Binoculars

[Chris_H]

I'm not sure if this is appropriate but I was sure there would be a lot of people on here with greater knowledge of binoculars than me.

 

We are off on a trip to Costa Rica in January and I've been considering getting some new, better quality binoculars. I'm a bit flummoxed by the different brands, specifications and costs (astronomical in some cases).

I currently have an old pair of Olympus 8 x 25 PC1's, but was really impressed by a friends 10 x 25 Leica ones (bit out of my price range)

 

I want to spend ideally around £200-£400 and the criteria is they must be small and easy to use for general bird and wildlife spotting.

 

The internal flights in Costa Rica are very hot on weight and I already have more photographic equipment than I should really take.

I'm based in the UK

I've come up with a list of requirements and shortlist and would welcome any feedback:

Roof Prism 'Pocket size'

8 x 25 or 10 x 25 (I know that 10x is harder to hold, less field of view etc, and that 25 is not the best for light transmission)

 

Steiner BluHorizons 8x22 £200

 

Leica Trinovid 8x20 BCA compact £385

 

Zeiss Terra ED 8 x 25  £299

or 10 x 25 £329

 

Kowa 10 x 25 £249 (not as compact)

or 8 x 25 £230

 

Hawke Endurance ED 8x25 £149

 

Swarovski CL Pocket 10x25 S/H on eBay £600 Plus!

New £720-£760

 

[AndrewB]

Look for an outlet near enough to visit @Chris_H

Quite a number of the larger reserves run by the RSPB and Wildlife Trusts have shops. Somewhere like this where you have a chance to hold a variety and look at something other than a shopping centre can really help in your decision.

Holding and playing with a few makes a lot of sense to me and how I have chosen bins for years.

For the smaller ones, my view is that 8x is more appropriate than 10x for birding.

Things to bear in mind when choosing could include how they work on your face, do you wear glasses routinely? Glasses make a big difference.

I have a pair of Leica Trinovid 8x42 and I chose these over Zeiss and Swarovski due to how they worked in my hands and on my face. They just worked better for me rather than being any better bins than the others I was looking at.

[Pangolin]

Vortex makes very good binoculars in the mid-price range. The Vortex Viper 10x42's that I purchased a couple of years ago are substantially less expensive than the higher end brands, but every review I read scored them not too far below those high-end brands (and well above other brands of comparable price). Bigger than the 25's you might be looking for, but I find them quite manageable.

[janzin]

I would add to your list of criteria that they are waterproof and nitrogen-purged, especially for Costa Rica. I think most of those you listed are.

 

We have the Zeiss Terra's 8 x 25 as a back-up pair and they are excellent, although personally for Costa Rica I'd look for something a little brighter like 8x 32. Those can still be pretty compact.