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DC1984

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Hi All

New to the whole birding thing and looking for a recommendation for a good pair of bins for under £100.

Am currently tempted by the Barr and Stroud Sierra 10x42s, but happy to be directed towards other bins and any help/advice - not only about a pair of bins, but generally starting out birding - would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks

Dan
 
Hi Dan and a warm welcome to you from those of us on staff here at BirdForum :t:

We're glad you found us and thanks for taking a moment to say hello. Please join in wherever you like ;)
 
Hi Dan and a warm welcome from me too.

I've moved your post to the Binocular forum, where you're more likely to get the advice you need.

I also subscribed you to the thread so that you can find it easily. You will get an email when anyone replies.... you can cancel the subscription quite easily whenever you wish.

Meanwhile I hope you enjoy your time here with us.
 
DC1984 said:
Hi All

New to the whole birding thing and looking for a recommendation for a good pair of bins for under £100.

Am currently tempted by the Barr and Stroud Sierra 10x42s, but happy to be directed towards other bins and any help/advice - not only about a pair of bins, but generally starting out birding - would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks

Dan
Click to expand...

Hello Dan and Welcome to BF! :hi:

I've heard good reports about these Opticron Adventurer II WP binoculars. Just starting out in birding, thus I'd recommend staying with 8X optics (like an 8X42). You will have a wider FOV (field of view), a less shaky and more stable sight picture and importantly, a lighter optic around your neck and in the field to get on fast moving birds or fauna! :t:

Ted
 
Hi,

welcome to BF, first of all!

Under a hundred quid is a challenging budget to get anything usable. I would try to get sth used and/or porro bins - for new I might look at the Nikon Aculon or Action EX (the latter if you can find sth inside the budget) series - either in 8x42 or 10x50 - if you insist on 10x.

10x bins are usually not such a good option due to smaller true field of view (so stuff is more difficult to find) and the fact that they're harder to keep steady than 8x bins - please try some 10x bins in a store along 8x ones to see the difference - look for the difference in area you see in each and note how steady or not you can hold each - not just a few seconds but for a minute or two...

Also it would be interesting to know if you need to wear glasses while using the bins and if you have a specific area of interest or just general birding.

Joachim
 
Last edited:
Welcome Dan

I'd echo Ted's thoughts about the 10x42.

New I'd suggest Nikon Aculon 8x42 porro (traditional style), bino down to £49 at Currys https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/camer...2-mm-porro-prism-binoculars-21472198-pdt.html and used this Swift 8x42 Ultra Light at Focus Optics £95. https://focusoptics.eu/webshop/used-binoculars/swift-ultralite-8x42-214/

A used roof at CleySpy is the RSPB 8x42 which was top of the range a few years ago. It's £99 and will be waterproof. It's a little bit heavy but still a bit of a bargain. Technically it should be better than similarly priced new roofs as it has phase corrected prisms. https://www.cleyspy.co.uk/rspb-8x42-ref-74156.html

Being a roof prism you will fit in with the crowd as it's what most people use though you will still see some birder's using porro designs.

Starting out birding unless you know an experienced birder who can help you I would join a local club.
 
Hi,

the RSPB pair at Cleyspy could be a great deal - if it's really made in Japan and phase coated (if it was made in Japan it will most probably be phase coated since only upper middle class or better bins were made in Japan in the last 20 years).

Can you return used equipment with Cleyspy?

If yes, I would give it a try in the o.p. situation.

Joachim
 
The RSPB pair used to have an oval sticker on one of the eyepiece barrels that said Phase Corrected. They were a clone of the old Bausch and Lomb Discoverer roof.

Used sales would be covered by distance selling rules so there would be 7 days to return an item.

I think Dan may have departed though.
 
Hi Dan and welcome.
Ideally, you could visit a shop and try different sizes and configurations (roof-prisms v. Porro-prisms) to find exactly what you want. If you lived across the street, I'd be happy to let you check out 8x30s, 7x35s, 7x42s, 10x42s, and 8x50s, but you'd have to cross an ocean and continent.
Good luck!
 
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