Are You A Binoholic ???? (1 Viewer)

[Kevin Purcell]

When I got back into birding in a "toe-in-the-water" kind of way aged about 33, I bought, for 169 Irish Pounds which we could ill-afford, a pair of Chinons. Zooms, they were. It was to be the first in a long series of Terrible Optical Mistakes.

Now there's the title of a new thread: Terrible Optical Mistakes

My first bins were Chinon 10x50 (not zooms at least). They did work rather well until properly dropped ... we've come a long way since then.

:-OLOL! Well Ronald, among the populace at large, it´s probably a bit odd. But here in the safer confines of the BF Bino-thread, it´s perfectly normal. My son, aged 6, has no interest in binoculars, but he has dreams in which he´s scoring winning goals for Liverpool FC - how weird is that? (I mean, he´s never been to Liverpool....)

Unless he speaks Spanish or Scouse (or even Scouse with a Spanish accent) he won't be doing that ... DeDooDooDohDontDeeDoh? Que?

You should point him to more appropriate role models like Robbie Keane ... he could work on the hoarse Dublin accent and then play for Tottenham

And to get back on topic ...

Iam in treatment. I started buying really big hunting knives instead. Now that has become a problem, what would you say to a person carrying 2 pair of binos with a knife almost as big as a sword making bird noises ????

"Seen anything interesting?"

Isn't that what you always say?

I asked a pair of guys wearing bins very near Montlake Fill (a popular birding site in Seattle near the University) that. They looked very confused. Eventually I figured out they were going to Husky Stadium close by to watch a college football game not birding.

It was early in the morning

 

[Sancho]

I asked a pair of guys wearing bins very near Montlake Fill (a popular birding site in Seattle near the University) that. They looked very confused. Eventually I figured out they were going to Husky Stadium close by to watch a college football game not birding.

LOL! Yeah, it often surprises me that non-birders have the gall to go about carrying binoculars....what the hell are they looking at?

 

[NWBirder]

LOL! Yeah, it often surprises me that non-birders have the gall to go about carrying binoculars....what the hell are they looking at?

I got the same presumption too. lol

 

[spyglass]

Whoa, whoa, here? Justa damminute. R we gettin' the ? of this post answered, i.e. r u a binoholic? If yr readin' these posts on this forum, u are, or at least think u wanna b. So let's just admit it and quit beatin' around the bush...hokay? Me, I got 8 binos right now, covering the full size & mag spectrum....bottom line is I don't need that many, ergo I am (I haven't yet stood up at any meetings and admitted to it...yet) a bi.....bin.....binoc....BINOCULAROHOLLICK!!!!!. There I sed it. Now the rest of u do the same.

 

[chris lewis]

Yes I am a Binoholic I admit it fully. I spend about 2 hours a day reading bino reports on various forums. I visit optical shops 2x-3x times a weeks to view through various models. I currently have about 40x binos which I have collected over the years and I must have spent about $US10.000 equivalent on my collection over the years. I do buy and sell a few as well to refinace them.
I have acquired over the last few months a Leupold Cascade 10x42, a Minox BD 6.5x 32 IF [to go with my BD 10x58 ED BR of course] and a Oberwerk 100mm - 45 degree version with changable E.P.s for astro use.
I now am currently awaiting my mint condition Leica 12x50 BN to arrive from overseas.
For Xmas my present will be a Carl Zeiss 7x42 Classic which is at my local optical shop - I think I keep him employed.
My wife is understanding as she collects cameras !

Chris

 

[falcondude]

My wife is understanding as she collects cameras !

Chris

I was addicted to collecting camera lenses. That was an expensive hobby..

 

[kristoffer]

Ok, you clearly win, but I am still quite obsessed (binoholic, not doubt) about optics compared to most other people

Yes I am a Binoholic I admit it fully. I spend about 2 hours a day reading bino reports on various forums. I visit optical shops 2x-3x times a weeks to view through various models. I currently have about 40x binos which I have collected over the years and I must have spent about $US10.000 equivalent on my collection over the years. I do buy and sell a few as well to refinace them.
I have acquired over the last few months a Leupold Cascade 10x42, a Minox BD 6.5x 32 IF [to go with my BD 10x58 ED BR of course] and a Oberwerk 100mm - 45 degree version with changable E.P.s for astro use.
I now am currently awaiting my mint condition Leica 12x50 BN to arrive from overseas.
For Xmas my present will be a Carl Zeiss 7x42 Classic which is at my local optical shop - I think I keep him employed.
My wife is understanding as she collects cameras !

Chris

 

[brentwood]

My name is Brent, and I AM a binaholic.
I answer 'Yes' to all the questions.
My basement is overflowing with binoculars.
I can instantly spot the slightest misalignment in binoculars.
I have got into trouble in many pawn shops by saying that 'Bush-nell' are not the best binoculars in the world.
I have got into trouble at flea markets, boot sales, and swap meets by saying that 90x90 binoculars are probably not 90x90.
I got into trouble at a high end sporting goods store in Seattle by saying that binoculars could be used for other purposes than Hunting or Birding, like looking at the night sky.
But there is hope!
My market is dwindling. I steal all my binoculars at pawn shops, thrift stores & flea markets, up until now, mainly at pawn shops. This is the segment that is drying up due to increasing competition from the cheque cashing outfits. In addition, more of the thrift stores are getting their well meaning but evil volunteers, to check prices on EEBay.
Some of them even know the secret WW2 manufacturers codes. Lat week, the local Sally Ann had some Leitz U Boat 7x50s for $995!
A few years ago, these would have been sold for $19.95 'As Is' because the focusing wheel was missing! (I hope some of you get that!)
So maybe I'll be Ok, as I'll never pay retail.

 

[falcondude]

My name is Brent, and I AM a binaholic.
I answer 'Yes' to all the questions.
My basement is overflowing with binoculars.
I can instantly spot the slightest misalignment in binoculars.
I have got into trouble in many pawn shops by saying that 'Bush-nell' are not the best binoculars in the world.
I have got into trouble at flea markets, boot sales, and swap meets by saying that 90x90 binoculars are probably not 90x90.
I got into trouble at a high end sporting goods store in Seattle by saying that binoculars could be used for other purposes than Hunting or Birding, like looking at the night sky.
But there is hope!
My market is dwindling. I steal all my binoculars at pawn shops, thrift stores & flea markets, up until now, mainly at pawn shops. This is the segment that is drying up due to increasing competition from the cheque cashing outfits. In addition, more of the thrift stores are getting their well meaning but evil volunteers, to check prices on EEBay.
Some of them even know the secret WW2 manufacturers codes. Lat week, the local Sally Ann had some Leitz U Boat 7x50s for $995!
A few years ago, these would have been sold for $19.95 'As Is' because the focusing wheel was missing! (I hope some of you get that!)
So maybe I'll be Ok, as I'll never pay retail.

thanks for a good laugh. :-O

 

[kristoffer]

Perhaps "optoholic" would describe me better. I like all thing optical, scopes, bins, monoculars, you name it!

 

[Sancho]

Only the window pane between me and the Zeiss Dialyt 8x56 Classic. Can't pay it. Do want it. Go in, try it. No, I won't. Yes, you will. Shop is closed. Remorse felt.
Ronald

That reminds me, actually...the only time I´ve ever seen, and looked through, a pair of Zeiss Dialyt 8x56 binoculars was when watching a pair of Peregrines that had decided to nest at an old disused quarry in one of Dublin´s more affluent coastal suburbs. There was an elderly gentleman there, and he had this pair of odd-looking old-fashioned binos. We got into talking, and he told me he´d bought them at a local auction-house for....30 euro. Clearance sale of stuff belonging to some recently-deceased bloke, I suppose. Turns out they were 8x56 Dialyts. Neither he, nor the auctioneers, had any real idea what they were...just "an old pair of binoculars". I showed him the EL 10x42 I was packing at the time for comparison, and told him to appreciate his "old" binos and hang onto them for dear life.

 

[Tero]

Kristoffer, do you have a microscope yet?

I am not a binoholic, just sent a pair back. I kept them away from where the other binos hang out so they could not make friends.

 

[kristoffer]

No, but I can actually do quite a bit of macro studies with the monocular!

Haha, good idea to keep them separated

Kristoffer, do you have a microscope yet?

I am not a binoholic, just sent a pair back. I kept them away from where the other binos hang out so they could not make friends.

 

[KorHaan]

That reminds me, actually...the only time I´ve ever seen, and looked through, a pair of Zeiss Dialyt 8x56 binoculars was when watching a pair of Peregrines that had decided to nest at an old disused quarry in one of Dublin´s more affluent coastal suburbs. There was an elderly gentleman there, and he had this pair of odd-looking old-fashioned binos. We got into talking, and he told me he´d bought them at a local auction-house for....30 euro. Clearance sale of stuff belonging to some recently-deceased bloke, I suppose. Turns out they were 8x56 Dialyts. Neither he, nor the auctioneers, had any real idea what they were...just "an old pair of binoculars". I showed him the EL 10x42 I was packing at the time for comparison, and told him to appreciate his "old" binos and hang onto them for dear life.

:eek!:

T..T..Thir...Thirt....Thirty ?!?

Good advice, Sancho.

Excuse me, I'm going to faint.

 

[marcus]

I don't think anyone anywhere is a binoholic as much as I am. I probably have had almost 30, but the Leupold Golden Ring that I bought last Wed. will hopefully be the last one.

 

[Tero]

....will hopefully be the last one.
:-O

 

[iveljay]

I bought binoculars to wean me off cameras, I am now curing my Binoholic tendencies by moving to video....

 

[Briggz]

Cures

I bought binoculars to wean me off cameras, I am now curing my Binoholic tendencies by moving to video....

I went from knives to lights, back to knives and now I think I am moving into optics.

I guess that's OK as long as the next collection is not multiple ex-wives!

 

[kristoffer]

Haha. Spot on.

I went from knives to lights, back to knives and now I think I am moving into optics.

I guess that's OK as long as the next collection is not multiple ex-wives!

 

[Sancho]

Actually the answer to the thread question is simple, and it´s from Alice in Wonderland. When she asks the Cheshire Cat which way she ought to go, he says that in one direction she´ll encounter mad people. "But I don´t want to go among mad people", she replies. He tells here that she must be mad, or she wouldn´t be here. What I´m trying to get at is that if one weren´t a binoholic, one wouldn´t be on this thread. Knowhaddeyemean?