Where to buy binoculars in London (1 Viewer)

Peter Audrain · Nov 16, 2018

I will be in London in January, and have started to wonder whether the current pound-dollar exchange rate and VAT refunds wouldn’t, between them, add up to a good discount if I were to buy some dream binoculars there, instead of in the U.S.

I’d like to check on the prices of various possibilities at good places in London to buy binoculars, in order to form a plan of campaign ahead of time. I know there is, e.g., an official ‘Leica store’ there, but where do people actually buy binoculars in person in the U.K.? What stores are known for having the best prices, selection, and service?

I’m not sure just what brand or kind of binoculars I’d like to buy if this ends up making sense. (I just mentioned the Leica store because it was one of the first Google hits for ‘where to buy binoculars in London.’) Anyway, I’d appreciate your own experiences buying binoculars in London, and learning whether there’s any consensus on the best optical shops to deal with.

Peter

Binastro · Nov 16, 2018

Hi Peter,

Microglobe, but they sell both grey imports and official U.K. stock. Check times open.

Harrods for Nikon WX apparently in store, but cheaper in U.S.A.

Most things are cheaper in the U.S., except maybe Leica, Swarovski or Zeiss.

London Camera Exchange, Strand, but they are usually the most expensive of the LCE stores.

Park cameras.
Jessops. Oxford Street?

WEX photo video (Calumet),
Commercial Road, E.1 maybe Aldgate or Aldgate East underground Station.

I don't know how or if you can reclaim VAT at 20% on or 16.7% off.

I wouldn't hang a Leica binocular or camera around ones neck as I see some Americans do. Might get pinched.

Enjoy yourself.

B.

mark clements · Nov 16, 2018

In London, hard to find anything better than Binastro's suggestions.
I have often played the Dollar / Pound game on many items (LLBean!) particularly when being paid in USD but living in UK.

Having worked, but not lived in London, and likewise, worked but not lived in the USA, I have bought my bins from the smaller specialist stores. I do this mainly for after sales service, which you may not get from afar if needed.

Saying that, the very best deal ever was on US Virgin Islands, in 2010 when I lived in British VIrgin Islands. They are tax free and often have end of cruise season sales.

https://www.gov.uk/tax-on-shopping/taxfree-shopping

for info on VAT refunds, used by many friends from the Caribbean quite happily.

Just checking Leica store London and Leica store Miami first one up is 10x42 Noctovid £2210 UK / $2799
On current straight bank exchange £2210 is $2843, so with VAT refund it should net to $2368

BUT from the government website above
You cannot get a VAT refund for:
...
goods you’ve already used in the EU,
...

AND you should pay import duty in USA.

Best
Harry

Troubador · Nov 16, 2018

Peter, will you be able to hire a cara and drive out of London? If so you could visit dealers that have a countryside vista to try out your potential new binos and not the inside of the dealers or the curry-house across the road while dodging traffic and trying not to die from exhaust fumes.

Check-out https://www.focusoptics.eu/
And take a look at this interview with the owner: https://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=367840

Its worth the drive to test binos in such surroundings, at your leisure and with friendly advice.

Lee

dries1 · Nov 16, 2018

With that current Mayor of London, I could see why things get pinched.

Andy W.

mark clements · Nov 16, 2018

Just checked the duty free outwards...
Do not bother with that. One set of bins, described as Nikon Zoom at 107 GBP, no real detail.
Troubadour's advice is well sound too.
And Andy W's comments, seem true for the last few mayors, not just the incumbent.

Harry

dries1 · Nov 16, 2018

Same issues here in the big cities, I live rural and avoid any chance of going to them.

Andy W.

Gordon · Nov 16, 2018

dries1 said:
With that current Mayor of London, I could see why things get pinched.

Andy W.

What are you talking about?

Seems like you're spouting some complete and utter drivel that somebody like.... the man-child Trump?..... has spouted in his ignorance.

best regards.

Maljunulo · Nov 16, 2018

And we're off!

Is this why we come here?

wllmspd · Nov 16, 2018

The London wetland centre has a shop, infocus. Great place, even if you don’t buy anything. You can hire cheap bins when you walk round. Going to a bird reserve without any optics is just wrong!

PeterW

Peter Audrain · Nov 16, 2018

Peter, the prices at that In Focus shop at the wetlands center actually look really good—if I got 20% with the VAT refund, it would be about $200-$250 off Trinovid HDs, and about $1000 off things like Noctivids. Which is nothing to sneeze at, though even at the discount Noctivids feel like a stretch.

But my next question was going to be good places to go birding that are accessible by tube (it's unlikely I'll be able to rent a car, though that surely would be ideal). And perhaps In Focus would kill two birds with one stone—birding and binocular browsing in the same handy location.

I'll be there about two weeks, working hard 6 days a week, or 5 if I cheat a little to go birding more.

Do people know about 'Clifton Camera'? They seem to have a physical presence in London, and a reassuringly detailed website with a really broad selection. Perhaps too good to be true. It looks like Jessops only carries certain brands.

Independent of pricing, there are a lot of binocular lines, and specific models, carried in the U.K. that basically don't exist in the U.S. I'm sure the converse is true, too, but it would be nice just to play around with a lot of the models that aren't marketed in my home market.

Peter

fazalmajid · Nov 17, 2018

Selfridges on Oxford Street has a good selection. I don’t know how competitive the prices are, but a few years ago they were closing out the Nikon EDG 8x42 second version at half price. Sorely tempted...

John Cantelo · Nov 17, 2018

For birding, if not optics check out Walthamstow wetlands which are easily accessed by tube/bus. More distant but still feasible try Rainham RSPB reserve. Don't discount getting further out of the city either.

Patudo · Nov 17, 2018

Hi Peter,

I have the dubious privilege of living here, and have visited a fair number of the shops/locations mentioned.

At the Central London stores such as Selfridges and London Camera Exchange - which is about a 10-minute walk from my office - you'll only be able to try the binoculars indoors or at best from the street outside. The selection that Park Cameras and Wex have is very limited, or at least that was the case the when I visited a few months back. Of the places where one is able to try binoculars in something that more closely approximates field conditions, the best - and certainly the most convenient - is the WWT centre in Barnes, aka the London Wetland Centre. In Focus London Colney isn't bad either but you will need to hire a car to get there, and it's a lot easier to get to Rainham (mentioned by John Cantelo above) by car as well. The latter also has RSPB branded binoculars one can try out and purchase.

Good birding spots - short winter days mean that you'll need to plan quite carefully. A lot will depend on where you're based. The London Birders Wiki site (http://londonbirders.wikia.com/wiki/LatestNews) is a pretty good info resource.

Safety etc - you will be fine if you do as you would if you were visiting New York. The dodgy bits of London won't see many tourists or birders. NB. The current mayor, it is true, does come across as a weapons-grade knob, but the bus hopper system introduced on his watch (you are only charged once per hour for any bus trips) has made a real difference in getting around town. One could argue that if his buffoonic predecessor, now engaged in a kind of playschool Game of Thrones contest to ascend the greasy pole, had not pissed away 40 million quid or more on a vanity bridge project, at least some of that could have been spent on Cressida Dick's doughty lads.

Check your private messages.

Cheers
patudo

Peter Audrain · Nov 17, 2018

John and Patudo,

I feel pretty sure that if I rent a car in any left-hand-driving country, I will cause an epic crash by zooming along confidently in the wrong lane—those ‘LOOK RIGHT’ signs painted into London crosswalks must have been put there for American tourists, and even with them I always nearly die—so the advice about the tube-accessible WWT center in Barnes, the marshy area at Walthamstow, and all the spots mentioned on that London birding board, which does seem priceless for planning out places to go, is most welcome. I wish I could get into the countryside, but that will have to wait for a non-working trip.

I used to spend holiday seasons in Oslo, so I understand just how improbably little daylight there can be in midwinter. Getting outside, and soaking up whatever added light 42 mm can gather, will be a key part of defeating jet lag.

One handy aspect of this is that I’ll be excited about seeing all sorts of ‘boring birds,’ so long as we don’t have them in North America! And everybody always seems to end up loathing their own big-city mayors—you’d think De Blasio would be New Yorkers’ dream boat, for instance, but grumble grumble grumble. I think it’s part of being a genuine metropolis or world city, which London, as much as New York, has always struck me as being. And New Yorkers would give anything, at this point, for a subway with anything close to London’s level of predictability.

Peter

dries1 · Nov 17, 2018

New York has so much to offer outside of the city for birding, I think De Blasio has always been a classic dunce.

Andy W.

Maljunulo · Nov 17, 2018

Peter Audrain said:
John and Patudo,

—those ‘LOOK RIGHT’ signs painted into London crosswalks must have been put there for American tourists, and even with them I always nearly die
Peter

I always ended up looking at the passenger, rather than the driver.

Troubador · Nov 17, 2018

Gordon said:
What are you talking about?

Seems like you're spouting some complete and utter drivel that somebody like.... the man-child Trump?..... has spouted in his ignorance.

best regards.

Gordon

Birdforum does not allow personal attacks by members on other members. There are other ways to find out what a member means and also to disagree politely. You have stepped over the line here. Please do not do it again.

Lee
Moderator

Jos Stratford · Nov 17, 2018

Troubador said:
Gordon

Birdforum does not allow personal attacks by members on other members. There are other ways to find out what a member means and also to disagree politely. You have stepped over the line here. Please do not do it again.

Lee
Moderator

I personally think he deserved Gordon's response. As a moderator, shouldn't you also ask Andy W./Dries1 to refrain from needless and irrelevant political jabs in a thread about optics shops?

dries1 · Nov 17, 2018

I apologize for my non glass related statement offending those on the forum. I will keep my beliefs and opinions regarding those avenues to my self and close friends.

Andy W.

Where to buy binoculars in London (1 Viewer)

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