Thanks everyone for your advice!
I think it's best for me to go to a shop and compare my current binoculars with others.
I'll inform you in a few month's time about what I have done.
P.S.: I am indeed a teenager, but of course I am highly responsible��
This is a very valuable thread with a very relevant question for many young or less-young people discovering birding and binoculars, I think.
Will €800 binoculars allow you to better identify(!) birds that you couldn't with your current binoculars? I think in 90-95% of cases no as your binoculars don't seem to be bad ones. Probably only in some very specific difficult light conditions where better coatings,internal baffling etc. matter (e.g. low light facing you with veiling glare for a distant small bird at the other side of some lake in the shadow of some plants maybe
) (But if you are not only upgrading quality, but e.g. also switching from a smaller 8x32 to a bigger 10x50, that might help identifying distant birds at low light for example. Not so much less distant birds during normal daylight,even if cloudy.)
However, better binoculars might give a better image thus making it a bit easier or mainly more enjoyable. Going to a shop might help to discover the latter a bit, but might not help a lot to discover if identification would be easier as I think it is not always easy in a shop to try to imagine such specific light conditions. But, for me birding is even more about enjoying watching birds (also very common ones) than identifying rare or difficulty identifiable birds (and if case of failure to identify, I'm usually the one to blame,rarely my binoculars ...). Maybe that is just an excuse for me lacking knowledge
Going to a shop to test for yourself is still a very good idea if you think about upgrading your binoculars. I would however also(!) advice to meet with some nature guide guiding people of all ages etc and ask to/talk with him/her about it, while walking around observing birds. (S)he might also have good advice about what and where to buy in your area (or even to which seller to talk in the shop or to say he has sent you there), not being a seller himself while knowing the people. Also just trying out what others (not only guides,with sometimes lesser but good enough bins) are carrying helps to find out what you want and/or need and what makes a significant difference to you. With covid the following might not occur soon, but some nature associations organize optics days/weekends once a year or so, where you can try optics out outdoors and get discounts. Apart from budget,knowing what kind of binoculars suit you is important,especially if you are about to buy your first good (and for the moment only) one. I think that is not very easy to know from going to a shop and reading forums, especially if this is about buying your first decent binoculars, with little personal reference points.
I think you should check what you can afford without having second thoughts(!) and, if you are really enjoying birding as a hobby, save a bit longer to skip the cheapest ones, but stop well before the alpha or maybe even the top ones from Kite or similar brands. Nikon Monarch 7 or Kite Petrels and Lynx are e.g. models I would recommend íf someone is serious about it ánd can really afford it, being at the higher side of what I would call "great balances of price vs quality". Above that, the law of diminishing returns is undeniable... If you are really into birding, I find it hard to find something below €200 to recommend on the long run, but I don't see much reason to recommend going well beyond €500 either. (Unless you also start being into optics (rather than only birding), often bird in difficult light (not necessarily low light) ànd really can afford more without hurting your wallet.) And, within that price bracket, you might find some good deals for second hand binoculars that do have transferrable warranty for still several years! Where to 'stop' in that bracket is something you will have to define, preferably not getting carried away by a seller or one or another forum poster
. Happily, you already received contradictory answers :-O
Maybe my personal experience, in a bit of a long story, might clarify what I mean:
My first big purchase as a teenager (about 16 years old) was my first own pair of binoculars. I did so after a few years of getting into the hobby of birdwatching (not optics), nature camps and asking to a guide who guided adults and younger people for many years, who I knew well and trusted (and still do). It wasn't just a fling... With the advices from the nature guides who knew me, I finally ended up buying a very good pair of binoculars from the brand Kite. I went to their shop (where they also sold Zeiss/Swaro/Leica) with already some good hands-on knowledge and unbiased, helpful advice from the guides. I did not buy an alpha (I couldn't afford it and it wouldn't have been a clever idea back than), but one of the better range from Kite, with reduction as a member of the nature association and, importantly,25 or 30 years of warranty with great service. By the time I bought it, I knew from those walks etc with him and others what I(!) wanted, hands-on, and bought a good (+/-) 10x42mm (I was quite comfortable holding 10x bins steady and used to caryy a lot of stuff). I'm not sure anymore but I think the price was nearly €500, which was and still is a lot of money for a pair of binoculars! Considering my savings/wallet, I would never had spent that much without being really sure about the right binoculars for me (at that time), and I would never had spent that much without a good after-sale service and warranty (I couldn't afford the risk).
Until last year, it was still my one and only pair of binoculars, which I have enjoyed for many many years. I had to collect/save for it, but it probably was my best investment ever. The old binoculars I borrowed previously from my parents were bad (small FOV, uncomfortable, not water/weather proof, no good optics...) and the new one made it easier to ID birds and lot more enjoyable and, important for me, weather/water proof making me use it without worrying in all weather. It really made me enjoy my hobby. However, buying anything more expensive, let alone an alpha (Zeiss/Swaro/Leica) would not have been reasonable. Yes,they are nicer, but 3-5x more expensive, wouldn't have made any dentification possible that I couldn't make with mine and I might even have worried carrying such expensive things with me... This might sound stupid or trivial, but you want to use your bins, enjoy them walking everywhere outdoor, not worry about them! Everybody's threshold on this is different, depending on your budget, personality and use of the binoculars (from relaxed nature walk to mountain hiking and climbing via cycling holidays) but you might get carried away by a seller or some of us on this forum and only discover afterwards that you are not that comfortable with your expensive aquisition... (It almost happened to me recently.)
There is a big effect of diminishing returns. Yes, I have upgraded lately, and even realised my teenager dream of buying a (second hand) Swarovski scope last year (rediscovering my hobby in some way in my thirties after some lesser years), but I will cherrish those Kite, keep them and never regret buying them: they made me enjoy my hobby for many years, are still good, and still serviceable... My main reason for upgrading my binocular was that my wishes changed over the past (more than 15) years: I didn't bother carrying a heavy pair back than, but I do now as I was taking my binoculars less often because of their size and weight. Therefor I went to smaller,easier ones (8x30-32mm). And now that I could afford it, I went for second hand alpha.
Now, imagine I would have bought binoculars with my savings back than only to discover a few months later they weren't really the kind/format/size... I liked the most or worrying about them instead of enjoying them in all weather and hikes, I would either have had to continue with them with less joy or save again for some time to make up the loss of selling them second hand for a lesser price to buy another type. Not an easy thing when your budget is tight and you only have that pair of binoculars. And the advice from the guide on the field and discount I had back than really made a difference for me.
This is quite a long story, and it didn't fully answer the question if €800 is (always) better than or worth it compared to €200...sorry! :-C
I was just thinking telling it, with all the different considerations, might help you in your quest for the right binoculars and price for you(!) to enjoy(!) the hobby of birding in your way.
If not, feel free to say so! :t: