I had Opticron 10 x 42 High Resolution for 20 years and was very happy with them.
For my 50th birthday - I splashed out on Zeiss Victory HT 10 x 42 - which will hopefully last the rest of my lifetime, like Craig I reckon £50 per year is a good investment and I can now almost see in the dark with them, the quality is that good.
I drove them mad in FocalPoint trying out every pair in the shop - chose a dull day as well when you do your testing. The Zeiss suited my eyes the best. Swarovski were very nice but I found with my vari-focal specs it made me feel seasick when I panned.
-- Edited by Tony Coatsworth on Monday 9th of December 2013 06:58:06 PM
Gordon Newman said
Fri Dec 6 11:58 PM, 2013
bought my Zeiss dialyt 10x40B from Focalpoint back in 1987 for £250 second hand and are still working perfect ,I would be lost without them, best thing I ever bought, (could do with a clean ideally after the travelling they have done). Still using the same Bauch & Lomb Discoverer telescope that I bought at the same time incidentally.
Paul Richardson said
Fri Dec 6 9:56 PM, 2013
Well, time will tell and decisions take time! Thanks again for the "melting pot" of ideas.
This is beginning to remind me of how at the age of 12, I wrote to Patrick Moore about buying a small, Japanese reflecting telescope, and he counselled me in his self-typed reply to save my pocket money, and buy a 6" reflector - sound advice which I followed, and of course kept the letter and came across it the other day!
So many factors involved.
I wonder could you do a graph of price vs performance, and where would be the steepest part of the curve? And does it "Flatten off" at the top of the range?
Just musing!
Craig Higson said
Fri Dec 6 5:15 PM, 2013
John is right in many ways. I bought my Leica BA's in 1997 (from focal point no less ) Never had a single problem. Optics are still A1 (begrudgingly I'll admit the ultravid hd are better). No mechanical issues, still waterproof! At the time they were the most expensive bins around but they've cost me less than £50 per year and even though I've toyed with the idea a few times, I'm still reluctant to swap.
It all comes down to budget, but I'd highly recommend trying a few and buying the best in your budget. Maybe consider saving a bit longer if you can manage for another few months with your current bins. You won't regret it.
JOHN TYMON said
Fri Dec 6 9:15 AM, 2013
Paul Richardson wrote:
Woooooah! Mr Tymon is upping the ante to £800 plus!!
All suggestions will be processed in the little grey cells - thankyou!
Unfortunately the best cost twice as much as that ,but once you have them ,they make a massive difference expecially at the darker ends of the day and I wouldn't swap my Zeiss 10x42 HT's for any other on the market at the moment
-- Edited by JOHN TYMON on Friday 6th of December 2013 10:09:52 AM
Paul Richardson said
Fri Dec 6 8:27 AM, 2013
Woooooah! Mr Tymon is upping the ante to £800 plus!!
All suggestions will be processed in the little grey cells - thankyou!
Doc Brewster said
Wed Dec 4 12:06 PM, 2013
John is right of course, buy the best you can afford, I always use that maxim whatever I'm buying. We will always try to match any genuine UK price, beware grey imports are currently quite common in the UK market on the web & have no UK Warranty and quite often have not had import duty paid on them. But we have a list of known outlets so there's no problem there. I answer several PMs on here each week so I know that I am preaching to the converted and have met many of you here at the shop, thanks to you all for your support
Give us the chance to match & we will give forum members the best service we can and be able to continue supporting Ian with his mammoth task of providing this website for us all to use
-- Edited by Doc Brewster on Wednesday 4th of December 2013 12:07:44 PM
JOHN TYMON said
Wed Dec 4 6:51 AM, 2013
Stick with the names you know ,if you can pay a bit extra and go for something that will last you 10+ years.If you keep the interest, and you buy a pair for £200,I recon in a short while you will buy another pair, sometimes its better to go for the better pair to start. The new Leica trinovids are around £800 on the net and a few different types of Zeiss ,Nikon, and Swarovski are around the same price. Not the top models but the difference you pay for with the top 4 makes is the engineering, and at the beginning they all look the same ,but after 3 + years use or less the cheaper brands tend in my experience to start having loose focus ,stiff focus, eyecups that deteriorate due to poor rubber, and generally just appear to become duller. When you compare a decent pair of bins to a camera lens they seem cheap and if you can reach to one of the top 4 makes they will last a lifetime if you want them to. You can also save hundreds of pounds shopping around, I know when I was lookingAT THE Zeiss Diascope 85 I could have saved £1000 on the scope same kit in seconds just by checking the net and that was from a reputable dealers, so Bins are the same. shop around, and buy the best you can afford. cheers John
-- Edited by JOHN TYMON on Wednesday 4th of December 2013 07:29:41 AM
Rob Creek said
Wed Dec 4 2:48 AM, 2013
Paul Richardson wrote:
Thanks guys sounds like good advice - I guess the reviews are a starting point at least.
Each to their own Paul, as Nick and Doc say, all eyes are different and one pair may suit you, another might not. Just to give you another angle on this, in his birding days my dad changed his old 10 x 50's for a pair of Swift, and I think they were 8.5 x 44's, so we always used those. I took a chance on ebay for £17.99 for a pair of 12 x 60's by Breaker Optical, brand new from a firm not 2nd hand. I read up on it first the pro's and con's etc and I thought if they are rubbish Bin Them! You've lost nowt!
Well they're not, it was money well spent. Both eye pieces are adjustable, coated lenses for maximum light even in low light, and it gives a field of view of 288ft @ 1000yds. Infact someone at Pennington a few months ago commented that I'd done well to pick out a single Common Tern right near the end of the spit in amongst the Black Headed Gulls, he thought I was using a scope! Hope this is of interest to you. Cheers Rob
Paul Richardson said
Mon Dec 2 10:41 PM, 2013
Thanks guys sounds like good advice - I guess the reviews are a starting point at least.
Doc Brewster said
Mon Dec 2 10:14 PM, 2013
Nick is spot on, Paul, each person's visual system is different, the make up of everyone's retina & the receptors thereon vary tremendously. Binoculars vary in many ways too including coatings, which all good optics have on lenses and prisms, especially in colour rendition. This makes certain ones suitable for certain individuals. Reviews are fine as a starting point but looking through them is the best bet. At Focalpoint we have many different makes & models & we have a keen birder (me!!) running it, so I am aware of what we need in our hobby & I'm not just after a sale!
Our current best seller is at only £139 and punches at least double that price in its performance, so that would be worth a look at. If you fancy popping out to see us then we are only just up the M56 in Cheshire and there's no pressure to buy. We have helped lots of forum members with their optics and we sponsor this forum, so would be pleased to help
If you need any extra info them just send me a PM on here
Nick Isherwood said
Mon Dec 2 7:13 PM, 2013
The best advice I can give you is to go and try a load of different models. Binocular choice is quite a personal thing and one model may suit one person while a different model suits someone else.
Paul Richardson said
Mon Dec 2 6:20 PM, 2013
Looking to buy a mid-priced pair of bins - to date I have been learning birding using a very basic pair of Japanese glasses bought for me in 1975!!
I think I have now decided to stay with the hobby and splash out some cash......
Looking at a website called bestbinocularreviews, I am attracted to the Hawke Sapphire 8x42ED around the £300 mark. About £100 more expensive than the Frontier by the same manufacturer. Does anybody have any pearls of wisdom to impart? All comments gratefully received!
For my 50th birthday - I splashed out on Zeiss Victory HT 10 x 42 - which will hopefully last the rest of my lifetime, like Craig I reckon £50 per year is a good investment and I can now almost see in the dark with them, the quality is that good.
I drove them mad in FocalPoint trying out every pair in the shop - chose a dull day as well when you do your testing. The Zeiss suited my eyes the best. Swarovski were very nice but I found with my vari-focal specs it made me feel seasick when I panned.
-- Edited by Tony Coatsworth on Monday 9th of December 2013 06:58:06 PM
This is beginning to remind me of how at the age of 12, I wrote to Patrick Moore about buying a small, Japanese reflecting telescope, and he counselled me in his self-typed reply to save my pocket money, and buy a 6" reflector - sound advice which I followed, and of course kept the letter and came across it the other day!
So many factors involved.
I wonder could you do a graph of price vs performance, and where would be the steepest part of the curve? And does it "Flatten off" at the top of the range?
Just musing!
It all comes down to budget, but I'd highly recommend trying a few and buying the best in your budget. Maybe consider saving a bit longer if you can manage for another few months with your current bins. You won't regret it.
Unfortunately the best cost twice as much as that ,but once you have them ,they make a massive difference expecially at the darker ends of the day and I wouldn't swap my Zeiss 10x42 HT's for any other on the market at the moment
-- Edited by JOHN TYMON on Friday 6th of December 2013 10:09:52 AM
All suggestions will be processed in the little grey cells - thankyou!
Give us the chance to match & we will give forum members the best service we can and be able to continue supporting Ian with his mammoth task of providing this website for us all to use
-- Edited by Doc Brewster on Wednesday 4th of December 2013 12:07:44 PM
When you compare a decent pair of bins to a camera lens they seem cheap and if you can reach to one of the top 4 makes they will last a lifetime if you want them to.
You can also save hundreds of pounds shopping around, I know when I was lookingAT THE Zeiss Diascope 85 I could have saved £1000 on the scope same kit in seconds just by checking the net and that was from a reputable dealers, so Bins are the same. shop around, and buy the best you can afford.
cheers John
-- Edited by JOHN TYMON on Wednesday 4th of December 2013 07:29:41 AM
Each to their own Paul, as Nick and Doc say, all eyes are different and one pair may suit you, another might not.
Just to give you another angle on this, in his birding days my dad changed his old 10 x 50's for a pair of Swift, and I think they were 8.5 x 44's, so we always used those. I took a chance on ebay for £17.99 for a pair of 12 x 60's by Breaker Optical, brand new from a firm not 2nd hand. I read up on it first the pro's and con's etc and I thought if they are rubbish Bin Them! You've lost nowt!
Well they're not, it was money well spent. Both eye pieces are adjustable, coated lenses for maximum light even in low light, and it gives a field of view of 288ft @ 1000yds.
Infact someone at Pennington a few months ago commented that I'd done well to pick out a single Common Tern right near the end of the spit in amongst the Black Headed Gulls, he thought I was using a scope!
Hope this is of interest to you.
Cheers
Rob
Our current best seller is at only £139 and punches at least double that price in its performance, so that would be worth a look at. If you fancy popping out to see us then we are only just up the M56 in Cheshire and there's no pressure to buy. We have helped lots of forum members with their optics and we sponsor this forum, so would be pleased to help
If you need any extra info them just send me a PM on here
I think I have now decided to stay with the hobby and splash out some cash......
Looking at a website called bestbinocularreviews, I am attracted to the Hawke Sapphire 8x42ED around the £300 mark. About £100 more expensive than the Frontier by the same manufacturer. Does anybody have any pearls of wisdom to impart? All comments gratefully received!
Paul