I have to start by saying that I am totally inexperienced at bird watching and using binoculars, totally "green", but I thought it might be useful or other beginners if I were to describe what I went through in purchasing my first set of binoculars specifically for bird watching. I had better warn you though that this is a long read, so sit back in your chair, make yourself comfortable, and hopefully enjoy my story.
I already had a set of Tasco 7x26 Eyemax binoculars that I bought for about $60 US a few years ago. Recently, for some unknown reason, I started sitting out on my verandah early in the morning with my two dogs and these binoculars watching the bird life. This has become a habit. Birdwatchers have probably known about this for years, but I discovered it was soooooo relaxing, pleasant and interesting. Even the humble sparrow was of interest. I just loved it and am at an age where I no longer question or analyse why I like doing something - I just accept that I do and do more of it.
This time next year I will be living on a fairly wild piece of Australian rural
land that seems to have a great deal of wildlife and birds, so I went looking for pair of good binoculars - but on a budget (with a house to build etc., $1000 binoculars would have resulted in severe bashing around the head from my otherwise calm wife). I started by reading these forums and also investigated others like cloudynights and betterviewdesired forums. I read every binocular review that I could lay my hands on. I had previously thought my Tasco binoculars were great but after reading these forums and others, I came to realise that perhaps I had been deprived, that perhaps my cheap binoculars were letting me down. Fancy that, I had not realised this until I read what all the binocular experts were saying. Well, I decided I wanted to try to get something better to take full advantage of my fortunate future situation of living in the country where wildlife was abundant (even deadly snakes).
I narrowed my criteria down to needing a pair of binoculars with super great optical qualities so as to give clear crisp images and a set of binoculars that could easily be used handheld ( ie. magnifications of 8.5 or less). Ones that would not tire my poor old eyes even when viewed through for hours on end. Weight was not a problem because most viewing would be done on my property and close to home. Waterproofing would be nice but not essential (Australia is one of the driest continents on earth and my property doesn't receive a great deal of rain. Anyhow, much of my viewing would take place under a covered verandah).
After a lot of research, I decided I wanted a pair of Swift Audubon 8.5x44 binoculars. These have an amazingly long history of providing quality binoculars that give great viewing. I could not believe that this basic model had been around for some 40 years - and somehow that appealed to me - I like history.
And that's when I became frustrated! I presently live in a rural country town in Australia (quite a distance to a shop that specialises in binoculars) and found a long time ago that it was just as easy (usually), and a great deal cheaper, to buy things like binoculars online from overseas. I started looking for my Audubons online; what an absolute pain! There were lots of online dealers selling these for anywhere between $240 and $260 US (and of course a lot selling for way above that price). This wasn't a bad price. Perhaps at the extreme end of how far I could stretch my budget. But heck, these were the binoculars I had set my heart on - that's when I learnt to hate online dealers! Every time I tried to buy a set, they either didn't sell to Australia, or delivery costs were nearly as much as the binoculars (they all refused to use USPS and wanted to use some of those exorbitantly, outrageously over-priced private delivery firms), or they wanted a photocopy of my credit card and passport faxed to them (and I don't have a passport), or they had sold out. I couldn't believe how hard it was to buy a pair of Audubons online from Australia. I then thought I would pick up a new pair on ebay. None were listed.
I finally decided on trying for a second-hand pair of Audubons and my excitement reached new heights - four were listed on ebay. They were all 804's; one was about 10 years old and the other three were all over 20 years old. If you look at the great article by Edward Huff and Renze de Vries on this forum about the history of the Audubons, there was one type 2a, a type 3a, a type 3b, and a type 4a. I started bidding. Again frustration. Each and every time I was outbid in the last second. Two went for about $160 US and one for about $210 US. I couldn't believe how sought after these binoculars were. I thought the Gods were against me and that I would never own a pair of Audubons. Heaven forbid, I even started considering looking at a different brand.
Finally there was only one left - the very,very old type 2a. The seller had a good ebay rating and advised that these binoculars were in perfect operating order (quite amazing when you think these binoculars were more than a quarter of a century old - I wonder if the new plastic marvels will still be sought after in 25 years time). After reading the excellent article on the cloudynights forum comparing old and new Audubons (titled "Will the Real Audubon Please Stand Up"), I started thinking that maybe the best was left to last. I had worked out the ebay game by then, knew roughly what the market price was, left my bid to the last second - and whammo, I was the proud new owner of a piece of binocular history for about $160 US. This was a bit more that I had hoped to pay for an old, secondhand pair of binoculars, but I had become desperate to own a pair of Audubon's. At this stage of my quest, no other brand would have satisfied me. Please let the collimation still be perfect.
Now all that is left for me to do is the wait for the binoculars to arrive. But even when they do, I am not allowed to have them until Christmas - women. Even after I had been as thrifty as I could, would you believe my wife still hit me over the head and told me they were my Christmas present and I wasn't seeing them until Christmas day. These women have no consideration for us men. She muttered something about men and their toys. Well, I hope this story was worth the read. Good luck to all other beginning birdwatchers. After Christmas, I'll have to give you a review of my Tasco's versus my Audubon's. It might be something different to all those reviews by experts comparing all the new plastic marvels.
I already had a set of Tasco 7x26 Eyemax binoculars that I bought for about $60 US a few years ago. Recently, for some unknown reason, I started sitting out on my verandah early in the morning with my two dogs and these binoculars watching the bird life. This has become a habit. Birdwatchers have probably known about this for years, but I discovered it was soooooo relaxing, pleasant and interesting. Even the humble sparrow was of interest. I just loved it and am at an age where I no longer question or analyse why I like doing something - I just accept that I do and do more of it.
This time next year I will be living on a fairly wild piece of Australian rural
land that seems to have a great deal of wildlife and birds, so I went looking for pair of good binoculars - but on a budget (with a house to build etc., $1000 binoculars would have resulted in severe bashing around the head from my otherwise calm wife). I started by reading these forums and also investigated others like cloudynights and betterviewdesired forums. I read every binocular review that I could lay my hands on. I had previously thought my Tasco binoculars were great but after reading these forums and others, I came to realise that perhaps I had been deprived, that perhaps my cheap binoculars were letting me down. Fancy that, I had not realised this until I read what all the binocular experts were saying. Well, I decided I wanted to try to get something better to take full advantage of my fortunate future situation of living in the country where wildlife was abundant (even deadly snakes).
I narrowed my criteria down to needing a pair of binoculars with super great optical qualities so as to give clear crisp images and a set of binoculars that could easily be used handheld ( ie. magnifications of 8.5 or less). Ones that would not tire my poor old eyes even when viewed through for hours on end. Weight was not a problem because most viewing would be done on my property and close to home. Waterproofing would be nice but not essential (Australia is one of the driest continents on earth and my property doesn't receive a great deal of rain. Anyhow, much of my viewing would take place under a covered verandah).
After a lot of research, I decided I wanted a pair of Swift Audubon 8.5x44 binoculars. These have an amazingly long history of providing quality binoculars that give great viewing. I could not believe that this basic model had been around for some 40 years - and somehow that appealed to me - I like history.
And that's when I became frustrated! I presently live in a rural country town in Australia (quite a distance to a shop that specialises in binoculars) and found a long time ago that it was just as easy (usually), and a great deal cheaper, to buy things like binoculars online from overseas. I started looking for my Audubons online; what an absolute pain! There were lots of online dealers selling these for anywhere between $240 and $260 US (and of course a lot selling for way above that price). This wasn't a bad price. Perhaps at the extreme end of how far I could stretch my budget. But heck, these were the binoculars I had set my heart on - that's when I learnt to hate online dealers! Every time I tried to buy a set, they either didn't sell to Australia, or delivery costs were nearly as much as the binoculars (they all refused to use USPS and wanted to use some of those exorbitantly, outrageously over-priced private delivery firms), or they wanted a photocopy of my credit card and passport faxed to them (and I don't have a passport), or they had sold out. I couldn't believe how hard it was to buy a pair of Audubons online from Australia. I then thought I would pick up a new pair on ebay. None were listed.
I finally decided on trying for a second-hand pair of Audubons and my excitement reached new heights - four were listed on ebay. They were all 804's; one was about 10 years old and the other three were all over 20 years old. If you look at the great article by Edward Huff and Renze de Vries on this forum about the history of the Audubons, there was one type 2a, a type 3a, a type 3b, and a type 4a. I started bidding. Again frustration. Each and every time I was outbid in the last second. Two went for about $160 US and one for about $210 US. I couldn't believe how sought after these binoculars were. I thought the Gods were against me and that I would never own a pair of Audubons. Heaven forbid, I even started considering looking at a different brand.
Finally there was only one left - the very,very old type 2a. The seller had a good ebay rating and advised that these binoculars were in perfect operating order (quite amazing when you think these binoculars were more than a quarter of a century old - I wonder if the new plastic marvels will still be sought after in 25 years time). After reading the excellent article on the cloudynights forum comparing old and new Audubons (titled "Will the Real Audubon Please Stand Up"), I started thinking that maybe the best was left to last. I had worked out the ebay game by then, knew roughly what the market price was, left my bid to the last second - and whammo, I was the proud new owner of a piece of binocular history for about $160 US. This was a bit more that I had hoped to pay for an old, secondhand pair of binoculars, but I had become desperate to own a pair of Audubon's. At this stage of my quest, no other brand would have satisfied me. Please let the collimation still be perfect.
Now all that is left for me to do is the wait for the binoculars to arrive. But even when they do, I am not allowed to have them until Christmas - women. Even after I had been as thrifty as I could, would you believe my wife still hit me over the head and told me they were my Christmas present and I wasn't seeing them until Christmas day. These women have no consideration for us men. She muttered something about men and their toys. Well, I hope this story was worth the read. Good luck to all other beginning birdwatchers. After Christmas, I'll have to give you a review of my Tasco's versus my Audubon's. It might be something different to all those reviews by experts comparing all the new plastic marvels.