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Barr and Stroud 8x42 "sierra" (1 Viewer)

W

wingedwarrior

Well-known member
Tried a lot of binoculars today up to about £140, opticrons and hawks, but these barr and Stroud sierras are by far the best, nice spec FMC bak 4 phase corrected waterproof and at a great price, I'm really happy with there performance up to now, not even had a hint of chromatic abberation at all even tried to make it show.

Didn't really consider this brand before just wondered if anyone else has had good thoughts on barr and Stroud?

Thanks gaz
 
Gaz,

Glad you like the Sierras. It's several years since I got a chance to check them out but as I recall, the sharpness was good compared to others I tried at the time, the sweet spot fairly modest, and CA pretty well controlled in the centre but overall really pretty good for the money. I've given them a mention here several times, particularly as they can occasionally be found for less than £100 (sorry to mention it ;) )

Enjoy!

David
 
My first pair of bins were Barr and a Stroud and I was very impressed with them, paid less than a £100 (sorry again) and they done my great for a couple of years, only recently upgraded to the Vanguard Endeavour but still use the my old pair for birding in the garden, however the scopes are a different story but you cannot expect much for just over a hundred pounds, recently though they have brought a new mid-range priced scope what looks the business but I haven't read any reviews on it yet.

Damian
 
Great bargain, glad your enjoying them, always thought myself that they are one of the best low priced binoculars, they also have good pedigree behind the company, supplying the Royal Navy through both world wars and have recently bought the " Bresser" brand.

Damian.
 
Gaz... excellent deal!

Boro Birder said:
Great bargain, glad your enjoying them, always thought myself that they are one of the best low priced binoculars, they also have good pedigree behind the company, supplying the Royal Navy through both world wars and have recently bought the " Bresser" brand.

Damian.
Click to expand...

Damian,

Whatever B&S's illustrious history, sadly as far as I can tell, it's just one of the brand names used by Optical Vision Ltd these days. Bresser Meade, with part Chinese ownership appears to be a more substantial company, a bit more than a brand. Do you have any more info on the acquisition?

David
 
Last edited:
typo said:
Whatever B&S's illustrious history, sadly as far as I can tell, it's just one of the brand names used by Optical Vision Ltd these days. Bresser Meade, with part Chinese ownership appears to be a more substantial company, a bit more than a brand. Do you have any more info on the acquisition?
Click to expand...

Yes, Barr & Stroud is just a name now but in the old days it was a real company with a real product line. I have a 15 x 60 monocular, marked "Barr & Stroud, 15 x CF 56A, Glasgow & London", bought new in the mid-1970s. There nothing on it indicating country of origin but I believe it was manufactured in Scotland. Nicely made porro: neat looking but impossible to handhold without serious bracing and I never got much use out of it. Came with a nice leather case.
 
Last edited:
typo said:
Gaz... excellent deal!



Damian,

Whatever B&S's illustrious history, sadly as far as I can tell, it's just one of the brand names used by Optical Vision Ltd these days. Bresser Meade, with part Chinese ownership appears to be a more substantial company, a bit more than a brand. Do you have any more info on the acquisition?

David
Click to expand...

David,

I never knew that, I do believe the original company as fugi stated had it's roots in Scotland and I only found out that they had bought out Bresser from somebody's comments on here regarding there scopes.

Thanks
Damian.
 
Afaik, the Barr and Stroud name was purchased by a distributor who is sourcing his product from China.
Seen that Zeiss is doing the same thing, you might view this as getting a Zeiss glass at a fraction of the cost.
More specifically, you are the customer, if the product pleases you, the supplier does not matter. The only glitch is that Chinese quality control is still very spotty, so the same production line may produce both cherry specimens such as yours as well as duds.
 
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