MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
We will be in touch
I'm off touring on Jura/Islay shortly and I'd like to have some bins for stops.
Money is an issue! I realise bigger is better but could you recommended me some?
Ive never had binoculars in my life!
I got some Barr and Stroud, Sierra, 8 x 24, to take on a drive round southern Africa. They provided sterling service.
Excellent, will check them out.
I know nothing about the technical ins and outs, but I got these as a present a few years ago and they are excellent. I can spy on people miles away
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pentax-10x21-UCF-R-Binoculars/dp/B0001W1CXG
Go to a local shop and try them out. different bins suit different folks. If money is no object then swarovski 8*25CL, but since it is the you will be making compromises. I've got a couple of pairs of cheap 12*25 binoculars from Aldi, they were £10 and are great for the money, but the small objectives (25mm aperture) and high magnification (12*) means the image is quite dark. There's a huge leap in quality when I check out the same view in my "good" pair, they're "only" 8*42 so the magnification isn't as high but the image quality is sooo much better - but then they cost a LOT more. I spent an hour in a shop around dusk (4pm-ish in winter) trying out different binoculars in low light conditions to see if I wanted to spend swarovski money or not. I decided that swarovski were indeed far better, but not twice the price better - but the pair I bought did justify the price increase over the cheaper ones. I use mine quite a lot for birdwatching though
Got some Opticron Vega 8x25 free when I joined the BTO (not on offer at the minute) a few years ago and they were great. Had them as my only pair for quite some time till I dropped them. Can be had for about £50 on Amazon.
7day shop get excellent reviews iirc
I got one of these ([url= http://www.vortexoptics.com/category/solo_rt_monoculars ]http://www.vortexoptics.com/category/solo_rt_monoculars[/url] and it worked well when I went to the Western Isles last year.
Bigger isn't always better it depends on what you wnat to do.
How much of an issue is money? I have a pair of these which I keep in the car and for what they they're excellent, small, cheap, surprisingly bright and clear optics for 8x21
[url= http://www.wexphotographic.com/buy-pentax-8x21-jupiter-iii-black-binoculars/p1518496 ]Pentax bins[/url]
Not much more gets you these, bigger apertures which would give a wilder field of view and brighter image. Not used them but Olympus is quality stuff on the camera front so I can't see the bins being kak
[url= http://www.wexphotographic.com/buy-olympus-8x40-dps-i-binoculars/p1531845 ]Olymous bins[/url]
Ran up to £100 on the wex web site but couldn't find anything else to recommend but dd find these at £110. 12*50 is probably a bit heavy on the magnification v aperture front, but of magnification is what you're after, Pentax is optically good kit IME
[url= http://www.wexphotographic.com/buy-pentax-12x50-xcf-binoculars/p1522596 ]Pentax bins again[/url]
BTW, I used the wex site deliberately, may be not the cheapest but I've always had a positive experience dealing with them
I appreciate all the feedback. I'm really looking for something compact for the bike.
Some excellent suggestion's. Keep them coming!
You can buy a monocular, which is half of a binocular. Useful if you want compact and lightweight.