Sorry for the belated answers.
I googled '01101001 binary' and it came up with 69 as the first result.
(Hexadecimal, ie non-binary). Clearly google lowering the tone!
Can't help much extra on the bins, but would hazard that even a modern pair of £150 - £250 bins could be an eye-opener in solving some of the issues. (Do you get eg Opticron in Poland?)
They are sold on the internet, but I'll have to check if it wouldn't be cheaper to buy them in the UK and pay for shipping. (I remember I bought a jar of mānuka honey as a present (just one), and I got better value for money by ordering it directly from the NZ website and paying for shipping from their EU warehouse than at retail).
Even the best binoculars won't solve this problem. Then again, you can notice shape or behavior, whatever you can see. I recall silhouettes featuring prominently in Peterson's classic "How to Know the Birds".
I try to, and, for example, last time I saw a thrush which was a blackbird or a fieldfare, or perhaps a song/mistle thrush, or maybe even a redwing.
But calls are really helpful, and I'm making some progress in this area.
You will be shocked if you tried a new binocular - yours are what? 40 - 45 years old now?
Are these your first binoculars? A lot of the time, sellers of old Zeiss optics advertise them as much better than new binoculars. That sounds believable to people with no experience who want to save money. Try buying respectable bins in your price range online and compare (don't buy cheap bins with hundreds of 5-star amazon reviews trying to be a 'smart shopper'). This will tell you a lot. I recommend bins in 600-1000$ price range if you want quality, Nikon is usually a safe choice for a beginner. Others are Kowa 8x33 XD, Meopta Meostar, Zeiss Conquest and Leica Trinovid. Canon 10x30IS is different but very good also. For other options, you can spend weeks browsing this site
My late grandfather bought them at some point, which explains the age difference! They've been around--somewhere--ever since, and I was reluctant to go through the faff of choosing a new pair. I'll have to reconsider my position, though.
I only knew you had some clever reason for the binary. I see it's just " i " I read something wrong online about its meaning as i love u, but glad you got a laugh. See, this is why I should stick to reading newspapers and wrenching on binoculars.....alone......in the dark.....😭
Yours is not the first literal rendition of my username (if arguably the most interesting). I think I need to start collecting these. 😎
Thank you for all your answers and much food for thought. I'll be returning to this thread in the future and will also have a look at some other threads in this section.
