Binoculars. Recommendations for purchase thereof.

Father’o’mine is reaching the grand age of 75 week after next and after some head scratching for presents it’s been mooted that, in addition to paying for him to jump out of a perfectly good aeroplane, he might appreciate some proper binoculars. He’s got a freebie National Trust Pair I got with membership but I was thinking of getting him something better.

He’s in no way a serious twitcher but I think a he would appreciate a better pair for home and day trip/holiday use. So something on the smaller more portable end might be more appropriate, i.e. fitable in a rucksack.

Having previously done a reasonable amount of photography I know good glass isn’t cheap, but finances are not great currently (turns out swapping jobs for one with no overtime pay to do less hours and better quality of life doesn’t work so well when you end up doing even more hours…) so I was wondering if it’s possible to get anything in the sub£100-£150 range maybe max £200 while still being worth buying.

Thanks in advance hive mind.
J

For the price Viking Vistron 8×32 or 8×42 are hard to beat, price around £140-170

Bushnell Powerview.
Available as 8×32 or 10×32
Around about £80 I would guess

I have a pair of the Viking Vistron 8×42 and love them. I went to an rspb place where you could try them. Initially they were out of my budget so I got the next one’s down but knew they were what I wanted so went back.

Opticron are very good.

Sry of a Barr and Strouds here, tried a few in that price bracket and these stood out at the time.

You probably know this, but might I suggest that the larger optics might make viewing easier for older eyes. More light in the front end and all that. Nikon prostaff seem to be in the sort of range you describe, but no idea if they are any good.

[that was a good episode (if i’m getting the right reference) btw.]

IMO larger optics and image clarity is normally more beneficial than magnification power, especially in cheaper binoculars.

I really like Steiner but have only used middle range stuff not the cheaper stuff.

These look pretty good value.Stenier 8 x 30

Ive got a pair of Olympus 8 x30 from a few years ago and they are great, Amazon do the 8 x 40 for 50 quid a bargain i reckon .
Maybe not for lying about in damp grass or standing in the pouring rain but what wally would want to do that as they are probably not waterproof

Larger optics are not always an advantage for older eyes as the pupil cant dilate as much as young eyes meaning a lot of the extra light doesn’t enter the eye. Google exit pupil

Barr and Stroud 8 x 42s here. They were bought for a safari and performed very well indeed. In your budget.

I bought some Nikon 12×50 before a Canada trip earlier this year.
I can manage to hold them steady at 12x but 8 or 10 would be easier.
But I find the bigger optics are nicer to hold than for example my dads 8×42.

I bought a pair of Bushnell waterproof bino’s, which are fab, apart from the ‘twist-up’ eye cups. I hadn’t realised how annoying they would become and wish I’d opted for fixed. Watch out for that.

I got a pair of Hawke Optics Nature-Trek[/url] around a year ago and I’m really impressed with them. I tried them against lots of others in the £100-200 price bracket and nothing came close – the Bushnells were what I’d originally decided on based on spec and price, but they don’t come close to the Hawke in terms of clarity and brightness.

You don’t realise just how good they are until you borrow a different pair!

I bought these last week – Stener Safari.

Seem good for the money.

Nikon travellites, 8* x 25’s.

big lenses (the second number) sound nice, and do have advantages, but they’re heavy, and expensive.

(*or 9)

perfect for carrying in a small rucksack, and looking at eagles, i’ve found…

Meosport 8×25? Certainly within budget, and as an avid user of Meopta glass (top end admittedly) I suspect they’d be in the same quality bracket as a lot of other European stuff for that budget.

Prompted by this thread, I’ve just ended a year or more of nearly buying bins and bought a pair of Vanguard Endeavour ED 8x32s. £169. Heavily discounted, as there some slightly newer, slightly better ones out (EDII)

Hopefully I’ll have in my sticky mitts tomorrow.

Opticron are very good.

Opticron are awesome value. My Mrs uses some 10×28 Oasis which are also available in 8x, which are £200 ish, maybe less. I’ve also got some Leica 10×25 Trinovids which were £350 & the difference in optical quality is barely noticeable.
Both are literally palm sized & Opticron is a UK company.

Opticrons FTW.

Worth going to a shop/specialist as numbers do no justice to comparing the clarity, size and feel of each pair.

We have one of these near us – https://www.at-infocus.co.uk/ where I got some Opticron Travellers from.

Ive got a pair of Olympus 8 x30 from a few years ago and they are great, Amazon do the 8 x 40 for 50 quid a bargain i reckon

We have this pair and the 10×50

both great for the price and way better than the RSPB offerings that ive looked at

Minox BF 8×42. Around £170

I’ve had a pair for years and they’ve been superb.

If your father wears glasses make sure you get a pair of bins with high eye point so they can be used with glasses

Double post

+1 for Hawke. Cracking value.

Lots of good points above about bigger optics = brighter, but remember too that bigger = heavier. If your dad’s active and fit then maybe not a problem, but do bear it in mind.

I’ve got Celestron Granite 8*42 and Vanguard Endeavor 8*42 and both are great. The Celestron very slightly better and very slightly lighter, but more expensive.

I’ve got a pair of Opticron 10×28 Oasis that cost about £200.

Really happy with the optical quality, although I’m no expert on that. Very good build quality and will take a serious amount of abuse, which cheaper bins won’t. Very light and compact. Have stuffed mine in a pocket and taken on hill runs on several occasions. They get covered in sweat, which is no problem as they’re fully waterproof. Give them a good rinse when I get home.

And yet again the universe (STW) provides!

Thanks for all the suggestions, I’ll work my way though and look at the options as there doesn’t seem to be a consensus.

I think 8×32 sound like a good comprise on size, weight and vision etc.

The porro prism HR WP from opiticron are excellent and have optical quality rivalling £500 roof prism bins. We have the 8 x42 and at 217 they were a bargain. Dont ignore porro’s just because everyone else has trendy roof prisms!

Hawke , opticron and also the RSPB own brand are great bins. Uttingsoutdoors.co.uk have great discounts on hawke and opticron.
Funnily enough though RSPB own brand scopes are pants, even thought the bins are great for the money.

Dont ignore porro’s just because everyone else has trendy roof prisms!

Forgot to mention I also have some Optolyth (not Opticron) 10 x 50 porro’s from around 1980 which were £380 then. Still ace but not ‘small’. Very light though!

RSPB own brand scopes are pants,

Not sure if ‘pants’ is the right phrase though?

Iv’e just sold an Opticron GS 80 EA ED scope which was proper good value as far as optics go, just a bit weighty, & got a Swarovski ATS 65 coupled with a Manfrotto carbon tripod. VERY portable.

Anyway, I digress & willy wave.

Opticron for quality v price.

Just got a Hawke monocular based on the recomendations here and am very pleased with it, great optics 😀

Just got a Hawke monocular

Have you only got one eye?

which one natrix? keen on one for ski touring.

I have 3 ‘good’ pairs of bins
– a big pair of Zen Rays – when I want a decent set of bins for wildlife
– a set of Kowa 6x30s that has a low enough IPD for my very young kids to use. They really like looking through them – hills, sea, birds, everything really
– compact pair of Leica 8x20s.

This thread is a nice reminder, I love looking through a nice pair of bins. I might leave my Leica 8x20s in my riding pack so I can have a look around when I fancy it (for those times you’re enjoying sitting down and enjoying the view)

I got the Hawke Nature-Trek 10×50 monocular, (Mrs Natrix struggles with stero vision), got a good deal from The Birders Store. They are larger than the 6.4″ quoted though………..

https://uk.hawkeoptics.com/nature-trek-10×50-monocular.html

Thanks for all the advice, went for a pair of Opticron Discovery WP 42×8 in the end.

He seems happy and his friends who turn out to be more serious binocular users seem to think I made a good choice.

Many thanks all. 😀