Hello from a newbie (1 Viewer)

[WellKristOff]

Hello. I’m new to the forum from the north east of England.

My New Year’s resolution is to take up bird watching. So I will be looking for advice on buying some binoculars under £100, as that is all my budget will allow.

Any advice in this department is highly appreciated.

 

[KC Foggin]

Hi there and a warm welcome to you from those of us on BirdForum

Here's a link on Binoculars sub-forum and take your time going through it. Enjoy

Binoculars

www.birdforum.net

 

[delia todd]

Hi WellKristOff and a warm welcome to you from all the Staff and Moderators.

I'm sure you will enjoy it here and I look forward to hearing your news.

 

[rezMole]

£100 is quite a low figure, so there won't be a lot to choose from. Something like this will probably be a decent start: Opticron Adventurer II WP 8x42 Binoculars | Wex Photo Video

You would get better secondhand, but you'd probably have to wait longer - for the right bins to turn up.

 

[Chris G6 UXU]

Hello and welcome to the forum, enjoy and all the best.

 

[ClarkWGriswold]

Hi and welcome to BirdForum.

Rich

 

[WellKristOff]

Thank you for the welcomes and thank you @rezMole for the binocular suggestion.
I have also been looking at Olympus DPSI and Celestron Outland X.

 

[rezMole]

Thank you for the welcomes and thank you @rezMole for the binocular suggestion.
I have also been looking at Olympus DPSI and Celestron Outland X.

Don't know much about Olympus bins to be honest. Olympus are not famous for bins really. I've had Opticron bins myself - although not this model (when I first started birding) and they served me well for a few years. Before I moved up to mid-range Nikon bins, once I knew I would be birding forever .
Bushnell H2O 8x42 might also be worth considering - again I don't know what they are like really - never used them.
Just avoid all those bargain large magnification ones you often see on amazon / ebay (including all the zoom ones) - they are cheep for a reason.
As I said, secondhand could be a better option - I have had bargains in the past - my current bins cost me £700 (but were retailing at £1695 new, at the time!)

 

[WellKristOff]

Don't know much about Olympus bins to be honest. Olympus are not famous for bins really. I've had Opticron bins myself - although not this model (when I first started birding) and they served me well for a few years. Before I moved up to mid-range Nikon bins, once I knew I would be birding forever .
Bushnell H2O 8x42 might also be worth considering - again I don't know what they are like really - never used them.
Just avoid all those bargain large magnification ones you often see on amazon / ebay (including all the zoom ones) - they are cheep for a reason.
As I said, secondhand could be a better option - I have had bargains in the past - my current bins cost me £700 (but were retailing at £1695 new, at the time!)

I have seen the Bushnell H2O recommended when I’ve been searching. Is 8x42 the sweet spot size to go for rather than say 10x50?

 

[Fritz73]

Hola! Welcome to Birdforum

 

[rezMole]

I have seen the Bushnell H2O recommended when I’ve been searching. Is 8x42 the sweet spot size to go for rather than say 10x50?

I used to have 10x42 bins but switched to 8x42 because I got a really good deal on the secondhand Leica bins I now use. I have never looked back. I prefer having a larger field of view than that extra bit of magnification. Never even considered 10x50, mainly due to the weight. Also, I find the 8x42 more "stable" - I often found it difficult to keep the image steady with the 10x. Having said that, a lot of my friends have 10x42 and seem happy with them.

 

[Kits]

Welcome to Birdforum. I hope you enjoy your visits.