Camlink binoculars (1 Viewer)

Hi all, but has anyone had any experience with camlink binoculars?
The oakham 8x42 10x42 look pretty decent.
Regards Rich

Hi Rich,

I know the name, but never seen a Camlink model in any optics shop I've visited. The little I can find in the way of specification for the Oakland doesn't sound encouraging. Rother Valley Optics is only just down the road from you in Kiverton and had a decent range of reasonably priced binoculars last time I stopped by. You should pop in and judge for yourself if you can the difference that features like fully multicoated and phase coating do for the quality of the view, and most importantly see how the models work for you.
http://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/full-sized-binoculars.html
Cheers,

David

Hi Rich,

I had a pair for several years but they were black and probably pre date the oakham. However they were pretty good, I`m sure they were not phase corrected but handled well, had a 7.5deg fov, smooth focus and a generous sweet spot with decent image quality, with noticeable but not troublesome ca.

I sold them to a colleague three years ago and he`s still chuffed. I`d put them on par with an Opticron Oregon but with better fov in 8x42.

John.

Thanks David I will have a look on their site and have a look.
Cheers for the advice John, I've got a pair opticron oregons which I very recently knocked out of colimation and I'm looking for a cheap replacement. Thanks guys.

Rich, I don`t know what your budget is but check out Sherwoods demo sale and theres an Opticron T3 8x32 for £80.

http://www.sherwoods-photo.com/ex_demo/ex_demo_optics.htm

I think that Camlink may be a trade name used by groups of shops that formed a trade association to compete with the larger outlets, or something like that.
I think they had tripods and other items.
The binoculars could be okay. You just have to try them to see.

If you decide to buy an ex demo pair of binoculars from Sherwoods, make sure that they check them before you complete the order. They say on the webpage that all ex demo items are checked but that has not been my experience.

tobytayles said:

[1] Hi all, but has anyone had any experience with camlink binoculars?

[2] The oakham 8x42 10x42 look pretty decent.

Click to expand...

Rich

[1] I have the Camlink Rutland 8x42 binocular (and the Chinese-made Camlink CSP50 15-45X50 scope), which I bought when I started birdwatching. Neither has a serial number attached or impressed. The Rutland was Camlink's 8x42 model prior to the Oakham.

Binocular & scope both perform well for their price.

I paid from memory for the Rutland 8x42 binocular about £50 new special offer in 2010. At the time I think the lowest normal street price was about £80.

I felt when I received it that even at £80 it would have represented good value for money.

I've just compared the Rutland with more recent binocular purchases. It's at the level of optical & mechanical performance where for some people specification (magnification etc) and ergonomics (especially weight & dimensions) become equal determinants of their choice of purchase: ie:
* Reasonable build quality;
* Good resolution maintained for a good percentage of the radius of the field of view;
* Sufficient depth of focus for easy viewing;
* A smooth not too slow turning focus wheel;
* Adequate brightness and contrast of image for normal viewing conditions.

As the owner of a rebadged Kunming United Optics Corp. BW11 7x30, also bearing no serial number, I suspect the Rutland is a Chinese assembler's basic factory model as specified by Camlink to meet a good level of performance and build quality.

But the factories of other countries besides China may of course also supply binoculars without serial numbers for rebadging.

[2] There are so many good low-priced models of binocular now on the market, all at similar prices, that in your shoes, I would set a price, rather than a model, and buy the most attractive model at or near the price that comes along.


Stephen


Note: From Camlink's website it would appear that the only binocular they now market is the 8x21 Hobby

Thanks for all your help, yes I agree Stephen the Rutland looks almost identical to the Oakham and I don't think you can go wrong for the price.
I'm going to take a look at Rother valley optics at some Hawke Vantage it says they are phase coated but the FOV isn't great but maybe worth a look.

Oops!

Rich

I hope I write in time.

Today I took the Camlink Rutland 8x42 down for a more thorough 'field' test, and comparison with my other binoculars, outside the back of my house today.

I found a small but niggling amount of backlash in the focussing mechanism: it showed up when scanning; when laying on a bird the good depth of focus meant I didn't need to make small adjustments.

More important there was a spot in the rotation of the focus wheel where the mechanism stiffened up.

The binocular was lightly used from new, then stored. I hoped the stiffening would ease with a few rotations, but it didn't.

In the past on behalf of a friend I bought, 'Try before you buy', a more expensive binocular than the Rutland. The binocular was highly recommended on the web by users. Nevertheless within a year the binocular developed pronounced backlash.

The 'maker' of the binocular had, and has a very good reputation. But when the friend returned the binocular, to my embarrassment the maker refused to acknowledge the fault, and either put it right, or replace the binocular.

So I have to suggest you don't take a chance on the Oakham, even if you should 'Try before you buy'.

Stephen

Thanks for all your efforts and advice Stephen, I think I will give them a miss then, and look for something more reliable.
Cheers

There will always be a higher degree of quality issues at this market segment, and mechanical reliability is often more variable here.

However my experience with a camlink was very favourable and the model in question still performs as well as anything else at its price.

London camera exchange, Clearance.

Camlink Oakham 8×42 and 10×42 £59.99 each
Camlink 8×21, I think, reverse Porro prism. £9.99. I've seen similar binoculars completely uncoated, so check that they are coated.

Also some weird radios and headphones.

Morning all, I ended up getting the optic rons adventurer 8x42 from optixmania in the end, I'm sure they will suit my needs for now. Thanks for all the help and advice it's good to get other peoples opinions on different things.

I meant to put opticron!! Who on earth is optic Ron lol