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.

[Peter Connan]

Some of the new no-name-brands bear looking at too.

I have for many years owned a set of Leica Geovid 10x50's. A wonderful set of lenses.

The other day I compared them with a friend's Mavens. A brand I had never heard of before. They are optically significantly better than my Leicas.

[Dave Williams]

I have a pair of RSPB 10x42 HD binoculars and they are more than acceptable in performance but maybe not as small as you might like them to be. I would definitely go to a show room somewhere you can test them for yourself. I tried mine at our local RSPB reserve and it was nice to compare various sizes and quality claims although brands were limited.

My own findings was that the higher the supposed quality, the higher the price which was to be expected but the improvement in quality didn't match the higher price proportionally. No doubt that the high end ones are better but where do you draw the line.

I used to have a very inexpensive pair of 10x25's but not only was finding your subject difficult, the lighting was poor too. The likes of Swarovski, Leica, might improve matters on light but the FOV still very limited. I guess it depends on size and if you want a pair of pocket binoculars instead of ones that are bulky . 

Web sites like Birdforum have a used section and it seems "bins" are traded on a regular basis by true birders. Photographer leaning folk like me put them on a less needed scale when it comes to what to take and what not.

Incidentally I went to Costa Rica earlier this year and put in a trip report that might be of interest.

[JimS]

I acquired the Nikon Prostaff 7S 10x30 earlier this year. They are roof-prism, 420g and not too large, about £180. An 8x30 is also available I believe.

 

For my purposes the image quality is fine and I can't see myself spending Swarovski prices.

[inyathi]

One thing that you should test in the shop, is the minimum focusing distance, for visiting rainforest countries like Costa Rica, the closer you can focus the better, for many years I used a pair of Zeiss binoculars, excellent optics but the minimum focusing distance was much too long, so I could find myself trying to look at some confiding bird that was too close to me to focus on and you don't want to be having to try and back up, in that situation to get far enough away to focus. A few years ago I bought a pair of 10 x 42 Hawke binoculars, perfectly good binoculars with a good minimum focusing distance, but there are some with an even shorter focusing distance, besides for birds it is useful for looking at butterflies. Unfortunately whilst in Alaska, one of the eye-cups came loose, it came off a few times and I kept having to put it back on and then inevitably at some point, it came off without me noticing and I lost it, I can still use them well enough without it, so I haven't got around to getting it replaced yet, I don't know if that is a blackmark against Hawke, or I was just unlucky with my pair.

 

I used to always recommend a shop called In Focus Optics for binoculars, as they had a branch at the Wildfowl and Wetland Trust HQ at Slimbridge, the shop had a huge window overlooking a pond covered in ducks, but they have relocated to a new site, I don't know why, the WWT Slimbridge website shows that you can still buy binoculars there, so maybe WWT, just decided that they would sell binoculars rather than have In Focus selling them, Slimbridge is probably of little interest to you, as it is a long way away. WWT do have the Wetlands Centre in London, that used to also have a branch of In Focus, so I wonder if the WWT shop there sells binoculars and I guess WWT Arundel would be not too far from you, you could check if you can buy binoculars there. Or there might be an RSPB or Wildlife Trust reserve with a shop that is closer. The nearest In Focus Optics branch I'd guess, is at Willows Farm just off the M25 in Hertfordshire, the showroom apparently overlooks a group of trees with birdfeeders. 

 

There are at least a couple of old threads on binoculars, so you might want to look up binoculars and have a read through those, for any other advice not added to this thread. 

[Scooter]

I had a super cheap pair that I'd won in a golf tournament for my first safari (thinking that the optics through the camera would be enough for me) (????).      I came home with a completely changed opinion,   and already had future itineraries,   so set out finding some.   I went to my local camera store,   and the hunting store.   I bugged my brother to look through all of his.      Talked to everyone I could.     I really think that it's worth going and picking up a pair to look through.     If you aren't used to it,   the longer focal lengths can certainly give you a headache in short order,    but if you are too short on length,  you will miss the birds,  especially.  (I would love to have a 10x,  but I just cannot do it) - Perhaps it's just a matter of getting used to.     I spent a lot of time comparing different magnifications  and  lens diameters in different lights.   I settled on 8 x 32's as the size I wanted.   They aren't full sized,   but they aren't compact either.   Call me Goldilocks.    

By the way.......mine were purchased on EBay.    They aren't used,   but rather a "demo" pair (and also discontinued).    I scored a great deal.

 

Quality of binocular glass - follows the same economic law that camera lenses do:    Law of diminishing returns.

Once you find something that is optically pleasing to you,  at a certain price point.......there is always going to be something better.     But twice the price won't ever get you twice the performance.    It will be only marginally better.    And so on,  and so on.    

 

Good glass - has different meanings to different people.   If you are a photographer,   chromatic aberration will bother you - but most people I know,  don't notice that.    So don't pay money for stuff that is irrelevant to you.   What helped me decide was:

The feel in hand.   Tension on the focus wheel.    Field of view.    Close focus distance.    Brightness at dusk/dawn.

@janzin's comment about being waterproof,   and nitrogen purged.

 

I took my Leica's to Belize (it's not Costa Rica,   but very similar in environment).    There were times I wanted a 10x for sure.   And also something brighter than the 32's (the rain forest is a darker environment than I thought it would be).    (but I also don't yet have any kind of harness for them,   and the 8x32's are plenty heavy enough around my neck).      One thing to note:    I started keeping them outside all the time (on a secure deck) ,   instead of in the air-conditioned room.    Otherwise,   they needed 15-20 mins to de-fog heading into the rain-forest.  My camera's lenses seemed to fare better with the humidity.

[optig]

I have two pairs of Vortex 8x32s. I think that they are just superb. They are a medium cost pair of binoculars, but I really don't feel that Swarowskis,or other more expensive binoculars are better.

They are compact and reasonably lightweight.

[marg]

I have a pair of Vortex Viper 8x42 and am very happy with them.