Hi! I am most definitely a newbie here. I've done some reading,
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/Publications/LivingBird/winter2005/Age_Binos.html
http://www.consumersearch.com/www/sports_and_leisure/binoculars/fullstory.html#intro
http://www.birdwatching.com/optics/midsizedbins2005_reviews.html
And some of this forum in hope of narrowing in on a binocular choice.
I am looking for a high quality general purpose binocular pair. Small enough that it wouldn't get left behind on trips, bright enough with amazing image quality that I wouldn't be too prone to wanting to upgrade it, durable and warrantied so that I could depend on having it in the family for many years to come. Price... I think I'm willing to go to $1,000 but would prefer not to go too far north of it. Lastly I'm making a trip to Hawaii soon and am hoping to put this binocular to the test during that trip... so it's something I'd like to have in my hand in the next few weeks! It would be a very general purpose bino--occasional bird watching and other sightseeing by myself or my GF, when on the upper deck at ballgames, when hiking, etc. Probably not too much nighttime use. Low weight would be a huge plus. Neither of us wears glasses.
Based on the above I am leaning toward an 8x32 binocular, specifically the Victory T* FL in that size. The price is a little higher than what I'd like to pay, at least from B&H, though I could squeeze it in I suppose. My questions are,
- what else should I be considering? It sure seems like all the reviews on the net focus on 8x40 and 10x40 sizes. There isn't nearly as much on the 30mm and 32mm binoculars. I feel like for me, the 40+mm pairs would tend to get left at home a little too much for comfort, whereas the 30-32mm pairs seem to be a nice balance. Where does Nikon fit into the picture at this size? What about Leika? (The latter seems to expensive... even the Zeiss is slowly breaking the bank.)
- for general purpose casual use, am I on the right track with a 8x32 pair? I realize this is a bit subjective... I guess what I was wondering was, how do ya'll tend to regard 8x20 binoculars? It seems like there are a few good ones on the market, they're small, light, and half the cost! Would I find myself regretting something this compact? If you could only own one, which would you choose?
- I love Canon's image-stabilized SLR lens (own a few) and therefore have long been tempted by their offerings as well as some of the Nikon stabilized binoculars. What's the story here? It seems like, for the same price, Canon/Nikon gives you stabilized 14x magnification, but poorer quality optics, is that a fair assessment? Are these taken seriously? They get the same glowing reviews as the Leica and Zeiss binoculars I've seen, however I'm not sure if these glowing reviews are all coming from the same crowd, or from two separate crowds with different priorities.
Sorry for the long post... any thoughts would be appreciated!
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/Publications/LivingBird/winter2005/Age_Binos.html
http://www.consumersearch.com/www/sports_and_leisure/binoculars/fullstory.html#intro
http://www.birdwatching.com/optics/midsizedbins2005_reviews.html
And some of this forum in hope of narrowing in on a binocular choice.
I am looking for a high quality general purpose binocular pair. Small enough that it wouldn't get left behind on trips, bright enough with amazing image quality that I wouldn't be too prone to wanting to upgrade it, durable and warrantied so that I could depend on having it in the family for many years to come. Price... I think I'm willing to go to $1,000 but would prefer not to go too far north of it. Lastly I'm making a trip to Hawaii soon and am hoping to put this binocular to the test during that trip... so it's something I'd like to have in my hand in the next few weeks! It would be a very general purpose bino--occasional bird watching and other sightseeing by myself or my GF, when on the upper deck at ballgames, when hiking, etc. Probably not too much nighttime use. Low weight would be a huge plus. Neither of us wears glasses.
Based on the above I am leaning toward an 8x32 binocular, specifically the Victory T* FL in that size. The price is a little higher than what I'd like to pay, at least from B&H, though I could squeeze it in I suppose. My questions are,
- what else should I be considering? It sure seems like all the reviews on the net focus on 8x40 and 10x40 sizes. There isn't nearly as much on the 30mm and 32mm binoculars. I feel like for me, the 40+mm pairs would tend to get left at home a little too much for comfort, whereas the 30-32mm pairs seem to be a nice balance. Where does Nikon fit into the picture at this size? What about Leika? (The latter seems to expensive... even the Zeiss is slowly breaking the bank.)
- for general purpose casual use, am I on the right track with a 8x32 pair? I realize this is a bit subjective... I guess what I was wondering was, how do ya'll tend to regard 8x20 binoculars? It seems like there are a few good ones on the market, they're small, light, and half the cost! Would I find myself regretting something this compact? If you could only own one, which would you choose?
- I love Canon's image-stabilized SLR lens (own a few) and therefore have long been tempted by their offerings as well as some of the Nikon stabilized binoculars. What's the story here? It seems like, for the same price, Canon/Nikon gives you stabilized 14x magnification, but poorer quality optics, is that a fair assessment? Are these taken seriously? They get the same glowing reviews as the Leica and Zeiss binoculars I've seen, however I'm not sure if these glowing reviews are all coming from the same crowd, or from two separate crowds with different priorities.
Sorry for the long post... any thoughts would be appreciated!