RoadsterGirlie
Active member
Hello! My name is Tina and I am newly into birding. I have been into astronomy for most of my life and have been a long time member of cloudynights.com. I was in the market for a pair of good binocs to scan the night sky to complement my telescope and wanted them to be strictly hand held. Some nice folks on that forum advised I also check here for advice as well (see my thread in the Nikon sub-forum).
Ultimately I've chosen to go with the Nikon Prostaff 7S 10x42 and had the opportunity to test them at Cabelas. I can't wait to get them!
Anyways in the meantime, my husband gave me his 25+ year old Bushnells he still had from hunting when he was teenager. It's hard to find information on these since they are out of production, but they look exactly like these:
The only consistent info I can find is they weigh 19 oz, which seems about right. FOV ranges anywhere from 300 to 600 feet out of 1000 (lol), depending on what site I'm looking at, and they sell anywhere from $10 to $100. In spite of their age and that they appear to be entry level, they hold up very well. I took them down to the boardwalk overlooking a lagoon/swamp off of the Chattahoochee river yesterday not far from my house. I am probably not as knowledgeable about birds as some on this site (I hope to change this), but I saw a ton of stuff.
I saw a great blue heron putting on either a territorial or mating display. I also saw a white crane type looking momma bird with her babies that still had their 'fur'. Canadian Geese, a few cardinals, and a bunch of other small birds I couldn't identify. In spite of its age, the little Bushnell is definitely a keeper. It's not perfect, nor do I expect it to be, but the images are crisp with nice contrast where I need them and it's very light.
It's very nice to meet you all and I hope to stick around.
Ultimately I've chosen to go with the Nikon Prostaff 7S 10x42 and had the opportunity to test them at Cabelas. I can't wait to get them!
Anyways in the meantime, my husband gave me his 25+ year old Bushnells he still had from hunting when he was teenager. It's hard to find information on these since they are out of production, but they look exactly like these:
The only consistent info I can find is they weigh 19 oz, which seems about right. FOV ranges anywhere from 300 to 600 feet out of 1000 (lol), depending on what site I'm looking at, and they sell anywhere from $10 to $100. In spite of their age and that they appear to be entry level, they hold up very well. I took them down to the boardwalk overlooking a lagoon/swamp off of the Chattahoochee river yesterday not far from my house. I am probably not as knowledgeable about birds as some on this site (I hope to change this), but I saw a ton of stuff.
I saw a great blue heron putting on either a territorial or mating display. I also saw a white crane type looking momma bird with her babies that still had their 'fur'. Canadian Geese, a few cardinals, and a bunch of other small birds I couldn't identify. In spite of its age, the little Bushnell is definitely a keeper. It's not perfect, nor do I expect it to be, but the images are crisp with nice contrast where I need them and it's very light.
It's very nice to meet you all and I hope to stick around.
Last edited:
