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good beginners binoculars


fordXX

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It is a downside no doubt Jeepster. But I didn't want them solely for fishing, that's why I've complimented them with a very lightweight but high magnification set to cover all my needs. But it's a fair point.

Paul

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Paul, if you can hold 15x binoculars steady you're a lucky man, but very much in the minority! There are a few who can, but certainly I'm not one of them:)

 

Further downsides of a high magnification are a small field of view, making it difficult to find what you're looking at, especially if it's fast moving. Many high power binoculars, especially inexpensive ones, also have poor eye relief making it difficult to see the whole field of view anyway when wearing glasses. All other things being equal, high magnification also leads to a dimmer image in poor light, plus they won't focus as close.

 

The maximum magnification I can handhold is 10x on my 10x50 Zeiss binoculars. For me these are too heavy though for general purpose use.

 

I also have some 8x25 pocket binoculars that stay permanently in my jacket, plus a pair of 15x70 largely for astronomy. The latter are always used on a tripod

 

It's all a question of balance between the various factors. I too go along with 8x40 being a good general purpose pair. These are very popular with birdwatchers for instance, and I'll be adding a pair when I can afford them.

 

Where I do agree with Paul though is that you get what you pay for. This needn't mean spending £500+ on a top of the range pair though. The difference in performance between these and some £100 pairs, whilst significant, isn't nearly as great as between a £100 pair and a £20 pair.

 

As for the model to go for, you'll find suggestions if you use a search engine to find test reports or field tests.

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For general use stick to an 8X, the cheaper Bushnell or Opticron bins are pretty good for the money, and stick to a porro prism bin rather than a roof prism if you're buying cheap, but whatever you decide you should always try them out first.

 

On a purely personal note I wouldn't part with my Swift 8.5 X 44 EDs for anything, well, maybe a pair of Leica Ultravids. :D

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Hmmm.....Steve, I've no idea how much the Duovids weigh so, out of interest, I'll find out tomorrow (the dog is in his Kennel so I don't want to pass through his run and so disturb him to get to my fishing scales) the kitchen scales won't be man enough I know. They're comfortably not heavy though.

Paul

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I've used high-end auto-focusing types before, which were an unbelievable experience for me.

 

Ask Wordbender on here about even more expensive ones. I mean, really expensive!

 

The trouble with this thread is that we've been asked to suggest 'general use' binoculars.

 

Anyone care to define 'general use'? :(

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Hmmm.....Steve, I've no idea how much the Duovids weigh so, out of interest, I'll find out tomorrow

 

W/E gives the weight for the Duo-vids as 1270gms: that's more than my scope! :o

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W/E gives the weight for the Duo-vids as 1270gms: that's more than my scope!

 

Yep, I'll agree with that. Just been to the post room with them and they weigh in at 1321g wearing their supplied, very comfortable, wide neoprene strap. They measure approx 20cm in length - that's just short of 3lb and 8ins respectively in old money - hardly massive to my mind.

 

I'm told that a great proportion of the weight of a top end binocular is actually the coating on the optics thereby alleviating the need for the physical proportions of lesser sets. The Duovid's are honestly very usuable in the general situations that Elton mentions. All I'm saying is that it means that I can stand 20 yards away from a red grouse sitting on a moorland wall and view it with magnificent clarity and notice the feather barring rather than just a brown bird.

Paul

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Bins for use on a boat are normally 7x50 - low magnification makes them useable on a rocking boat, and the 50mm lenses gather lots of light which is useful in low light conditions. I have some 12x30 Opticron BGA T PC bins for 'shore use' and I like them, the only drawback is individual lenscaps to get lost. They're small enough to fit in the pockets on my jackets.

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Oh I forgot to mention - if you go somewhere with the intention of comparing different models of binoculars, try to choose a dull day rather than a bright one. All binos seem to give a good impression on bright days, but the dull days really make the better binos stand out.

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A really great discussion of optics happening here but I'm not sure that fordXX is still around to read it. I hope so but ?????

" My choices in life were either to be a piano player in a whore house or a politician. And to tell the truth, there's hardly any difference!" - Harry Truman, 33rd US President

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