Tonys

I agree. The Nikon Action and Olympus DPS 8x40 get good reviews and are not too expensive. I have the Nikons. Old binoculars bought on Ebay and from charity shops can be  great  and I have several pairs  but in my experience they usually need an internal clean and sometimes a realignment.  The latter causes eyestrain and discomfort in use. 

Nikon Action VII 8x40 and Tento 7x50. I did have Revelation 15x70 but didn't use them so much. The Nikons have a wide fov but image quality drops off towards the field edge, otherwise very sharp. The Tentos have a narrower fov but sharp almost to the edge. They exhibit a slight yellow cast which seems to be common for Soviet optics of the day. The Tentos seem to give a slightly darker background sky which has always puzzled me (maybe better contrast?) but show a ghost image when pointed at the moon around full. I tend to use the Nikons most often due to the bigger fov.

I found my mid 70s Tasco 60mm earlier this year while clearing out the loft. I got it from Dixons for around £60 (around £300 in todays money?) at a time when proper scopes (3 inch refractor or 6 inch reflector) were out of my league. I set up the old Tasco one night and it was very poor indeed compared with my current Skywatcher scopes, both optically and in terms of the mount. My Evostar 5 inch with eq5 performs brilliantly and cost me £312 three years ago. We've never had it so good!