Anyone know anything about binoculars? My dad wants some for Father’s Day. He wants compact ones and budget of around £40-60. Ideally from Amazon as it makes logistics easier at the moment.

Cheers!

At the risk of sounding snobbish I’m not sure there is anything worth getting at that price, other than possibly something second hand. Even the low end of anything worth having is going to around the £200 mark new, Opticron are a good budget make.

Have to agree with that but what is he wanting to use them for?

Olympus for £60 I bet they get a few nominations .8×40 fairly compact

Opticron Vega 8 x 25 can be had for £55 on Amazon. I had some for free after joining the BTO years ago. Excellent bins I just kept in glove box or back pack. Much preferred them my to larger ones.

They will be for when bill walking or going to the beach/coast etc so nothing too big.

Budget 8×25 will give a dark image. Cheap glass combined with an exit pupil diameter of just over 3mm will be useless in all but the sunniest conditions. Olympus 8×40 would be my recommendation.

NBT here on Bunnyhop’s login

For that spec and that price, I’d recommend these

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Barr-Stroud-Sahara-Compact-Binoculars/dp/B002BTSGZE/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=barr+stroud+sahara&qid=1591555960&sr=8-4

We’ve a pair we take out on the bike / skiing. As mentioned above, the image won’t be as bright as that provided by a pair with a larger optic, but the best binoculars you have with you are the ones you have with you, and these are ok if not as good as a bigger, more expensive pair

edit – STW autolinkie thinks that’s a kindle link, it isn’t. search amazon for Barr & Stroud Sahara 8×25 Compact Binoculars by Barr & Stroud
Price: £56.99 FREE delivery.
Use smile.amazone.co.uk to give money to charity

I’ve a couple of small pairs of binoculars that I take hiking, but for really seeing things I use a pair of old Russian Binoculars. The kind of thing that you can imagine a tank commander on the western front using.

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/557079-russian-binoculars-%D0%B1%D0%BF%D1%864-vs-%D0%B1%D0%BF%D1%865/

They are heavy, they are cumbersome but if you want to actually see something they are brilliant.
£5 from a charity shop, or scout eBay for something similar.

RSPB Stuff is well regarded
https://shopping.rspb.org.uk/binoculars/rspb-puffinr-8-x-42-binoculars.html

And what is recommended if someone was to spend around £200? Could do with some for work for work (looking at rural power lines).

My Jessops 8x30s were cheap and no doubt crap in current company but they allow me to see birds etc close up and not just on sunny days.

Onzadog
And what is recommended if someone was to spend around £200?

binoculars are specced in terms of MAGNIFICATION*APERTURE, e.g. 8*25, 10*40

divide aperture by magnification and the higher the number the better – the 10*40 SHOULD provide a better image than the 8*25

the bigger the aperture the brighter the image. A bigger magnification will make the image darker, and will affect you if you’re scanning for mobile things like birds/wildlife. if you;re looking at wires in daytime then 10x maginifcation will probalby help, so look for the bigger aperture

also consider ED or HD glass, the terminology differs by manufacturer, but in essence it means the internal lenses have been coated to help with light transmission and clarity

in a classic case of “suggest what you have”, I have some of these and they’re great

https://www.picstop.co.uk/general-purpose-binoculars/vanguard-binoculars-endeavor-ed-8×42.html?gclid=Cj0KCQjww_f2BRC-ARIsAP3zarFMl0QhdEwbwamL0zV0q0bw8yHoPunxcS0Jabd28sxtFPW0j0oD8gIaAoZJEALw_wcB

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Endeavor-ED-8×42-Waterproof-Binoculars/dp/B008AUQQ28.

note: may be cheaper elsewhere

Vanguards are notorious though for losing the rubber covers on the eyepieces so just be careful if you go for those

we also have some of these, which are slightly better, but which haven;t been superseded by newer models so haven’t dropped in price quite as much
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Celestron-Binoculars-Granite-ED-8×42/dp/B005CG8PIQ.

edited to fix the bloody autolink things

I’ve got Olympus and Barr Stroud and prefer the latter and spent days on end looking at animals and birds without getting annoyed with the goggles.

I like binoculars . Not sure why , but from being a kid I thought they were magic in some way. Got two pairs some Swiss zenoptem and some Swarovski . First was a £100 or so , second a bit more . Both have amazing optics , but looking old and a bit battered , especially the Swarovski . Maybe not what the op wanted , but for anyone who law fancying a pair , this might be the way to go..

I take a pair of really cheap, very small ones on hols with me. I love using them to see rock climbers, or bikers or whatever.

I’m sorry to be rude, but it’s just daft cork sniffery to think that you cant enjoy a pair of binoculars which cost less than £200. That’s just missing the point.

Dont buy black ones, he’ll walk off without them. Bright yellow or something.

What about a telescope instead 😀 or a modern monocular. You might do better as its half, maybe its half the price 😆

NBT here again

I’m sorry to be rude, but it’s just daft cork sniffery to think that you cant enjoy a pair of binoculars which cost less than £200. That’s just missing the point.

It’s like bikes, of course you can enjoy binoculars that cost very little, but you get what you pay for. You can buy a “full suspension” bike for £100 from halfords, and use it, but it won’t perform as well as a top-end offering from Santa Cruz costing upwards of £6k. Most people compromise somewhere in the middle. Same with binoculars, you can get them from ALdi for a tenner on the specials (I buoght 3 pairs so I could leave them in strategic locations like the car for emergency use, the office etc), or you can spend £2k on some swarovskis, but most people compromise in the middle.

As I said above, the best binoculars you have with you are the ones you have with you, whether they cost £10, £100 or £1000