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.

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.

Woooooah! Mr Tymon is upping the ante to £800 plus!!

All suggestions will be processed in the little grey cells - thankyou!

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

Thanks guys sounds like good advice - I guess the reviews are a starting point at least.

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.