Geddon

Oh great SN community- I need some help
The GF is going on Safari and wants some binoculars for her birthday.
I need some advice on what to buy, how much, is 2nd ok etc?
She reckoned on 8x or less?
They need to be ok to use with glasses too.
Looking at spending £60 or less but am flexible....
Anyone know?

Hoppy

Here you go:

http://www.birding.com/binocular_guide.asp

But you won't get much for £60 except those crap little pocket things. They really are rubbish compared to a full-size pair - hard to see through, especially in low light, and poor internal design/optics make them dark.

There are loads of things to consider but without getting carried away, here's my shortlist:

1) For use with glasses, the Eye Relief distance is vital. Don't go for less than 15mm, preferably more.
2) Resist high magnification. For general use, there are more downsides than upsides. 7x or 8x is fine.
3) Go for a large Objective Lens - that's the big one out front. 40-50mm is best, as in 8x40, or 7x50 etc.
4) Roof Prism design is smaller, neater and nicer.
5) Check for useful minimum focus distance (under 2m) if you want to watch birdies close up.

I ended up with a pair by Helios (never heard of them either) from local camera shop that are every bit as good as something from a posh camera/optics manufacturer at six times the price. Maybe not as beautifully built or rugged, and I don't use them 24/7, but unless you're Bill Oddie (and want a closer peek at Kate Humble ) they're damn good.

Image is brilliant. Nice focus. Good eye-piece adjustment for specs. Rubberised body. Roof prism. Waterproof (or so it says). Eye Relief about 16mm. 7x42 and around £80.

Cheers,

Richard.

MattW

Hoppy

I think you mean

paulwrxboro

show her this vid http://www.filecabi.net/video/tigereleback.html

and keep ya whits about ya

Apparition

You have a PM.
Yve

Apparition

BTW, that video is flippin' scarey !
Yve

Rapid17

I have a pair of Ace Avian 8 x 42 from a company called Ace Cameras which can be found online. I paid £279.00 several years ago. At the time i was considering paying £600 - £800. Since i bought them i have compared them to a much more expensive pair of Swarovski's and they are extremely close in quality. Imho, paying less than a couple of hundred pounds will only buy mediocre binoculars.

I have just looked at the Ace Cameras site online and they have an updated version of mine for £289.00.

Geoff.