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="steve west" data-source="post: 1251577" data-attributes="member: 23426">The first binoculars I bought (and not begged or borrowed) were SWIFT whatevers, when I was 18. I had high expectations for them. Unfortunately after a couple of years one of the eyepieces fell off and was lost forever! Did I let that deter me? Naaa! I went to Cape Clear  in two successive years with the one-eyepiece bins. Call it inverse snobbery if you like - there was something of that in my holding on to them for so long - but also necessity, as on a student grant I had to count my pennies very closely. Now I think of it at the same time I had 33% share in a telescope. I forget the brand, but it was one of those black metalic ones with an extendable eyepiece, rather like the ones pirates use(d). When it felt like it the blasted scope would not let itself be extended, pull and curse as you may, and I blamed it severely for not allowing me to identify several potential rarities. Late in life it became affectionately known as the "Rat Basher", a handy weapon to have with one when sleeping on the sly in the hides at Cley, and when approached by large dogs. My first "real" scope was a Nikon fieldscope EDII, which is small and compact and very handy for travelling. Unfortunately, early in life it received a fall that left it marked for the rest of its life - somewhere inside some bit of glass was broken. Its performance is less than optimal, but 12 years on I still have it. Would I shirk better optics? Of course not. I have Swarovski bins which I'm very happy with, mostly because I picked them up at half price. Now I'm waiting for a sponsor to offer me a new telescope. Any offers?!I've got money in the bank, so why don't I buy a better scope? I don't know. I suppose it's a personal approach. And for me that "personal approach" sums up much of what has been said in this thread. You don't have to have good optics to be a good birder. You aren't necessarily a good birder if you do have good optics. Some people are willing to buy good optics, regardless of their birding abilities. Some are not.Some people buy huge 4-wheel drives and hardly ever leave the city limits. Steve <a href="http://www.BirdingInSpain.com" target="_blank">http://www.BirdingInSpain.com</a></blockquote>

Verification