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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Fozzybear" data-source="post: 1311687" data-attributes="member: 69297">I can certainly appreciate the benefits that decent bins must bring as I know the benefits of good lenses for photography - improved detail for hard to see birds must be great for the serious birder. What bins you buy really depends on circumstance and depth of interest/obsession though. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" /> I agree that if you really are heavily into watching birds (people here are clearly seriously into it) then buying good bins or scopes is a good idea, particularly if you are using them a lot then good optics will not only give a better view but probably will reduce the chance of eyestrain and headaches. However, that said I think that not everyone needs superb binoculars to enjoy watching birds. I am not a hardcore birder or twitcher, but really get a lot of pleasure from going out bird watching, where I used my SLR and 300mm lens to look at and photograph birds when out walking. I bought a pair Bushnell Excursion 8x42s to get a better view, replacing a pair of tiny and impractical (useless when wearing glasses) Minox 10x25 folding bins that I'd only used a few times. The first walk out with the Bushnell bins was a revelation! Sure they have some colour fringing against white skies but are nice and sharp with a wide view and give wonderful close views of birds, a whole new level of involvement that really hooked me. These are comparatively cheap bins and probably laughable compared to some bins people here own but the important thing is that they are affordable so I could risk buying them (not knowing how much use I'd actually get out of them) and also that they are good enough to get me more interested in watching wildlife and getting out to do so.Good optics are undeniably important to the identification of distant/obscure birds in poor light, but there is a lot to be said for the benefits of any kind of binoculars for drawing people into watching birds. Simon Barnes wrote this in his book 'How to be a bad birdwatcher' and I couldn't agree more - getting a close view of a common bird through binoculars for the first time is a magical experience and one that does not need ultra quality... that can come later if you catch the obsession. :-O</blockquote>

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