First binoculars, recommendations please

[Rihard]

You may also be interested in my page on advertising hype in binoculars (which also explains why you shouldn't fall for the well-meaning but wrong "Bak-4 and fully multi-coated are essential for astronomy" advice that infests the internet.

Lovely and very useful website by the way!

[NGC404]

Very useful answer as I am also looking into purchasing my first binos.

I have found apparently nice unbranded binos at Argos (Ireland) that seem to match the description,

not sure if the price is good and if it's worth the risk.

Can anyone take a look at them and tell me more please??

http://www.argos.ie/...rs|14419493.htm

"auto focus" is missleading. They are fixed focus

"centre focusing" is also missleading. For obvious reasons

[Rihard]

Never tried them, but judging by the price, there is no chance these were made in UK.

If you have a really tight budget you can consider these Celestron. http://www.firstligh...-binocular.html

The company's website states they make their stuff in England - but I don't know how reliable their statement is.

I'm also considering the Celestron ones as they seem affordable and I am not looking for top of the range optics.

Cheers

[E621Keith]

If I'd make a guess, that company may have licensed their brand to a binocular importer, so while their core product are made in UK the binocular aren't. It's a bit like those Dunlop branded stuff in Sports Direct that have almost nothing to do with the rubber and tyre company except for the logo.

If in the unlikely event these binoculars are really made in the UK, I will definitely avoid them. British workers are expensive and if a large proportion of the price went into paying wages, then very little will be left for making the binoculars and as such the quality of the product will be much worse than a Chinese made one. You can't get basic German made binocular for less than £200, so there is no reason why a British one can retail for £50.

[Rihard]

If I'd make a guess, that company may have licensed their brand to a binocular importer, so while their core product are made in UK the binocular aren't. It's a bit like those Dunlop branded stuff in Sports Direct that have almost nothing to do with the rubber and tyre company except for the logo.

If in the unlikely event these binoculars are really made in the UK, I will definitely avoid them. British workers are expensive and if a large proportion of the price went into paying wages, then very little will be left for making the binoculars and as such the quality of the product will be much worse than a Chinese made one. You can't get basic German made binocular for less than £200, so there is no reason why a British one can retail for £50.

That makes perfect sense!

[beetlejuice]

Another vote for the 10x50 PentaxPCF WPII's. Great bins for the price. I've had my share of cheapo bins like the Bressers. All disappointed one way or the other. The Bressers were fine optically but mechanically very poor.

[TheNorthernMonkey]

Jessie's still have Nikon binocs on sale. That's where I got mine

[TheNorthernMonkey]

Jessops. Stupid autocorrect