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Small , light , cheap , 2nd bins ? (1 Viewer)

mrlimbo

mrlimbo

Well-known member
Hi , im on the look out for a pair of cheap light bins to take about on none specific birding trips/walks , im looking at about £50 or under , so theres not alot of options , i also want to avoid double hinge binns if i can , but if the optics are really worth it , i can put up with them :))
I was really quite impressed with a pair of "Nikons" i bought the wife , so there a possible brand id look at , any opinions are really welcome , heres a few ive spotted about , anyone know if there any good (though both are dble hinge & are the same make) ?

Bushnell Legacy 8x25 Roof
Bausch & Lomb Legacy 10x25

Thanks
 
Olympus 8x25 PCI not the 8x21 DPCI several stores selling around the £50 mark. Cameras2U claim to have them in stock (never bought from them) for £49.99 and Amazon UK £57.06. Single hinge too! One of my favourite inexpensive bins. Try one and see what uou think.

J
 
iveljay said:
Olympus 8x25 PCI not the 8x21 DPCI several stores selling around the £50 mark. Cameras2U claim to have them in stock (never bought from them) for £49.99 and Amazon UK £57.06. Single hinge too! One of my favourite inexpensive bins. Try one and see what uou think.

J
Click to expand...

Thanks , i'll check them out ;)
Has anyone ever tried the "Hawke Endurance II 10x28 " as they look quite good with good specs and are well under budget !
 
Not having seen, them, I would suggest the 10x28 may be a bit dim, as they are not phase coated. I have only one non phase coated bin left and it is a 8x32.
The 8x28 may be OK, you will have to see it.
http://www.binocularsshop.co.uk/acatalog/Hawke_Endurance_2.html

these two look OK
http://www.obm.co.uk/products/db/30015.htm
http://www.obm.co.uk/products/db/30094.htm
and these are really compact, have seen them once, they were OK
http://www.obm.co.uk/products/db/21706.htm

I know nothing about the store, but the prices in pounds will help you search for a compact. Look at the list there and look for phase coated or reverse porros.
http://www.obm.co.uk/products/index-B.html
 
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Hmm...... this is rather a hard task isnt it , especcially without a hands on try out !! ive up the budget to its max £70-80 , heres a few more ive been pondering over !!!

Aspheric LE WP 8x25
Bushnell Legacy 8x25 Roof
Steiner Safari 8x22
Hawke Endurance CF 8x25
Opticron Imagic Compact 8x25
Pentax 6.5x21 Papilio or the 8x (not sure these are that great for birds though)

The "Olympus 8X25 PCI" is looking like the most probable , even though im not that keen on the shape of those body shells , a little bulky and a tendency to swing :))

Thanks , as ever
 
Thanks everyone , i had just been looking into the "Travelite" so good to see there well thought off , also looking at the "Surrey photographic" site (great shout , thanks) , i noticed they had "Summit 8X26 H/Resolution" Binoculars for £32.99 , thats a great price as well , there £60-70 almost everywhere else , they look very similiar to the "travelites" , as anyone tried them ?
Cheers
 
Well i went and got a pair of "Bushnell Excursion 10x28" 2nd hand online , i hope i get them , as still showing as in stock ! we will see !
Would rather of had 8x , but there you go , ive read good and bad about these , i suppose i will find out either way ;)
Thanks for all the help :)
 
The 10x28 is really stretching it with the Excursion concept. The 8x42 Excursions are actually pretty good, 8x28 I did not see (or if I did I only made a mental note of the 8x42). The 10x28 have a ridiculously small depth of field. They were not comfortable except for very distant objects.

Very few people know how to make 10x28 or 10x25 for under 200. Even if otherwise comfortable, like Pentax, the field is narrow.

You seem to be going down the same path as I did initially: All my binoculars were 10x or more. I now use 10x and 8x about equally. There is nothing like 8x to get a wide field of view. In the woods they are all you need.
 
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Tero said:
The 10x28 is really stretching it with the Excursion concept. The 8x42 Excursions are actually pretty good, 8x28 I did not see (or if I did I only made a mental note of the 8x42). The 10x28 have a ridiculously small depth of field. They were not comfortable except for very distant objects.

Very few people know how to make 10x28 or 10x25 for under 200. Even if otherwise comfortable, like Pentax, the field is narrow.

You seem to be going down the same path as I did initially: All my binoculars were 10x or more. I now use 10x and 8x about equally. There is nothing like 8x to get a wide field of view. In the woods they are all you need.
Click to expand...

Well i got these for the price of a pair of tasco's/summits etc so if there worse than them , i will be disapointed , yes i would have prefered the 8x but for the purpose inteded 10x wont be a great disadvantage , these will just be used to id birds on non birding walks/rambles etc , i have my "8x Discoverers" for proper birding , but i think im the only person who finds a very big fov , a minor problem , i mean the bird is always the smallest thing in view !!! at least with 10x the bird is the main object in view ;))
 
It's just that at the 25mm end, 8x vs 10x is a huge difference. The 8x Sportsar is OK, the 10x is unusable for me. Some 10x reverse porros are sharp enough, but still too dim for me.
 
I got the "Excursion's" today......i sent back the "Excursion's" today !!!

These were 2nd hand but sold as mint , my impressions were they were quite bright and fov was very good for 10x28 , on these 2nd hand ones the diopter was faulty , neautral position was at the max minus point and there was alot of play in the focus wheel.

As stated before depth of field was very dissapointing , also the focus or out of focus point was a hairs breadth , hard to imagine anyone being able to use these , but these were 2nd hand so not really a fair opinion !

So back to square one.... thinking now to get the "Pentax Papilio" for its fun factor :))
Would have liked "TRAVELITE EX" but cant find one within my budget !!!
 
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Well, then it's only reverse porros for "small, cheap". At least for those that simply can't use an inferior bin after owning a better one.
 
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