First 10x50 binoculars for £100 - Suggestions please

[Pig]

I got mine from there took 2 days - well worth the cash, I cant believe how good the moon looks through them Maybe im just lucky, thank you for the tip.

[zedzed]

There is a pair of 8*50 on scope & skies reduced from £89 to £49 and it comes with a free star guide (Praktica Diana)

Perfectly good enough zoom for stargazing.

Sent from my GT-P7510

£49 seems like the standard price for these - doubt that S&S ever sold these for RRP. Looking back at posts here I think there were even for sale at around the £35 mark back in 2008, and there are some online stores selling them cheaper - see http://www.pixcam.co.uk/praktica-diana-8x56/ (no idea if pixcam are good/legit ... just using as an example).

[Pig]

Cheers ZedZed,

I will send them an e-mail and ask what they are playing at.

As it happens they are quite good bins and I was surprised at the quality of viewing the moon and stars, all the same I hate being played. I guess thats why they give you a book with them to tip the scales very slightly in there favour.

[ollypenrice]

Sara, 10x is too much. Go for 7 or 8x. Younger members may not realize this mag business but I'm an older member with a lifetime in endurance athletics and 10x is too much for me now, at sixty. I see much more at lower mag. It's exactly the same issue that you know from imaging. Longer FLs need better guiding. Weight is a factor and going for 42mm or so helps, but the real key to steady images is focal length (mag in bins.) I now like 8x42, and so does everyone who's tried our new bins. (OK, a bit minty, but that's not the point I'm making.)

Porros are cheaper to make and are no less capable, just less easy to put in your pocket, so here's an under budget recommendation.

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/porroprism/opticron-aspheric-wa-zwcf-ga-8x40.html

Though really I think your mum deserves these.

http://www.lpo-boutique.com/catalogue/optique/jumelles/jumelles-leica/jumelles-leica-ultravid-8x42-hd

Olly

[swag72]

Thanks Olly - Unfortunately your sums are correct!! My Mum is over 60, but don't ever tell her that I told you!! I was wanting to wait until I'd been to a certain monsieur's to test his binoculars and recommend from there, but there seems to be a certain impatient streak that runs in our family and she wants them now!!! I did suggest the Opticrons, so I think they are the ones she's getting.

She also wants a telescope, but that really can wait until April!!!

[BinocularSky]

Olly,

Firstly, I absolutely concur with your recommendation for a the Opticron 8x40 for a 60-yr-old lady (and that the Ultravid is what she really deserves! ).

But I'm not fully in agreement with 10x being too much; I'm pushing 63 (not entirely a wimp, but never an athlete) and I can still hold my hefty 10x50 perfectly adequately; the 10x42 is as near as dammit rock solid (but yes, I can tell the difference if I mount it, but not much), as is a friend's Swarovski 10x50. It's also a matter of balance and how you hold it.. My son was using a lightweight 10x50 perfectly adequately at the age of 8 (as evidenced by his entirely independent discovery of M34 and subsequent devising of a star-hop to show me what he'd discovered ).

[swag72]

Steve, I have pointed my Mum to your site and she is pouring over it - Very useful it is too - Thank you for putting together something so informative. She is getting the Opticrons, so I look forward to looking through them too!!

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Olly,

Firstly, I absolutely concur with your recommendation for a the Opticron 8x40 for a 60-yr-old lady (and that the Ultravid is what she really deserves! ).

But I'm not fully in agreement with 10x being too much; I'm pushing 63 (not entirely a wimp, but never an athlete) and I can still hold my hefty 10x50 perfectly adequately; the 10x42 is as near as dammit rock solid (but yes, I can tell the difference if I mount it, but not much), as is a friend's Swarovski 10x50. It's also a matter of balance and how you hold it.. My son was using a lightweight 10x50 perfectly adequately at the age of 8 (as evidenced by his entirely independent discovery of M34 and subsequent devising of a star-hop to show me what he'd discovered ).

May I add to that that my eldest (10) claims he has no problems holding the old Omegon 15x70 still (I did lend him my tripod though, even I have some difficulty holding 15x70 steadily, and I have very steady hands). Both kids regularly use my old 10x50s.

As usual, mileage varies.

[BinocularSky]

Sara, thanks for your kind words about the web site. I'm sure she'll be delighted with the Opticron -- one of the most underrated names in binoculars, IMO.

[Tris]

I would suggest roof prism bins as they seem to give better light transmission. They are also much more comfortable to hold. This matters after a while. I have a pair of Adler Optic 9 x 63 which cost about £80 or so, and are still my all time favourite bins, despite having tried many others.

[Tris]

I would suggest roof prism bins as they seem to give better light transmission. They are also much more comfortable to hold. This matters after a while. I have a pair of Adler Optic 9 x 63 which cost about £80 or so, and are still my all time favourite bins, despite having tried many others.

[Crebles]

Try a pair of Barr & Stroud Sahara 10x50's. No really, try some. I bought a pair from A10 Optics' (aka "Scopes 'n Skies online") new shop in Southery Norfolk recently. I went in to buy a pair of Helios FieldMaster 10x50's but came out with the Sahara's because they were just SO much better. Admittedly they were another £40 but really worth it. Really comfortable large view, crystal clear, light to hold. Just try a pair. The FieldMasters felt like I was peering through something, these Barr and Strouds feel like you have Eagle Eye Super Vision or something!

BW

Simon

[swag72]

Thanks all for your help and input. My mum has bought a pair of 8x42 Opticrons. She was limited by the companies that would send out to Spain. I am looking forward to looking through them. Meanwhile I hope this thread has given people some ideas for binoculars within the £100 budget.