"One-liner" reviews of all the bins you've bought and sold/returned (1 Viewer)

Big Japanese things I got in 1972 in a tan-coloured hard case with red velvet lining. No idea what they were like, gave 'em away to a nephew in the late eighties. I suspect they were crap, and partly responsible for bizarre entries in my childhood notebook like "six male red-breasted flycatchers on telegraph wires in park" in June 1973. (The question is, what the hell were they? :h?

Chinon zoom bins: I bought these at first when I started birding again in my thirties. However bad things get, never buy Chinon zoom bins, except to use as a bookend.

Avian 10x50: I loved these. Sold 'em, now I regret it. Only real drawback was rather narrow FOV, about 5 degrees.

Avian 8x42: These were good, but they had a yellow cast. Also narrow FOV for 8x bins (about 6.3 degrees).

Leica Ultravid 8x32: I had these for a while, but changed them for....

Swarovski 8x32 EL: I find these easier on the hand (my hands are a bit small, I think). They're great to use "one-hand" when the other hand is holding the scope, or whatever. I thought the view was easier on my eye, too, than the Leica's, but I could be mistaken, having read what Leica owners have to say.

Swarovski 10x42 EL: These were my faves before the 8x. I still use them when not walking or hiking great distances, or on estuaries, sea-watches, etc. But less and less so. The 8x32 ELs seem to be taking over.

Leica Ultravid 8x21: I can't believe the quality of these things. Unbelievably bright, crystal clear, I'd use them all the time if the FOV were just a tad wider. They live in my pocket. I suspect that if I had bought these before all the other better bins, I never would have needed anything else.

practica 20x50 from argos big mistake bough in error sold
nikon action 8x40 great nice and bright and clear cant fault these for what i paid .

postcardcv said:

Opticron 8x42 HR - first proper bins, good optics, no complaints - still get regular use as they live in my kitchen for watching birds in the garden.
RSPB 8x42 HG - nice optics, good in the hand, quite heavy.
Bushnell H2O 8x20 - dull image, alround fairly poor - but my daughter gets on well with them and I don't mind if she drops them!
Leica Duovid 8+12x42 - great optics, wonderful in the hand, smooth focus. Dual mag very easy to use - very heavy.
Opticron Traveller 8x32 - amazing value, very small, excellent close focus.
Leica Ultravid 7x42 - birght, sharp great FOV - smooth focus - a joy to use. These are my main bins, the best I've ever owned, I can't imagine wanting to change them.
B&L Elite 8x42 - all ok but nothing outstanding - incredible cheap so I couldn't resist.
Leica Ultravid 8x20 - excellent compact, very bright image - take them everywhere
Leica Trinovid 8x32ba - always wanted a pair, finally got some - amazing optics, bright and sharp - focus is not smooth (back at Leica being sorted, can't wait to get them back).

The ones in bold I still have...

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Well I've since sold the Bushnells, the 7x42 Ultravids and the Trinovids, and have since been through...

Leica Trinovod 8x32 BNs - Opticaly excellent, nice in the hand, better close focus than the BAs
Nikon 8x30 Es - simply amazing, as good optically as any other bins I've owned, why don't more people use them?
Nikon HG 8x42 - stunningly sharp optics, a bit heavy weight.
Swarovski 8x32 ELs - great handling, good FOV and close focus, a near perfect alrounder.
Swift 8x30 Ultralite - a nice, lightweight porro prism - great for my kids ot use.
Swarovski 8.5x42 ELs - much chunkier than the 8x32s, but to my surprise I perfer them in the hand and they are my current first choice.

I'm tempted to a nice secondhand pair of Leica 8x42 BAs that I have seen and may also add an Opticron Oregon 8x32 soon.

I'm pathologically incapable of "one-liners" as the topic suggests so; this is as close as I can get.

Bushnell 8x32 Trophy. My first. Thought the $170 I spent on it was a lot at the time. Sold to my brother-in-law, who still uses them as his only binocular.

Bushnell 8x32 Legend. This one really shouldn't count as I bought it fully intending to turn around and sell it to my younger brother. However, I did have it in my possession for a few days so; I'll list it. Optics were good (definately a step up from the Trophy.) I don't think the mid-sized (30mm - 36mm) binoculars are a good choice for me. Their not big enough for serious work and not small enough to warrant carrying around all the time.

Pentax 8x42 DCF WP. Liked it so much I convinced my siblings to buy another one with me for my dad's birthday gift. I traded mine later for a 10x42 model - big mistake. He still has his.

Pentax 8x22 DCF MC. A very nice little pocket binocular. I carried this all over and still own it today. It even gets used every now and again by my two sons.

Pentax 8x25 DCF MC II. I liked the little 22mm Pentax so much that when they upgraded it with a slightly larger objective lens, I just had to have one. I carry this binocular literally everywhere I go. It is always in my pocket ready for those unexpected opportunities. Someday I'll upgrade to a Nikon Premier, Zeiss ClassiC or Victory, or maybe a Leica Ultravid but for now, this little Pentax is my constant companion.

Bushnell 10x26 Legend. I found this binocular cheap and thought, "what the heck" so; I bought it. The optics were quite good but, it was way to bulky to qualify as a pocket binocular and thus never went anywhere because if I have to carry a larger binocular, I'd just as soon have a regular, full-sized unit that gives better performance. I happily sold this one.

Pentax 10x42 DCF WP. Found a guy who wished he'd bought the 8x. At the time, I thought I would rather have had 10x so; we swapped. The glass in the 10x (though in perfect condition - I'm not trying to fault the previous owner) was not near as good as the 8x had been. I sold this one happily.

B&L 10x42 Discoverer (Porro Prism). Loved this binocular. Yes, the size was a wee bit big for my small hands but, the optics were fantastic. I also got mine when they were just discontinuing them so I only payed $175. A moment of financial "necessity" (read stupidity) resulted in me selling this binocular and I've kicked myself ever since. I would buy another one of these (in 8x or 10x) in a heartbeat - if I could find one.

Bushnell 10x43 Elite. My dissatisfaction with the 10x Pentax (and total satisfaction with the B&L's 10x optics) resulted in my selling it and using the funds to help buy one of these Elites when Eagle Optics had demos on sale for a bit over $500. This was a wonderful optic. My only complaint was that the "locking" diopter adjustment doesn't stay locked worth a dang so; I had to periodically readjust it. Being a bit of a magnification junky I sold this binocular in preperation for buying an identical model in 12x50. That deal however, fell through at the last minute, leaving me without a full-size binocular (totally unacceptable) so; as a stop-gap measure until I find a really good deal on something I want I bought a...

Bushnell 8x42 Discoverer (Roof Prism). Thanks to it being another discontinued model, I found this binocular for $200 (instead of it's original $450 price tag) and it is really quite good. It has the same problem with the center-placed diopter that regularly has to be reset as the Elite which is a bit of a nuisance but, the optics are good. It will serve until I can find a good deal on something else that is more to my liking.

WOW!!!

You know you're getting old and senile when you respond to a thread in which you had already previously posted an answer.

Luckily my two answers proved mostly the same. I had forgotten about buying that 10x42 Trophy, the 10x50 Brunton, and the "Big 5" 10x42 - though I seem to recall it being labelled with the name "Rugged Exposure."

Obviously I also didn't stick to my well-intentioned plan of keeping any of the binoculars that I was was so enamored with. Thinking about selling that B&L Discoverer makes me just want to curl up in a fetal position and cry.

You know Alzheimer's disease does actually run in my family so there's a good chance I will end up with it at some point. If/when I do contract it, do you know what the worst part about is going to be?...


noone will know the difference.

Here's my original post from 19 January 2006

lucznik said:

For most of my young life I just "borrowed" binoculars from my dad.

Bushnell Trophy 10X42 - My first (semi) decent binocular purchase. My dad convinced me that an 8X would be better so I immediately took them back to the store and bought a...

Bushnell Trophy 8X32 - For someone who knew nothing about optics this binocular worked just fine for a few years. It was rather dim and the edge sharpness was non-existent, but hey, I didn't know any better. As my knowledge increased I sold to my brother in law and bought...

Pentax DCF WP 8X42 - I got mine when they first came out and were the first mid-priced binocular to incorporate phase correction coating as a part of the package. This is my primary full-size binocular and I doubt I will ever get rid of it. It still provides an image quality that is so close to the high-end models that I can't bring myself to spend the extra cash to replace them. (Especially with the latest round of price increases for the "top 3.")

Which is not to say I have stopped buying binoculars (heaven forbid)

Next I bought a Brunton Litetech 10X50 porro. I don't know why, other than it was cheap ($50) and I couldn't stop myself. It was mediocre at best. I had to constantly readjust both the focus and diopter adjustments and eventually I sold them in a yard sale.

Then there was a 10X42 I bought from Big 5 sporting goods that was utterly horrible. Sold it at the same yard sale as the Bruntons.

Next was a Pentax DCF MC 8X22 - While this binocular does lose some performance to the larger OLs of a full-sized binocular, I was amazed at how good and how useful they really are. This binocular started my love of compacts.

I tried a Bushnell Legend 10X26 - It is a good binocular but, I have decided it is just too big to be considered a true compact. It stays in my SUV.

I recently bought a newly redesigned Pentax DCF MC 8X25. Yes, I already had its brother but, I wanted to see if the upgrade from a 22mm to a 25mm OL really made much of a difference. (It does.) This is the binocular I carry with me all day, every day. Although it will be replaced as soon as I have the cash for a higher end offering (probably a Zeiss ClassiC 10X25 or the Nikon HG 10X25) I doubt I will ever get rid of it.

My latest purchase was a B&L Discoverer 10X42 Porro - This is a fantastic binocular at an even better price ($180 at Cabela's.) Although it is bigger and heavier than a good roof prism, its optics give up nothing to my friend's 10X42 Swarovski EL. I'll be keeping this one for sure.

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Prinz 8x40 Porro's - which, 40 years ago, seemed quite good (as a kid I never tried anything else though). Being dropped down stairs spelled the end for these.

Miranda 8x30 Porro's = absolute garbage, rendered a distant snow goose into a fuzzy white blob. Sold....very quickly after purchase.

Tento (russian) 10x50's Porro's - lighter than they looked, greenish cast, but nice bright sharp optics and a revelation after the previous rubbish. Sold, but now wish I'd kept them.

Helios (Russian again - known as 'GNU's') 8x30's Porro's - I liked these. Still had the colour cast, but sharp and very lightweight bins. Got pinched when my car was broken into.

Opticron Dioptron 8x32 porro's - a big improvement on anything previous. Very lightweight (500g), bright, sharp and good FOV. Much battered now (after 16 years plus), but good backup bins to keep.

RSPB 10x42 WP Porro's - got very cheap off ebay - good job too, awful FOV and heavy, but a reasonable image. Doubtful if I could sell them even if I wanted too. Now kept by the window for garden birds.

B & L Elite 10x42 Roofs - got secondhand a few years ago. Sharp, bright and tough. Heavy'ish (but lighter than fullsize BN's) and a smallish FOV due to the 10x mag. Still used where distant birds are probable.

Swaro 8x32EL - just amazing. Would not willingly part with these...ever.

Note that the first pair were bought for me by my dad as the brand name from Dixons (now a popular electrical store), and the second pair by me from the same store (they were cheap!) in my mid 20's when I re-started birding again. Obviously in the intervening years any semblance of quality in their optics had long disappeared.

Update, now that I've acquired 2 more pairs:

Canon IS 12x36: Brilliant. I love IS. Great for long-distance work. Optics not top-class by any means, but the IS makes up for this so much that I sold my lovely Swaro EL 10x42 (I hate having two pairs of bins that overlap too much in usage).

Nikon 10x35 EII: Despite comment above on "usage overlap", I bought these on a whim and love them. Everything positive that's been said about them is true, IMHO. If I'd bought these years ago I'd never have bothered with anything else. And the FOV is so wide that they can also do a lot of the work of an 8x. Who needs waterproof? Just put them under your jacket if it rains. Porros Rock.

With the above, and my beautiful Swaro EL 8x32 and Leica 8x21 Ultravid, I think I've enough bins to take with me to the grave.

Zennox 10 to 40x60 bins bought from bidup tv for £19

They sucked worse than a big sucky thing that likes to suck!!

I cut them in half to make a mini spotting scope.

It sucked too!!

dafi said:

I cut them in half to make a mini spotting scope.

It sucked too!!

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3LOL! Headcase, Dafi.....

Zeiss Jena 10x50 porro's big, and heavy good sharp bright optics. (sold) yippee!

Swift Ultralites 10x42 porro's very good optics (sold) big mistake!

Opticron 8x32 Imagic roof's sharp and bright but could not focus on distant objects (sold) yippee!

Vortex Stokes 8x42 Talon Roof's sharp, bright, wide FOV for the price very happy and better than the Imagics which cost twice the price.

Bushnell 8x32 Legend
my best 32mm
hard to find at times
ugly...cool!

Nikon Monarch 8x42 Like em, Recomend em, light bright and cheap.

Bresser 8x56 [lidl] bright clear sharp image on a manky dull Orkney day. Great for the night sky
£80. Cheap and worth every penny!!

On Wednesday, I bought a new Nikon 8x42 Monarch on sale at an L.L. Bean for just $169. Nice.

Nikon 8x32SE: Good fit and finish, comfortable to hold, bright, extremely sharp images nearly to the edge of the fov, good color and contrast, smooth focuser, finicky eye placement to avoid blackout, mediocre accessories...a keeper.

marcus said:

On Wednesday, I bought a new Nikon 8x42 Monarch on sale at an L.L. Bean for just $169. Nice.

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What a bargain!!!:t:

It definately was. Since on the shelf there was a $350 sign beside the display.

[email protected] said:

1)NIKON ACTION 7x35 Nice bright wide field of view. Start getting fuzzy 1/3 of the way from the center. Sold.

2)NIKON VOYAGERS 8X25 Rated over Leica by Consumer Guide. Excellent binoculars for the money! Sold.

3)LEUPOLD MESA(PORRO-PRISMS) 10X50 Big improvement over the NIKON ACTIONS! Sold.

4)CANON IS 10X30 Improvement over the LEUPOLD MESAS. Best edge sharpness I have ever seen! Sold.

5)SWAROVSKI EL'S 8x32 Great binoculars! Nice ergonomics! Prefered the optics of the ZEISS FL's 10x42's though. Too expensive for what they are! Sold.

6)ZEISS FL's 10X42 Best optics I have seen. Binoculars are a little heavy. Too expensive for the small improvement over the NIKON MONARCH'S. Own these now.

7)NIKON MONARCH'S 8x42 Best binoculars for the money I have ever had. Very close optically to the ZEISS FL's and lighter and more compact. Own these now. My favorites!

8)NIKON SE'S 10X42 Excellent optics although not as good as the ZEISS FL's. Never liked the ergonomics of them that much. Sold.


DENNIS

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Dennis:

Just found this post of yours from a while back, 2005, I suppose just a flashback,
and what you found as your favorite at the time! "Nikon Monarch", that is
quite a choice compared to the others listed at the time.

It kind of makes me wonder about your choices. And the flavor of the day.

Jerry

Vortex Fury 12.5x: good enough for the job, but does it give more detail than 10x?

NDhunter said:

Dennis:

Just found this post of yours from a while back, 2005, I suppose just a flashback,
and what you found as your favorite at the time! "Nikon Monarch", that is
quite a choice compared to the others listed at the time.

It kind of makes me wonder about your choices. And the flavor of the day.

Jerry

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That was an OLD post! But at that time that was how I felt. I still feel the Nikon Monarch 8x42 is the best buy for the money(less than $250.00). Of course the new Chinese ED's namely the Zen Ray 8x42 ED are better optically but at a higher price($375.00). I have since discovered the Zeiss 8x32 FL which is my favorite waterproof roof prism price no object and of course the Nikon EII's both the 8x30 and the 10x35 are my favorite porro prisms and these three for me have probably about the best optics and ergonomics out there. Considering optics alone I would say the EII's are the best I have seen in my opinion.

I wouldn't mind finding a Zeiss 8x32 in my stocking in a couple of months. But why does an 8x32 work (or why did those postwar 8x30's work)? In theory the additional magnification ought to be canceled by less light/resolution--but that doesn't seem to be what you actually see. Is it because you can actually manage an 8x image, whereas I find 10x more than a bit shaky?

I gave away cheap 8x28 Bushnells: light and bombproof enough for the backpack but woefully stiff. Gave away 8x40 Leupold green rings (couldn't give binoculars to just one nephew-niece) and an old pair of Deltrintems (couldn't leave out the dad). Gave away Zeiss 10x40 (from Cabelas) in one of my anti-ten fits. Gave away two dozen vintage Japanese things to schools when I was starting to learn about Swifts. Gave two Swift Trilytes (7x35 and 8x40) to bro- and sis-in-laws when I decided not to go there as a collector.