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Binoculars cheap vs pricey

JOC

By JOC
in Discussions - Binoculars

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JOC

JOC

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I've mentioned this trip to Scotland - as part of the exercise daughter is going off solo for a few days on a nature course.  I was going to provide her with her own set of binoculars to watch things like birds and seals - she's only on her tod for a few days so I don't want to spend a fortune.  If I picked up a set of new 8x40's like those going on ebay for around £20-£25 by makers like Visionary and Kepler would I be buying something useable?

I am going to keep an eye on SGL classifieds to see if I can pick up something more decent before push comes to shove, but I have little experience with bino purchase and wondered about your thoughts please?

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ollypenrice

ollypenrice

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At the bottom end the big thing is quality control, which is very variable. So buying a pair you've looked through is best. For all that, in my pre-astronomical life I used assorted ultra cheap Russian binos for birds and wildlife with great enjoyment. A binocular has to be really bad not to beat the naked eye!

Olly

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Jamesruss13

Jamesruss13

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You can get a pair of Olympus 10x50 on Amazon.co.uk for just under £60, they are superb for terrestrial observing and just as good for the night sky, personally i would stay away from the £20 option as quality control will be non existent and materials used will be of a very poor quality (I’m assuming) 

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ShrewView

ShrewView

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I bought a pair of compact 10x25 bins for taking on nature walks. They're lightweight and easily slip in the pocket. Not much use for astro but in daylight they're fine.

Something water resistant might be a good call if possible. British Isles are not the driest place this time of year....or any other really.

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JOC

JOC

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I've taken a punt on a set of these:  Revelation 10 x 42 SF Waterproof Roof Prism binocular - I found a set brand new except for a damaged box for £45 they are described as:

Brand New. Boxed. but box is damaged (contents perfect). Revelation 10x42 SF Waterproof Roof Prism Binocular. A superb high-specification general-purpose binocular ideal for travel, sports and nature-watching. With nitrogen-purged waterproof design combined with fully multicoated optics and rugged build quality you can be assured of excellent performance and value. This model has excellent eye relief for comfortable viewing, with large clear eyepieces. In addition to the high specifications, this model also benefits from close focus down to just 2 metres. The aluminium alloy chassis and rubber-armoured exterior results in a construction that is built to last a lifetime. Features include twist-up rubber eyeguards, large easy-grip focus wheel and dioptre adjustment. Supplied with a case, lens caps and neck strap. Specification: Magnification: 10x. Lens diameter: 42 mm. Prism type: Bak4. Fully multicoated. Field of view: 101 m @1000m. Close focus: 2 m. Eye relief: 14 mm. Nitrogen-purged aluminium alloy construction. Rubber-armoured. Weight: 700 g. Item is new in original unopened box.

The FOV equates to about 5.7 degrees.  I got a set of Opticrons 10 x 42 off of SGL classifieds last year that have a 5 degree FOV and are a binocular of a similar design so I am hoping that the performance will be similar.  Revelation aren't a brand that I have much knowledge of, but I've read that they are the 'own brand' of Telescope House and I can't imagine a large company selling anything under it's own name that wasn't semi reasonable.  Hopefully they will be OK.

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JOC

JOC

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25 minutes ago, Alan White said:

Astro Boot by any chance JOC?

That was what the site was called, but it seemed to be a 'shop' rather than full of private sales (private sales is what I was expecting), however, they had a sale code on which effectively cancelled the postage so I paid what they were advertised at.  I hope the company is legit , but it all sounded OK and I've often looked at what they have for sale so I know they've been in business for a while and its only £45 if it all falls through.

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JOC

JOC

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Well the Revelation bins turned up last week after a few days in the post - they did come from Sweden Alan and, as you predicted, no import tax to pay :-D  If that's a damaged box, well I wouldn't have wanted to make the call between that and a new one.  The package was in 99.99999% perfect order - slight crease on one of the corners of the the closing tabs.  The bins didn't look as though they had ever been taken out of the box.  They look exactly what I had in mind, very similar to the nice set I already had in performance and range, maybe a slightly wider FOV on the Revelation ones - I nearly kept them myself and swapped with daughter for my Opticron ones, but I think mine are probably the better brand so I stuck with them and handed over the new ones. 

Daughter is well chuffed - they are quite nice enough to produce in 'informed' company to go wildlife spotting and I would like to recommend Astro boot in Sweden from this experience.  

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Stub Mandrel

Stub Mandrel

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For those who come after and can't find such a good deal...

I was going to recommend my Celestron 'Nature' 8x42s, I think mine were about £70.

If you can try before you buy, sometimes you can find decent little roof prism bins, not earth shattering but cheap and small enough to throw in a bag or a car glove box and forget about until you wish you had a pair of bins on you :-)

 

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Charic

Charic

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.......late again? but these would have been my recommendation https://www.firstlightoptics.com/helios-binoculars/helios-naturesport-plus-8x40-wa-binoculars.html
These are my favourite  goto binoculars for astronomy and goto for everything else, but their sold with the intentional use of birdwatching!

As for Astroboot, I've had much stuff from them, before they relocated abroad, infact all my revelations came from them, as did my short lived Helios Apollos, at a really good price, the reason for buying from them, however an issue occurred and they promptly gave me a full refund?

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mikeDnight

mikeDnight

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A few years ago I was invited by paulastro to go to some wildlife sanctuary and sit in a hide all morning looking at Ducks bottoms. Ducks spend a lot of their time with their heads under water and their bottoms stuck up in the air!  I'd taken a pair of 10×50 Swift binoculars with me and spent most of the morning using them. Paul had some rather pricey ED 40mm bin's, so out of curiosity I asked if I could take a look through his. After the initial shock at the VASTLY superior image, I decided my Japanese classic Swift bino's had chateracts and were ready for retirement. I never looked through them again! Quality counts!!

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Alan White

Alan White

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7 hours ago, mikeDnight said:

A few years ago I was invited by paulastro to go to some wildlife sanctuary and sit in a hide all morning looking at Ducks bottoms. Ducks spend a lot of their time with their heads under water and their bottoms stuck up in the air!  I'd taken a pair of 10×50 Swift binoculars with me and spent most of the morning using them. Paul had some rather pricey ED 40mm bin's, so out of curiosity I asked if I could take a look through his. After the initial shock at the VASTLY superior image, I decided my Japanese classic Swift bino's had chateracts and were ready for retirement. I never looked through them again! Quality counts!!

Its a difficult day when that happens to you Mike, or it is to me usually because I cannot afford an upgrade at that point.

 

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mikeDnight

mikeDnight

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5 hours ago, Alan White said:

Its a difficult day when that happens to you Mike, or it is to me usually because I cannot afford an upgrade at that point.

 

Same here Alan. I couldn't afford those binoculars Paul had, which I think we're in the region of £1000+. Whenever I've had that kind of freedom of spending, which for me is rare, I can usually find more important things to buy than ED binoculars.

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paulastro

paulastro

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On ‎08‎/‎03‎/‎2018 at 09:03, mikeDnight said:

A few years ago I was invited by paulastro to go to some wildlife sanctuary and sit in a hide all morning looking at Ducks bottoms. Ducks spend a lot of their time with their heads under water and their bottoms stuck up in the air!  I'd taken a pair of 10×50 Swift binoculars with me and spent most of the morning using them. Paul had some rather pricey ED 40mm bin's, so out of curiosity I asked if I could take a look through his. After the initial shock at the VASTLY superior image, I decided my Japanese classic Swift bino's had chateracts and were ready for retirement. I never looked through them again! Quality counts!!

Just a couple of things to add to this Mike.  Firstly, the invitation was to try and see some of the wild red deer that came onto the reserve, it was YOUR decision to spend your time looking at duck's bottoms!  :smile:

Also, the binocs I had with me that day were Zeiss 10x40s as I recall, so not really a fair comparison.  Many many years ago I arose well before dawn (about 3am as I recall) to drive 30 miles to a forest to watch some wild fallow deer.  When I arrived I found I had left my binocs behind (not the Zeiss), what a disastetr.  The worse thing was there were lots of deer about, but without optical aid I just couldn't be certain what I was looking at because of the distances involved.  What a frustrating morning that was.  It still haunts me today, though I've never since forgotten to take my binocs on numerous dawn forays.

On that morning I would have done anything for the use of ANY pair of binoculars, even a toy pair!  So Mike, if you really aren't using those Swift binoculars, give them to me and I'll keep them in my car boot - just in case!  Even better, keep them in your own car, you could be pleased you did one day. :smile:

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