Recommendation for a binocular noob (1 Viewer)

Been looking for a new pair of bins for a few months now but the more reviews I read the more undecided I get.
Terms like Blackouts, Glare, Side light intrusion, Transition Values, Field flattener and rolling ball effect are doing my head in – so much so that I have ruled everything out :eek!::eek!::eek!:.
I have tried a few pair from my local optics shop but models/makes are limited (Swarro 8x30 Companion and Opticron 8x42 DBA VHD but I do not think either were the latest models)
Tried a pair of Canon 10x42 IS bins which I thought were stunning IQ (with the IS engaged) but they were just too heavy/cumbersome for me. (I am well past my three score years and ten).
Without having access to try lots of different bins what would you recommend?

Here are a few details: -
Budget up to say,£1200 give or take
Will mostly use in good (ish) light so not unduly worried about low light performance.
Ideally 8x mag
Am also a bird photographer so will sometimes use them with my heavy(ish) Camera gear in tow. Also could use them slung around my neck when out on my bike.
Quite a lot a my viewing will be on the estuary.
Do not uses glasses with Binoculars.

Hi Roy nice to see you on board again sure you remember me followed your input all the time especially your advice
Have a pair of Swarovski Swarovision excellent 8.5X42 light gathering excellent certainly need it up here in the
North East.Find these are great to use really nice and bright to look through.
Noticed Cleyspy have same £1449 imagine of course you would prefer to try before spending cash.
Had at one stage a Swaro scope but get into the old problem are you are birder or photographer birder lost as sold them on.
GEORGE.

Roy C said:

Been looking for a new pair of bins for a few months now but the more reviews I read the more undecided I get.
Terms like Blackouts, Glare, Side light intrusion, Transition Values, Field flattener and rolling ball effect are doing my head in – so much so that I have ruled everything out :eek!::eek!::eek!:.
I have tried a few pair from my local optics shop but models/makes are limited (Swarro 8x30 Companion and Opticron 8x42 DBA VHD but I do not think either were the latest models)
Tried a pair of Canon 10x42 IS bins which I thought were stunning IQ (with the IS engaged) but they were just too heavy/cumbersome for me. (I am well past my three score years and ten).
Without having access to try lots of different bins what would you recommend?

Here are a few details: -
Budget up to say,£1200 give or take
Will mostly use in good (ish) light so not unduly worried about low light performance.
Ideally 8x mag
Am also a bird photographer so will sometimes use them with my heavy(ish) Camera gear in tow. Also could use them slung around my neck when out on my bike.
Quite a lot a my viewing will be on the estuary.

Click to expand...

“Terms like Blackouts, Glare, Side light intrusion, Transition Values, Field flattener and rolling ball effect are doing my head in – so much so that I have ruled everything out.”

ALL those terms are valid and for SOME they matter. However, we are all entitled to our opinion. And my opinion is that those things should be left to the “A” type personalities who have made careers about bellyaching about them instead of using their bloody binos to enjoy birding or nature and those with enough experience to KNOW what matters or doesn’t matter ... to them. Many of the things people are so vociferous about can’t be appreciated by the average observer, anyway. Also, too many folks blame problems with their views on the optomechanical (the bino) when they should be blaming them on the physiology (their visual acuity).

When I was too poor to be real, my mother bought me a 3-inch Gilbert telescope in a paper tube; it cost $14 in 1963. The focuser was plastic as well was were the two small lenses placed therein. And the tripod? I don’t think the legs could have been WELDED enough to stay attached!

With that telescope—in 1966—I saw the crescent Venus, the rings of Saturn, the giant “red spot” on Jupiter, and a red dot called mars.

Then, I grew up and devoted a life to optics. After that, I owned many fine—read expensive—telescopes. With them I saw chromatic aberration (in its many forms), astigmatism, field curvature, and more.

When do you think I was happier? Bingo, you guessed it!

— Buy an instrument that fits your budget. You need not spend 1,200+ GBP to be happy—AT LEAST AT THIS POINT. You should not probably spend less than $300 ... ONLY MY OPINION.

— If you are willing to spend 1,200 GBP ... DON’T ... at least for a while.

— Use your first bino to give you the experience needed to make up YOUR mind. Your opinion is the only one that counts.

— Keep your hand on your wallet until YOU see a reason to change. Bino communities are full of wonderful folks who will try to get you to buy the binocular THEY would like to have.

— The birds I have spoken with have unanimously agreed they don’t really care.

Curmudgeon, out. :cat:

Bill

Hi,

you were on the right track by trying some pairs in person - at your budget the available pairs are usually fairly good optically and whether they work well for somebody depends on the users situation and/or preference.

We might be able to give a few hints on what might work, but we need some more info. For now we know that you would like a light and compact pair with 8x magnification and low light performance is not an issue. An 8x30 pair will probably fit.

But we really need to know if you will wear glasses while using the bins - if yes, eye relief becomes an important factor which is of no concern otherwise.

If you do wear glasses, how did you like the Swaro Companion CL 8x30 with their 16mm ER - could you see the whole field?

Joachim

Roy, good advice so far. The binoholics around here tend to get caught up in picking 'nits' ..... many of which probably won't apply to the average individual.

All of the upper end binoculars perform at a similar level in practice, so by far the major parameters for you will be how they fit your eyes /face /hands .... ie. how easy YOU find them to look through, and how steady YOU find them, and for how long, etc.

To determine this, you'll have to look through the candidates and try them out - one of them is likely to speak to you. Just make sure you give each bin the maximum chance by setting it up correctly - interpupillary distance, eye relief, and diopter if that is a factor. As has been mentioned - whether you wear glasses or not is a key factor.

I think the 8× is a great choice for you, and I gather light weight will also be a prime consideration, so I've framed 'my recommendations about what I think you want' (Bill will love that bit - lol :-O around that. I also consider the following great value for money. Also, any Swarovski you purchase will offer service levels second to none.

Some will excel in some areas - such as CA handling, or glare suppression, or Fov, or contrast, or focusing, etc - better than others - frustratingly it never all seems to happen in the same bin ! ....... Soooo what YOU value most will be what counts. :cat:

Check out each one for what they are like to snap up to your eyes quickly, how 'easy' the view is (how much your eyes can wander around in there), how comfortable it feels, what the rendition of blues, greens, and reds is like to you, what the glare performance is against the light, what they are like to pan with if that's something you do, and critically how well do they snap into focus, and change distances for you, and how steady the view is for you, etc

Try and get a squizz through the following bins:-

Swarovski 8.5×42 SV ..... likely heavier than what you would like, but a great reference for further comparison.

Nikon 8×42 MHG ~ 660grams
Minox 8×43 HG APO ~ 650grams

Swarovski 8×32 SV
Zeiss 8×32 FL
Kowa Genesis 8×33 XD
Minox 8×33 HG Asph.
Leica 8×32 UVHD+ (short Eye Relief likely suitable for non-glasses wearers only)
Also consider Nikon 8×32 SE if you can find one.

Swarovski 8×30 CL (new version).

One of those will definitely 'speak' to you :t:




Chosun :gh:

All of the above is good advice, but bearing in mind Roy’s spending preference . . .
I had a look at the sites of Clifton Cameras and Ace Optics, 2 large large UK optics dealers, to get an idea of prices

The big 3’s premium 8x32’s - Leica UV HD+, Swarovski EL SV and Zeiss Victory FL - all run £1,400+/-

The Kowa XD33 and the Swarovski CL 8x30 (the New version) are between £850 and £900,
so they may be the way to go

A review of the Kowa by Roger Vine can be found here: http://www.scopeviews.co.uk/Kowa8x33.htm
As it includes comparison to the Zeiss Victory FL 8x32, it gives some idea of what difference an extra £500 makes

And a review of the Swarovski CL New by Holger Merlitz can be found here: http://www.holgermerlitz.de/old_vs_new/cl_hg_8x30.html
Holger compares the CL to the Nikon Monarch HG 8x30 - yet another good choice at £800

Hopefully this is less, rather than more, complicating

John

Bearing in mind the OP's budget I suggest Meopta MeoStar B1 8x32 or Kowa Genesis 8x33 and as always try before you buy.

Lee

If you want something light that you can carry with you at all times, I can’t recommend the Zeiss Victory Pocket 8x25 enough. The Nikon Monarch HG 8x42 might be worth a look as well.

If you are ever in London, stop by Selfridges, they have a very decent selection.

Thank you for all the useful comments thus far :t: . I should have said that I do not wear glasses when using a pair of binoculars (although I have distance glasses I have never seen any difference with my 25 year old Alderblick 8x42's so do not bother).

On a side note Does anyone know which UK suppliers will let you return a pair of Bins if unsuitable? I know WEX will but nobody else seems to openly advertise this.

From experience I would first recommend First Light Optics.
They prominently advertise their 30 day returns policy:
https://www.firstlightoptics.com/terms-and-conditions.html#returns
and because they offer a good choice and provide a good friendly advice.

If something is wrong most online retailers will pay the return postage, and I remember having received excellent service from Cley Spy and Park Cameras too.

Hi Roy,.
Post #1.
All good advice, but for that money, visiting London or Bath and trying them out would be best.
And with rested eyes.

By the way, the Transition Value.
Follow the Mach number until it intersects with the maximum indicated airspeed.
The Transition usually happens around FL 260 or 26,000 ft.

Just kidding.

Regards,
B.

Mackem George said:

Hi Roy nice to see you on board again sure you remember me followed your input all the time especially your advice
Have a pair of Swarovski Swarovision excellent 8.5X42 light gathering excellent certainly need it up here in the
North East.Find these are great to use really nice and bright to look through.
Noticed Cleyspy have same £1449 imagine of course you would prefer to try before spending cash.
Had at one stage a Swaro scope but get into the old problem are you are birder or photographer birder lost as sold them on.
GEORGE.

Click to expand...

Thanks George - long no talk, hope you are well.

Thanks again for all the useful suggestions guys :t::t::t: - they are all duly noted. Living in rural north Devon My biggest problem is that I will not be able to get any big dealers to try out any bins so will have to order on line. At the end of the day I will probably have to take a punt on something.

Roy C said:

Thanks again for all the useful suggestions guys :t::t::t: - they are all duly noted. Living in rural north Devon My biggest problem is that I will not be able to get any big dealers to try out any bins so will have to order on line. At the end of the day I will probably have to take a punt on something.

Click to expand...

Are you anywhere near Southwest Optics in Truro? (BTW I second Lee's Meopta B1 recommendation)

LCE Exeter or Taunton is probably nearer than Truro.
The north Devon roads are steep and not an easy drive.

A Zeiss Conquest HD might be good but with longer eyecups for a non eyeglass wearer.
I like the 10x42 HD a lot, but it is 10x and the 8x32 HD is smaller and lighter.

Roy C said:

Thanks again for all the useful suggestions guys :t::t::t: - they are all duly noted. Living in rural north Devon My biggest problem is that I will not be able to get any big dealers to try out any bins so will have to order on line. At the end of the day I will probably have to take a punt on something.

Click to expand...

Roy, if you are going to have to take a punt on something, might I suggest two bins from the list I gave earlier that have outstanding universal ergonomics (ie. they will fit a range of hand sizes and are both very comfortable to hold).

Those two being the 8×42 Nikon MHG (beautifully compact and light 42mm objective bin), and the 8×32 Swarovski SV (which also has a generous margin for eye placement for a 32mm objective bin - it really views more like a 42mm bin). I wear glasses, so your experience may differ to mine, but these two bins are very easy to view through.

You want that quality of a little bit of latitude when lining them up, or viewing off axis, as this is what happens when you stumble across something and it zips off. It can be the difference between making an id, or being able to follow it at all. Some people say that the SV exhibits more glare than they'd like, but I haven't found it such an issue - probably because I have to line up very well with my glasses.

If it is at all possible to purchase them both at the same time and try them out in comparison (sending the runner-up back in new condition in time to get a full refund), then I feel that would be very worthwhile in helping you make your decision between 42 and 32mm.





Chosun :gh:

I'd recommend the Swarovski EL 8x32, my wife & I both have a pair now & love them. They're quite light & fit in the hand really nicely & have a fantastic immersive view. They're a bit more than your budget but we got ours when uttings were doing 10% off & our local infocus price matched them.

Hi,

if shopping in person is not an option, I would probably try to find a good used pair of the 8x32 alphas either locally, in the classifieds in here or from a reputable dealer (infocus and cleyspey being the usual suspects known even to me but there are probably others).

All of them (except for the optically brilliant but not very light, compact or cheap Nikon EDG) are available in good or better used state at or a tad below a thousand quid and in the unlikely case they don't work for the original poster, can be sold without great loss.

My first preference would be the Zeiss FL which is a close second to the Nikon EDG optically but very light, compact and usually available between 800 and 900 quid used. The Swaro SV 8x32 is very good too, except for occasional stray light problems. The Leica Ultravid HD 8x32 is also very nice if and only if you don't wear glasses - unlike the the others mentioned.

PS: Infocus has a used pair of Swaro SV 8x32 at 1k quid atm...

Joachim

Sancho said:

Are you anywhere near Southwest Optics in Truro? (BTW I second Lee's Meopta B1 recommendation)

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I have has a good look at their web site - great selection and very competitive but its around 170 miles round trip for me.

Binastro said:

LCE Exeter or Taunton is probably nearer than Truro.
The north Devon roads are steep and not an easy drive.

A Zeiss Conquest HD might be good but with longer eyecups for a non eyeglass wearer.
I like the 10x42 HD a lot, but it is 10x and the 8x32 HD is smaller and lighter.

Click to expand...

Yes LCE Exeter would be the nearest to me for sure, thanks :t: - I will have a look to see what they stock.