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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Bushnell Natureview 10x42 (1 Viewer)

adw73uk

Well-known member
Hi all,

Always seems to be lots of people looking for affordable bins advice so I thought I'd join in with the fun.

Just bought a pair of the natureview roof prism 10x42's today at a field event. I must admit, I went out with the intention of looking at some opticrons in the up to £300 price bracket and hadn't considered Bushnell because of comments on this forum about poor optical quality and terrible customer service.

However poor weather meant I went to a more local event and these guys didn't have any opticrons in my price range. Being a trusting bloke I took the experts advice and tried the natureviews. Despite being bigger and bulkier than I had wanted they were very comfortable to use and the optical quality seemed great to my (admittedly novice) eye. I tried some other second hand bins between £200 - £300 and although smaller didn't seem better optically so I threw caution to the wind and went for the Bushnells.

I'll let you know how I get on in a month or so, just hope that I don't need to use their legendary customer service!
 
mini-update

Just a quick update.

Had a play with these in the garden this evening. Even though it was a pretty dull, grey evening, the bins provided a very good, bright image.

So far so good.............
 
First full day with my new bins today and I can say I'm very happy with my purchase. Went to the Northwood RSPB site to give them a try out. Even though it was a very dull day I had no problems spotting and Iding birds within a reasonable distance. Bins were very comfortable to use and did not feel to heavy round the neck despite there largish size. Focussing was a doddle - quick and easy.

My only gripe (a minor one) was the twist up eye cups - they pushed down everytime I put the lens cap on. Does this happen on other models??

Over all in terms of value for money (169 GBP) I don't think you'll go wrong. They are larger than some other models, but the image quality won't disappoint.
 
adw73uk said:
My only gripe (a minor one) was the twist up eye cups - they pushed down everytime I put the lens cap on. Does this happen on other models??

Many binoculars have "click" stops, and the eyecups stay were you put them.

adw73uk said:
the image quality won't disappoint.

Well, don't look through a pair of expensive binoculars, because your Bushnell will dissapoint after that.
 
Well, don't look through a pair of expensive binoculars, because your Bushnell will dissapoint after that.[/QUOTE]

There is always that! I'll not look through a more expensive set until I've saved up the cash and conviced the wife it's money well spent.
 
adw73uk said:
My only gripe (a minor one) was the twist up eye cups - they pushed down everytime I put the lens cap on. Does this happen on other models??

Actually, many binoculars have a stop at the end of the "twist". Maybe you have to pull those cups put and twist more.
 
I bought a pair of these last June in Orkney, they were the best they had in my price range (up to £200, cost £169). I was shown some more expensive Bushnells, the waterproof Legend ones - but couldn't discern any difference in quality except and I didn't like the way they felt.
I carry mine around in a 'Country Innovations' padded pouch - just the right size and has room for a mini collins guide, note pad etc.
Can't realy fault them.

I've looked through all the top named brands (L,Z & S) and recently looked through some of the new Minox BL jobbies (which my other half wants now, and I'll be jelouse if she does), Doesn't realy bother me, mine are good enough. If I had perfect eyesight maybe I'd contemplate buyng some more expensive models - but as it is I haven't, so I won't.

They feel comfortable to use, easily adjustable and to me aren't too heavy.
Where I need to spend some money is on some more specs as mine are scratched to hell (flippin Nikon F4E without a rubber eyecup, and very thin Nikon plastic spec lenses).
 
Otto McDiesel said:
Actually, many binoculars have a stop at the end of the "twist". Maybe you have to pull those cups put and twist more.
..mine stay up allright when I choose not to use specs, most of the time they are down though.
 
Gramayr said:
..mine stay up allright when I choose not to use specs, most of the time they are down though.


The cups stay up okay in use but go down when replacing the lens covers, so it's not a problem, but if I was being picky this would be my only gripe. It also doesn't bother me because I use them all the way down or only just up.

I also tried a couple of pairs of bins in the £200 - £350 category as I would have stretched to this if I felt there was a big enough improvement in image quality, however the only advantage was that they were a bit shorter which although would have been nice wasn't worth the extra money. Also my eyesight is pretty much perfect (... welll....I don't wear specs - may be I need to |^| ) and I couldn't really tell any difference in optical quality over the 5 - 10 minutes I tried them out (side by side).

I'm happy with mine :t:
 
willowa said:
Just orded the Nature view 8X42. I wanted the 8x30 but out of stock. Do you know what these are like.


No I didn't look at those - but if they're the roof prism version - I can't imagine they'll be much different to my 10X (just a little brighter maybe?) I don't think you'll be disappointed. I think they're a good buy for the money. Be interesting to know how you get on.
 
willowa said:
Just orded the Nature view 8X42. I wanted the 8x30 but out of stock. Do you know what these are like.


hi willowa, i have the 8x42 s and im very pleased with them, for the price i dont think you can go wrong, they accompany me nearly everytime im out,not as often as id like :'D also the rain guard supplied are good aswell, the only thing i did was replace the neck strap with one of those neoprene stretchy ones, dont even notice them round my neck now.oh and never had a problem with the twist up eyes, i just rest my rain guard on them when i need to,i dont push them on fully,quicker to remove if the need arises :bounce:
 
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Well, I risked disappointment, bit the bullet and tried the top of the range bins and compared them to my Bushnells. My favourites were the Zeiss FL's - handled nice, smooth focus, great image etc..........

However, I compard these directly with my Bushnells in average light - midday, slightly overcast - first Zeiss, then mine then Zeiss and so on....... Now I'm not going to claim that the Bushnells were as good as the Zeiss. The FL's were great, fantastic resolution and detail...... but £700 better?? For me - I don't think so. Still, if I used my bins every day for a few hours .. and have unlimited funds - I'd get the FL's I'm a sucker for a name. But for my once a week excursions, the Bushnells are perfect.

If you want a pair of bins under £200 - give them a go. But try before you buy!
 
adw73uk said:
Well, I risked disappointment, bit the bullet and tried the top of the range bins and compared them to my Bushnells. My favourites were the Zeiss FL's - handled nice, smooth focus, great image etc..........

However, I compard these directly with my Bushnells in average light - midday, slightly overcast - first Zeiss, then mine then Zeiss and so on....... Now I'm not going to claim that the Bushnells were as good as the Zeiss. The FL's were great, fantastic resolution and detail...... but £700 better?? For me - I don't think so. Still, if I used my bins every day for a few hours .. and have unlimited funds - I'd get the FL's I'm a sucker for a name. But for my once a week excursions, the Bushnells are perfect.

If you want a pair of bins under £200 - give them a go. But try before you buy!

I've looked through both the Nature View 8x42 and 10x42 at the local Audubon shop. They are both perfectly good binoculars. My difficulty at the time wasn't really image quality, but that the eyepieces didn't get close enough for my eyes. Some makes and models do this for me and some don't. But the views were pretty good on both, and I don't see how you can go wrong with these as a first birding binocular. They are so much better than what is usually offered at a department store. Steve Ingraham of Better View Desired used to rate these highly as Best Buys -- and this was before so many lower priced roof-prism binoculars came out.

So now go birdwatching! It's amazing how many birds that used to be brown or grey from a distance become colorful and complexly patterned through binoculars. Some birds turn into species you never knew were around you when you put the binocs on them. Where I live, I never knew that there were Kingbirds right here in the city perched on telephone lines. To me they just kinda looked like mockingbirds or something from a distance. Have fun!
 
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