Get what you pay for? Not always... (1 Viewer)

CalvinFold · Dec 13, 2018

justabirdwatcher said:
Of the hundreds of birders I meet a year, I doubt more than five of them could describe more than three features of their own binoculars.

I'm sure this is true in many activities that have the potential to involve expensive gear. Cycling, Archery, Air rifles, Sailing. You can do all of them for either very little money, or you can go broke doing them if you want.

Or it could be some of us just can't justify thousands of dollars on binoculars even if we wanted them, no matter how badly we wanted them.

I've had to engage in my hobbies like "birding" (which is really 95% "bird photography") on a fairly tight budget, so the camera (such as it was) came first, binoculars second. Always sub-$100 binocs. They served me well, and let me "see things far away I would not have seen otherwise."

But I will admit, when I got a free pair of Nikon ProStaffs for my 15th year at work, that was a revelation! So clear, so sharp, so much better viewing area, etc.

Now if these other more expensive brands are even a leap beyond that then...I'm envious! But that doesn't change the fact that I'll likely never own a pair and if my Nikon's ever broke I'd probably go back to using my old pair of cheap binos.

Life is a balance. So maybe some of those birds with less expensive binocs are just making do with what they can afford, and likely don't even realize they are "making do" at all.

(And a side note...reading about all this optical wonder and wizardry is fascinating...)

Troubador · Dec 13, 2018

CalvinFold said:
So maybe some of those birds with less expensive binocs are just making do with what they can afford, and likely don't even realize they are "making do" at all.

Indeed Kevin and after decades of Zeisses, a Leica or two and a Swarovski, and then some more Zeisses it is only later in life, when I began reviewing, that I found some thoroughly enjoyable binos, much further down the price lists.

You don't have to own an alpha or anything like it to get enjoyment and education out of birding and nature observation.

Lee

paddy7 · Dec 13, 2018

james holdsworth said:
It's always perplexed me a bit about this site. Some complain about obsessiveness and excessive minutia discussion but this is birdforum ''binocular forum''. This is one of the only places on the net to discuss any of that, with like minded individuals.

And i think that is exactly what is happening here.....
Obsession has a major role in the world - it is what spawns PhDs and new knowledge. Birding, in my experience, is full of it, as probably are most other 'hobbies'. The guys who rent a private plane to go to Shetland for a Snowy Owl, those who are looking to crack 5000 on their world list, others who start as birders taking 'record shots' for i.d. purposes and become digiscopers, subsequently spending thousands on DSLRs and lenses etc.

I've always thought of obsession as being very worthwhile - if difficult to live with for partners! If it's in you, it's got to come out. Block up its outlet, and it'll pop up somewhere else.

nc_killie · Dec 13, 2018

perterra said:
Scotch drinkers, people swear they can tell minute differences, then in blind tests think the Johnny Walker Red is better than Highland Park 18 year. Perception is reality for many folks

Whisky is like sex, some is good the rest is better! JW ruled the world until those barstewards at Diago moved it from its ancestral home and killed a town!

perterra · Dec 14, 2018

CalvinFold said:
Or it could be some of us just can't justify thousands of dollars on binoculars even if we wanted them, no matter how badly we wanted them.

I've had to engage in my hobbies like "birding" (which is really 95% "bird photography") on a fairly tight budget, so the camera (such as it was) came first, binoculars second. Always sub-$100 binocs. They served me well, and let me "see things far away I would not have seen otherwise."

But I will admit, when I got a free pair of Nikon ProStaffs for my 15th year at work, that was a revelation! So clear, so sharp, so much better viewing area, etc.

Now if these other more expensive brands are even a leap beyond that then...I'm envious! But that doesn't change the fact that I'll likely never own a pair and if my Nikon's ever broke I'd probably go back to using my old pair of cheap binos.

Life is a balance. So maybe some of those birds with less expensive binocs are just making do with what they can afford, and likely don't even realize they are "making do" at all.

(And a side note...reading about all this optical wonder and wizardry is fascinating...)

I dont own any that I would consider to be prohibitively expensive, I do have a pair of Conquest HD's and a pair of Zen Ray Primes I won here on the forum along with some much less expensive glass. It may just be that I am hard to impress, but I havent found anything that are a "leap" ahead of a pair of Nikon Monarchs. Incremental improvements yes, but leaps, not really. My most used pair is a Leupold Yosemite 6X30. It's too easy to get caught up in looking at your binocular instead of looking through your binocular.

18000bph · Dec 14, 2018

CalvinFold said:
But I will admit, when I got a free pair of Nikon ProStaffs for my 15th year at work, that was a revelation! So clear, so sharp, so much better viewing area, etc.

Just by the way you describe your binoculars we can already tell you are not one of us... we want to know which mag, which size, and most importantly which model. Since you are normal, I bet you couldn't even tell us without looking at them. :t:

CalvinFold · Dec 14, 2018

18000bph said:
Just by the way you describe your binoculars we can already tell you are not one of us... we want to know which mag, which size, and most importantly which model. Since you are normal, I bet you couldn't even tell us without looking at them. :t:

You would be...quite correct. |^|

Get what you pay for? Not always... (1 Viewer)

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