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Binoculars for hiking and day trips (~ 8x32) (1 Viewer)

O

ottovonotto

Member
Germany
Hello,


I am looking for a pair of binoculars for hiking (not night time) and day trips.

My requirements are:
  • magnification 7..8x
  • good field of vision
  • can be used with glasses
  • water and fog proof
  • max. dimensions: 140mm*140mm*50mm
  • under 0.8 kg
  • min. focussing distance not greater than 5 meters
  • image centre clear, sharp and free of optical errors
  • subtle optical errors out of the image centre are ok
  • Price 100 to 300€ in germany
I found the following models to probably match the requirements:
  • Celestron 71400 TrailSeeker 8x32 _ 136m/1000m
  • Kowa SV II 8x32 _ 136m/1000m
  • Minox X-lite 8x34 _ 124m/1000m
  • Minox BD IF 7x28 _ 128m/1000m
  • Nikon Monarch 8x30 _ 145m/1000m

Does anybody know these models or can suggest an other suitable model?
 
Last edited:
Here’s a review of the Opticron from a none too shabby reviewer;)

www.birdforum.net

Review: Opticron Discovery WA ED 8x32

It hardly seems possible, but it was way back in May 2019 that I reviewed Opticron’s Discovery WP PC 8x32, and a nice little bino it was too, but here we are testing an updated version with ED glass objectives, a field of view expanded from 131m (7.5deg) to 140m (8 deg), eye relief increased by...
www.birdforum.net www.birdforum.net
 
ottovonotto said:
Hello,


I am looking for a pair of binoculars for hiking (not night time) and day trips.


My requirements are:
  • magnification 7..8x
  • good field of vision
  • can be used with glasses
  • water and fog proof
  • max. dimensions: 140mm*140mm*50mm
  • under 0.8 kg
  • min. focussing distance not greater than 5 meters
  • image centre clear, sharp and free of optical errors
  • subtle optical errors out of the image centre are ok
  • Price 100 to 250€ in germany, if something costs 50€ more but with notable better characteristics I would raise the budget


I found the following models to probably match the requirements:
Celestron 71400 TrailSeeker 8x32
Eschenbach arena D+ 8x32
Minox X-lite 8x34
Minox BD IF 7x28
Nikon Prostaff 7s 8x30


above the budget:
Nikon Monarch 8x30


Does anybody know these models or can suggest an other suitable model?
Click to expand...
How about kowa bd II 6.5x32? take mine with me hiking all the time and love it. It’s about 350$us not sure how much where you are.
 
ottovonotto said:
Celestron 71400 TrailSeeker 8x32
Eschenbach arena D+ 8x32
Minox X-lite 8x34
Minox BD IF 7x28
Nikon Prostaff 7s 8x30
Click to expand...

Hi Otto,

first of all, welcome to birdforum!

My quick answer would be to upgrade the budget by 50€ and try whether the Nikon M7 8x30 works with your glasses. It does quite a lot things right at a good price and in a light and small form factor. Or add some more money and get the nicer versions from Opticron (Traveller ED), Maven (B3) or Kite (Lynx).

You could also try the new Discovery ED that was recommended and we would love to get some more opinions on that one. But I have high hopes as Opticron has a good track record of delivering quality optics at very good prices (unfortunately quite a bit more expensive in Germany and direct from UK is not that easy any more).

If forced to get one of the ones listed above, I would probably get the Celestron which has gotten some positive feedback on here iirc and I see no obvious flaws - hopefully you get a good example...
Eschenbach has a quite so-so track record - especially the lower brackets are usually not great super cheap chinese examples.
Minox can be good or bad, the BD IF 7x28 is not great, first of all due to individual focus and no phase coating and also a well known reviewer on here and on the german Juelich forum was not impressed....
The X-lite 8x34 has a true field of 126m at 1000m and no eye relief stated... seriously? That tfov is not great for an 8x40... but on an 8x30, no way...
Nikon Prostaff 7 series are kinda solid but super narrow fov... 114m

In general there is an old optics joke:

wide field of view, good eye relief, compact instrument - choose any two...

This contains quite a lot of truth and a compact 8x30 instrument with a good field of view will always have a so-so eye relief which might or might not work with your glasses. The only 8x30 pairs with an at least ok tfov of 135m plus and really good ER are the old Nikon HG-L and the EDG. Both were from Nikons top ranges at different times and both are neither light nor compact in their class.

Joachim
 
ottovonotto said:
Hello,


I am looking for a pair of binoculars for hiking (not night time) and day trips.

My requirements are:
  • magnification 7..8x
  • good field of vision
  • can be used with glasses
  • water and fog proof
  • max. dimensions: 140mm*140mm*50mm
  • under 0.8 kg
  • min. focussing distance not greater than 5 meters
  • image centre clear, sharp and free of optical errors
  • subtle optical errors out of the image centre are ok
  • Price 100 to 300€ in germany
I found the following models to probably match the requirements:
  • Celestron 71400 TrailSeeker 8x32 _ 136m/1000m
  • Eschenbach arena D+ 8x32 _ 122m/1000m
  • Minox X-lite 8x34 _ 124m/1000m
  • Minox BD IF 7x28 _ 128m/1000m
  • Nikon Monarch 8x30 _ 145m/1000m

Does anybody know these models or can suggest an other suitable model?
Click to expand...
Hi Otto,
If you are on a budget, why not consider a porro design? Value for money is often better. I can recommend the Kowa YF series. My son's got the 6x30 which I think is great value for some 130€. Check out the 8x30 https://www.kowaoptic.com/de/kowa-8x30-yf-ii-porro-prism-binocular

Tschüss
 
jafritten said:
Hi Otto,
If you are on a budget, why not consider a porro design? Value for money is often better. I can recommend the Kowa YF series. My son's got the 6x30 which I think is great value for some 130€. Check out the 8x30 https://www.kowaoptic.com/de/kowa-8x30-yf-ii-porro-prism-binocular

Tschüss
Click to expand...
Thanks for your advice, but porros are too high and long for my bags or other carry options.

I found the Kowa SV II 8x32 _ 136m/1000m which looks nice, even if its weight is more than the other models.
 
Hi Pete,

I can see already google ads from them when searching for the Discovery... leading to their page... with a 1-2 week lead time.
So I guess they have already ordered... or will shortly...

EDIT: Google fooled me, the ad was for the Explorer WA ED-R 8x32... which would also be a good choice probably... especially with a not too shabby 136m field and 18mm ER for use with glasses... here is the usual review from Lee for those:

www.birdforum.net

Review of new Explorer WA ED-R 8x32

In recent years it has become my practice to take review units to the West of Scotland where more spectacular species such as Golden Eagles, Sea Eagles and Otters can be found and can enliven the review, but due to the Coronavirus situation with which we are all now painfully familiar, I am...
www.birdforum.net www.birdforum.net

Joachim
 
Last edited:
If you can afford the Travellers they would be perfect. Otherwise you might try the ED version of the Celestron Trailseeker. I’ve not tried them but have heard many good things about them. Thinking of picking up a pair myself.
 
jring said:
Hi Otto,

first of all, welcome to birdforum!

My quick answer would be to upgrade the budget by 50€ and try whether the Nikon M7 8x30 works with your glasses. It does quite a lot things right at a good price and in a light and small form factor. Or add some more money and get the nicer versions from Opticron (Traveller ED), Maven (B3) or Kite (Lynx).

You could also try the new Discovery ED that was recommended and we would love to get some more opinions on that one. But I have high hopes as Opticron has a good track record of delivering quality optics at very good prices (unfortunately quite a bit more expensive in Germany and direct from UK is not that easy any more).

If forced to get one of the ones listed above, I would probably get the Celestron which has gotten some positive feedback on here iirc and I see no obvious flaws - hopefully you get a good example...
Eschenbach has a quite so-so track record - especially the lower brackets are usually not great super cheap chinese examples.
Minox can be good or bad, the BD IF 7x28 is not great, first of all due to individual focus and no phase coating and also a well known reviewer on here and on the german Juelich forum was not impressed....
The X-lite 8x34 has a true field of 126m at 1000m and no eye relief stated... seriously? That tfov is not great for an 8x40... but on an 8x30, no way...
Nikon Prostaff 7 series are kinda solid but super narrow fov... 114m

In general there is an old optics joke:

wide field of view, good eye relief, compact instrument - choose any two...

This contains quite a lot of truth and a compact 8x30 instrument with a good field of view will always have a so-so eye relief which might or might not work with your glasses. The only 8x30 pairs with an at least ok tfov of 135m plus and really good ER are the old Nikon HG-L and the EDG. Both were from Nikons top ranges at different times and both are neither light nor compact in their class.

Joachim
Click to expand...
Hallo Joachim,
Danke dir, Bester Beitrag!

Thanks for your post, my actual list is (I can't change the text from the main post anymore):
  • Celestron 71400 TrailSeeker 8x32 _ 136m/1000m
  • Kowa SV II 8x32 _ 136m/1000m
  • Nikon Monarch 8x30 _ 145m/1000m
Do you know a season with some special price deals like cashback or some days with great discount during the year?
I would like to buy the bins to a special price from a normal dealer.
 
I can also recommend the Nikon Monarch 7 8x30. I bought them last autumn as my first binos and I really like them and didn‘t think about upgrading to something „better“ ever since (but I never had anything more expensive to compare). I wear glasses and that hasn‘t been a problem at all.
I paid around 280€ at digitfoto without any special offer (I just looked up the price in their online shop and since then the price went back up to around 300€).
If you are willing to wait a bit you could keep checking the discounts at Foto Koch. They seem to have discounts (between 5 and 10% - not that much but I have never seen any bigger discounts online) for binoculars a couple of times a year, last time I noticed was in the week before easter
 
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