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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

good, inexpensive 7x35 porros... (1 Viewer)

nctexasbirder

young birder
what would you recommend? i heard the Nikon Actions EXs were good. here are my requirements:

lightweight if possible
good eye relief
waterproof/ fogproof
close focusing enough for out window
good resolution and brightness

thank you!
 
Yes, try the Action EX 7x35, a little better eye cups etc.than Action plain. Also, waterproof. I am not convinced they are totally waterproof, as porros like this rarely are. But the most internal parts are, the eye piece looks a little exposed. There are some porros that have all internal parts. Some of them may be better, some are not. Not sure what is available for 7x. Many of the good ones are 7x40 and 7x50.

Nikon has some OK porros that are more expensive, but mostly 8x and 10x.
 
nctexasbirder said:
i heard the Nikon Actions EXs were good. ...

lightweight if possible
These are very heavy bins and have a large housing for 35mms. They are OK for the price. But they do not have great resolution. All of this is partly due to their extreme wide angle optics which are designed for viewing sporting events. I think you are better off with the Leopold 6x you were discussing before, especially given that you said before you have a small size yourself and want lighter, easy to use bins.
You should be able to try the Nikons in some local camera shop. I would be sure to try before you buy with these. Or better, get the Leopolds and the Nikons shipped to you from Eagle Optics and return the one you don't want.
Just my opinion. Good luck with your search.
 
nctexasbirder said:
the Audubon Intrepids look good-but small FOV!

the Bushnell Excursion 8x28s seem too good to be true...are they?

You really can't compare these bins to the Leopolds or the Nikons. They are significantly inferior in optical quality.
 
Bushnell makes a standard 7x35, you might look at it for comparison. But they will not be better than the Actions.

Some people like the wide field, and are willing to give up some clarity for FOV. By the way, the 8x40 actions are even heavier. FOV is still good, some 400.
 
I have both the Bushnell Excursion 8x28 and the Nikon Action (non EX) 7x35.

Both of them have worked out very well for me.

The Nikon 7x35 is a first rate deep woods warbler bins-wide FOV, bright, with very good on axis performance and I'm saying this in direct comparision to my Zeiss 7x42s and My Leica 8x32s. I paid 54 bucks including shipping for them. The non EX is not suited for eyeglass people however.

The Bushnells have also proven their worth. No they are not up to the pure raw optical performance of my Zeiss and Leicas but there is no huge drop-dead practical difference either. Get them out in the field and they are perhaps the best field binos I have. Light (15oz), compact, bright enough for any daylight use with a nice easy wide FOV view. They are the only bins I have ever owned that I can use all day and completly forget they are hanging off my neck. They are there when you need them but forget about them when not. Recently I left them in the bottom of a flooded canoe overnight. Found them sitting in about 5 inchs of dirty bilge water. Washed them off in the river and they were perfectly clear and have remained so. $99 including shipping from EO.

Just one man's opinion

SF

Nikon Action non EX 7x35
Zeiss "Classic" 7x42
Bushnell Excursion 8x28
Leica BA 8x32
Nikon Action non EX 10x50
Pentax 12x50
Orion Mini Giant 15x63
Pentax 80mm ED spotter
Pentax 100mm ED spotter
 
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