BirdForum is the net's largest birding community dedicated to wild birds and birding, and is absolutely FREE!

Register for an account to take part in lively discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="brocknroller" data-source="post: 3180577" data-attributes="member: 665">Over the past 12 years or so, I've commented on dozens of bins I've either owned or tried as loaners (not from companies, from individuals) on CN and BF, but I don't think I've actually arranged those comments in some type of format like you and Frank do on BF and Optics Talk. I once compared 20 bins side by side in my backyard. Steve (mooreorless) took a photo of the table with all the bins on display. I used to be a test maniac. Got that from reading BVD and also from John Cota, a guy who sold me a lot of used bins at good prices. He would buy a bin, test it, and then usually sell it a few weeks to a month later. Like Frank, he'd often buy more than one sample to test. For example, he had five Canon 10x30 IS bins, so he could find the one with the best stability. Steve gave me a cutout square from his 1951 AF resolution chart, and I used my Nikon 8-16x40 XL Zoom as a booster, which I think is also what Henry uses. I kept a book with all the results, but it was ruined in a flood in the cellar (sewer backed up, so it wasn't something I wanted to dry out). But I didn't really care about posting results, I was just doing it for me, so I could compare the bins. In some cases, I had more than one sample of the same bin. That was an eyeopener because I found that sample variation runs rampart at all price points. The most consistent series of bins I tested was the SEs, but even those had some variation. I had some money back then and could afford to own a half dozen or more good bins at a time, and I would sell some and buy others year over year. Now I can't afford to do that, so if I started reviewing bins in-depth, it's going to take quite a while to build up a backlog I can use to show companies. OTOH, I've written close to a thousand articles over the past 22 years, so I could show them those. Many are online. A review is a type of writing, however, I've read some reviewers, even some who have their own Websites and have easy access to many bins, but who can't write a proper English sentence. Their writing is sloppy as if they were writing an email or posting to a forum, without checking grammar or spelling or punctuation. It sometimes bugs me.Thanks for the tips. I understand about developing a style, but if Frank starts off one more review with "a big brown truck pulled up in front of my house today," I think I'm going to pull my hair out. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" /></blockquote>

Verification