shares I suspect Minox manufacture Leica binoculars under licence. This may account for their surprisingly good quality.

[Alexis Powell]

Originally Posted by ikw101

I suspect Minox manufacture Leica binoculars under licence.

No, I don't think so. Last I knew, all Minox were made in Japan by one or more of the major manufacturers there. Leica binoculars are made by Leica's own facilities in Germany and Portugal.

--AP

[ceasar]

Hmm? They are Roofs not Porros. Are they the Minox BD 8x32 BR Aspheric series which weigh 21.9 Ounces ($400.00 USA) or the lighter weight Minox BL 8x32 BR (non aspheric) series which weigh 18.5 ounces ($349.00 USA)? US prices from Eagle Optics. http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=91918 See thread #22.
Bob

[ikw101]

Hi Bob - yeah they're roofs alright the MINOX BD 8x32 BR asph to be precise. I almost feel like I've sold out deserting the porro's. Whilst at the top end of the market I've been convinced about the benefits of roofs for a while at the sub £250/$400 I honestly didn't expect the performance of the Minox roofs to exceed the Opticron porro's.

Alexis - The packaging and paperwork identify Minox as being based in Wetzlar, Germany. Given the international nature of these things I'll put my money on the actual manufacturing being carried out in China. Strange they also do a 62mm scope like their more prestigious neighbour in Wetzlar.