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"I wish I hadn't sold my ..." ??? (1 Viewer)

Sancho

Well-known member
Europe
We've all made Terrible Optical Mistakes, at least those of us who "got back into" birding in mid-life, and bought the first bino we saw in a Pharmacist's (mine were Chinon Zoom binos, about which 'nuff said). But on the long road to bino-addiction, many of us have sold stuff and regretted it, and this crops up in many threads, by many posters. Now that I am thinning my meagre collection down to four (or maybe five), I'm trying to remember what binos I've most regretted dumping, so I'll start:

1. Swarovski EL 8x32 (should've kept it)
2. Leupold Katmai 6x32 (kind of, but I wasn't using it)
3. Leica Ultravid 8x20 (so I bought another, eventually)

Share your regrets, anyone?
 
My memory isn't that good so I can't remember all of the ones I shouldn't have sold. Off the top of my head...

1. Zeiss FL 7x42 (several units)
2. Nikon ED50 angled scope
3. Swaro 8x32 EL
4. Nikon 8x30 EII
 
I like this subject Sancho. It's like remembering the girl who you let get away.

Nikon Sprint II 7x21

I'm not sorry I sold them because I sold it to a very dear friend who had been using the cheapest clunker Bushnell 10x50s with the worst optical quality I'd ever seen. He fell in love at first peak and being a Harley biker needed something much lighter to travel with. So I let em go and I've missed them dearly ever since. The optical quality was very good, and ergonomically they are the best compacts I've ever used. Nice and bright and very decent FOV for Nikons. I just bid on a pair on ebay and lost as I'm new at the bidding game.:-C

With the reverse porro compacts I like the old rubber eye cups generally better than the new twist up type. The good old days and all that.

I try and remember this every time I think I want to sell a pair of the bins I have now.
 
CZJ 8x50 Nobilem "Super"
Swarovski 10x50 SL

I have a somewhat longer list of binoculars I should have bought back when they were available.
 
I should not have sold my Swift 820 for 150 dollars!..and more recently the Nikon EDIIIA ..But that one I might recover by breaking into the new owner´s car (i know where He is going to be birding...patience..)
 
I wish I hadn't sold my...

Zeiss Bgat 7x42 TP - since replaced them - twice - 2nd hand - almost 150% of the original price. What a mug to let them go. It was like trading in Jane Fonda for Victoria Beckham.

Also Zeiss Bgat 10x40 TP, my first love and original indulgence. I should never have part exchanged them, but then I thought that newer (and bigger) always meant better.

Leica Televid Apo scope - bought one of the first models with 20x60 zoom.
Leica Binoculars Trinovid 8x50 and 10x50. Sold all the Leica gear for a pittance, to two tattooed bearded birders who looked as if they had arrived on Harleys.

Thought I'd done with birding then. How wrong I was. It has cost me a fortune fifteen years later to reach the same level of optical nirvana.
 
Zeiss Bgat 7x42 TP - since replaced them - twice - 2nd hand - almost 150% of the original price. What a mug to let them go. It was like trading in Jane Fonda for Victoria Beckham.

Also Zeiss Bgat 10x40 TP, my first love and original indulgence. I should never have part exchanged them, but then I thought that newer (and bigger) always meant better.

Leica Televid Apo scope - bought one of the first models with 20x60 zoom.
Leica Binoculars Trinovid 8x50 and 10x50. Sold all the Leica gear for a pittance, to two tattooed bearded birders who looked as if they had arrived on Harleys.

Thought I'd done with birding then. How wrong I was. It has cost me a fortune fifteen years later to reach the same level of optical nirvana.

Viv,

Regret no more. Here's a Zeiss Bgat 10x40 TP in "close to mint condition" for $675.

http://www.astromart.com/classifieds/details.asp?classified_id=766045

Humbert Humbert
 
Regrets, I've had a few, but then again, too many to mention..

Sancho, every bin you listed is still available, so what are you waiting for? Just give up the ciggies and pints 'o Guinness, and you'll have enough "punts" to buy all three in a year. :)

Frank, With all the bins you've bought and sold, it's a wonder you can remember the regrets at all. I think it would come down more to which sample of which bin you regret selling? :)

Every one you listed is still available, and perhaps with the exception of the 7x42 FL, within your reach if you stopped buying 10 old porros each week. :)

Black Crow, A tip on bidding on eBay. Keep more than window open at a time. Follow the bidding in "real time" (depending on your connection speed) on one window. In the other write your highest bid and be prepared to hit the button in the last 3 seconds (or however long it takes for your computer to refresh the page). You still might not win because you don't know the limit of the top bidder, but at least it won't be because you couldn't respond quick enough in the last few seconds when auctions are usually won.

Henry, You can buy another 10x50 SV EL (all you need to do is find a rich patron) - unless it was the best sample out of several you tried - but for selling the CZJ 8x50 Nobilem "Super", I suggest you wear a sign on your back for a week that says KICK ME, I SOLD MY "SUPER". That might help you feel better (after your butt swelling subsides :)

mayo, I sold my pristine FMC 820 for $250, and it doesn't hurt any less, I can tell you.

So we'll start with that

1. Swift Audubon 820 FMC (too much pincushion and field curvature at the edges but on axis the sharpest bin, bar none. I would challenge an 8x42 FL to beat it. Still have my 820 MC, which at least helps ease the pain a bit. Fat chance of buying another, and even if I managed to find another FMC 804, I doubt if it would be as good as this sample. I had another 804 FMC, which had less distortion and better edges, but it wasn't as sharp on axis. This was like having a 10x bin without the 10x shakes.

2. EO/Celestron 10x50 ED. Only a handful were made, so it's gone. 5* FOV got to me and the poor balance, tiny prisms and BIG objectives, but I could have mounted it. Less CA on axis than any other bin I've tried except the ZR 7x36 ED2, which after all is 7x. To get as "clean" a centerfield in 10x bin was remarkable. My Nikon 10x42 SE has low CA, but it shows up around birds in high contrast situations where the 10x50 ED showed none. Lost and gone forever, oh, my darling, Clementine.

3. CZJ 8x50 Octarem. Crash of '08. Got laid off. Something had to go. Could have sold the 8x32 SE (which could have replaced later, but the rumor mill said the SE was a goner and the lack of supplies at US stores seemed to confirm that, but I later found out that Nikon simply stopped stocking US stores and decided to send them only as "special orders" - thanks, Nikon, it would have been nice for buyers to have known this). So off it went to a friend, who I'm sure takes good care of it. In hindsight, I should have followed the wisdom of the Godfather: Leave the SE, take the cannoli.

In truth, I'm not terribly upset about this one, because I think the Doctor 8x56 Nobilem would be better than the Octarem - whiter image, no "dancing light" in the EPs, no diffused ring of light around the edge of the field on the night sky, and rubber armored. But I would lose a whole degree FOV, and the Nobilem would cost me almost twice a much.

4. Nikon 8-16x40 XL Zoom. Best zoom, maybe only good zoom bin ever made. I could be testing my other optics at 64x like Henry! :)

5. Fuji 6x30 FMTR-SX. Had two of these before I learned about the Harper HyperDrive (TM) that Ed invented that turns both IF EPs at the same time. The 6x30 FMT was not the most comfortable bin to hold, but it gave me one of the best views I've ever seen through binoculars - super 3-D effect and top notch contrast and color saturation that are at least as good if not better than the alpha roofs I've tried - those EBC coatings were way ahead of their time.

Shouldn't have said that, because now somebody reading this post with cable modem and a 5x accelerator will outbid me the next time one comes up for sale on ebay. As it is, I paid $100 more for the second sample than I did for the first.

There are probably more, but it's too depressing to think about. I'm just going to turn on my Sun Ray full spectrum lamp, eat a big bowl of the Creamery's "Death by Chocolate" and fight off seller's remorse blues on this rainy, overcast day.

Brock
 
Black Crow, A tip on bidding on eBay. Keep more than window open at a time. Follow the bidding in "real time" (depending on your connection speed) on one window. In the other write your highest bid and be prepared to hit the button in the last 3 seconds (or however long it takes for your computer to refresh the page). You still might not win because you don't know the limit of the top bidder, but at least it won't be because you couldn't respond quick enough in the last few seconds when auctions are usually won.


I'm going to try this the next time. Thanks a lot. Not being fast and freaking in the last 20 seconds was exactly why I didn't get those little gems.
 
Regrets, I've had a few, but then again, too many to mention..

2. EO/Celestron 10x50 ED. Only a handful were made, so it's gone. 5* FOV got to me and the poor balance, tiny prisms and BIG objectives, but I could have mounted it. Less CA on axis than any other bin I've tried except the ZR 7x36 ED2, which after all is 7x. To get as "clean" a centerfield in 10x bin was remarkable. My Nikon 10x42 SE has low CA, but it shows up around birds in high contrast situations where the 10x50 ED showed none. Lost and gone forever, oh, my darling, Clementine.

Brock

And at least twice, no less. One time, sold to me. I sold it back to you, at the same price, when you asked for it back. ;)
 
Not intending to hi-jack the thread, but I would like to mention the binocular I never bought.

Minox BD 10x58 ED

Not saying that I could have bought them, but for a while I was totally convinced those were the ones to get. That was when my ol' mans Zeiss 10x40 would be my prime birding instrument.

Slowly I began to fathom the magnitude of its weight and what it would mean to lug it around shouting "Hoochi Mama!" every time I'd lift it to my eyes to see another flock of geese pass me by.

But these should be among the very finest binoculars ever made in terms of optic excellence and mechanical stability. Perhaps one could hire some retired Russian weight-lifter as birding company?
 
About two months ago I might have answered with a list including an 8x30EII, 8x30E FMC, and 10x40 BGATP.

Now that I have a Swaro 8x42 SLC HD, however, the list has evaporated. o:D

Ed
 
as my interest change, or evolve, I tend to discard some old and get some new
it is expensive mistake to sell and then rebuy,
but a waste to keep optics one never uses

one should probably NEVER sell binoculars/telescopes that you really like,
NEVER keep ones you do not like

edj
 
Fortunately, other than a Steiner 25x80, I have never owned a binocular of any optical significance that cannot be replaced with a new sample. I do regret not buying a Takahashi 22x60 and Zeiss 7x42 Classic when they were offered to me ~7yrs ago at what would now be firesale prices, not so much for their views but more so from the satisfaction of owning an optic that was now worth 2x-4x more than I would have paid for it!
 
Not intending to hi-jack the thread, but I would like to mention the binocular I never bought.

Minox BD 10x58 ED

Not saying that I could have bought them, but for a while I was totally convinced those were the ones to get. That was when my ol' mans Zeiss 10x40 would be my prime birding instrument.

Slowly I began to fathom the magnitude of its weight and what it would mean to lug it around shouting "Hoochi Mama!" every time I'd lift it to my eyes to see another flock of geese pass me by.

But these should be among the very finest binoculars ever made in terms of optic excellence and mechanical stability. Perhaps one could hire some retired Russian weight-lifter as birding company?

Looksharpe:

If you'd like to stop over you can use my Minox anytime, they are very
nice, and you'd enjoy them. I've even got a few others you can try. ;)

I bought mine preowned, you can usually find most binoculars if you have
the time and patience.

Jerry
 
Kowa TSN2. It wasn't the best, it was banged and battered but I used it all the time, threw it in the boot of the car, took it out in the rain and snow. Some how just dont use my Nikon scope near so much.
 
1. Swarovski EL 8x32 (should've kept it)
2. Leupold Katmai 6x32 (kind of, but I wasn't using it)
3. Leica Ultravid 8x20 (so I bought another, eventually)

Share your regrets, anyone?

I've also regretted selling my 8x32 ELs and my 8x20 Ultravids... I also miss my Nikon 8x42 HGs.
 
Sancho, every bin you listed is still available, so what are you waiting for? Just give up the ciggies and pints 'o Guinness, and you'll have enough "punts" to buy all three in a year. :)

Brock

I know, but that mad "nikon best bins" thread drove me to the "edge" (Har-har!). I live in a bizarre conflict between a) wanting to own the best bins out there, and b) wanting to own only the bins I'll actually use. I've reduced category b) to four, perhaps five models, and I've finally got there, and won't buy any more. Je ne regrette rien. Mais, aussi, je regrette tout. B :)
 
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