Recommend me some Binoculars

[wisemen]

Can anyone reccomend me a decent ish pair of binoculars?

They are not something I have ever bought so have not got the first clue of what I am looking for. Makes and models would be appreciated.

Cost wise would like to keep below £100 as I'm not sure how much use they will get. Would prefer waterproof if possible.

Many thanks.

 

[Effjay]

Barr & Stroud do good 12x50's for around the 100 quid mark, I use them for birding aswell as one of their scopes as a digiscope. Good value stuff, good write-ups in the birding magazines about them too.

Scopes'n'Skies do very good deals or did do good deals when I got mine.

 

[Paul Male]

I've got a pair of Bushnell's which I find very good

 

[Paul Male]

http://www.rspb.org.uk/advice/watchingbirds/equipment/binoculars/index.asp

 

[CT]

I've got a pair of Bushnell's which I find very good

Me too - excellent quality!

8X magnification is generally recommended as the optimum for bird watching without the image dithering about, as they're easier to hold steady. I have a pair of 10X, but it's not really recommended you go much stronger than that as it gets harder to find your target and hold them steady.

The two numbers youi need to look at are (for example) 8x40, where 8 equals the degree of magnification and 40 equals the diameter of the objective lenses which are the larger lenses at the front. The wider the objective lenses - the brighter will be the image - very important in low light.

If you wear specs then look for a pair with eye relief, which is adustment at the rear to enable you to see a full field of view.

 

[straycat]

i bought some nikon action 8x40 8.2

a year ago when i started on bird photos

nice and clear,not to heavy,crisp view and they are nikon

 

[CruisingComet]

I've got a pair of Bushnell's which I find very good

Bushnell here also, very good but difficult to keep steady handheld

 

[straycat]

these are mine gone down in price a bit now


http://www.europe-nikon.com/en_GB/products/product_details.page?ParamValue=Sport Optics&Subnav1Param=Binoculars&Subnav2Param=Action&Subnav3Param=0&RunQuery=l3&ID=679

 

[x777]

As always, get yourself to a stockist and have try (outside of the shop door of course!). It's very true you can get decent optics for the price range you have...for example check out the company Bresser (sometimes trading as 'Meade') and their roof prism 10x42s, 'Boston' used to be the model name but things change.