Help please in providing advice for bins for my sister
Hi folks. My mum wants to buy my sister (aged 31) a pair of general purpose bino's for Christmas. By that I mean a pair that she can use for birdwatching which she does at home in Switzerland, and here in the UK when she visits, and also for general use when out walking in the countryside. She overlooks Lake Geneva lucky thing. Last year she had a bad experience with another pair being very difficult to use. They were also a present and were returned I believe.
Mum and I visited Minsmere shop yesterday and had a look at several brands and the best for the money seemed to be the viking BG. PC at around £342. Having read some of the bino threads on here, it seems one should be a bit circumspect with any advice saying "Go for this brand or that model" because none of us are made the same and so the shape of eye sockets and the face and our ages all can affect how we get on with the bins. To confuse matters, I found a thread on BF which suggested that the 'Viking WPG' at around half the price of the Viking BG.PC's was actually better than the BG.PC and might be worth trying out. I would like to suggest perhaps one of the latest 'Zen ED's' made in China but don't think my mum would want to go down that road because of things having to be sent far away for repair in the event. I think she would want to be able to go direct to the point of purchase, ie, the RSPB shop.
1.What would your advice be?
2.Should we take sis along to a shop and get her to try out?
3.What is your opinion of Viking optics generally and the company's after sales service?
4.Do the binos mentioned represent good value? Are there others she could try up to this price range?
Thanks in advance.
Julian
Hi folks. My mum wants to buy my sister (aged 31) a pair of general purpose bino's for Christmas. By that I mean a pair that she can use for birdwatching which she does at home in Switzerland, and here in the UK when she visits, and also for general use when out walking in the countryside. She overlooks Lake Geneva lucky thing. Last year she had a bad experience with another pair being very difficult to use. They were also a present and were returned I believe.
Mum and I visited Minsmere shop yesterday and had a look at several brands and the best for the money seemed to be the viking BG. PC at around £342. Having read some of the bino threads on here, it seems one should be a bit circumspect with any advice saying "Go for this brand or that model" because none of us are made the same and so the shape of eye sockets and the face and our ages all can affect how we get on with the bins. To confuse matters, I found a thread on BF which suggested that the 'Viking WPG' at around half the price of the Viking BG.PC's was actually better than the BG.PC and might be worth trying out. I would like to suggest perhaps one of the latest 'Zen ED's' made in China but don't think my mum would want to go down that road because of things having to be sent far away for repair in the event. I think she would want to be able to go direct to the point of purchase, ie, the RSPB shop.
1.What would your advice be?
2.Should we take sis along to a shop and get her to try out?
3.What is your opinion of Viking optics generally and the company's after sales service?
4.Do the binos mentioned represent good value? Are there others she could try up to this price range?
Thanks in advance.
Julian