Binoculars

[Yorkshire Andy]

Took out the half of my monocular, the 12 x 40 part: the magnification is great, of course, but holding it is another matter altogether. Heavy, and just difficult to keep centred. So I've just bought the Opticron 10 x 25. That's for the days out - I'll probably be able to use the monocular from the base (okay, ship. I'll be on a ship ) as I'll be able to rest it on a rail sometimes.

Have a look in Lidl of all places they had some pocket size binos in last week and bigger ones coming up I got a pair years ago they aren't bad for the money .. likewise I got a spotting scope from there to look at the stars with the little man he loves looking at the moon it's not a proper astronomy scope but meh he can see the moon and if he drops it , it was only £30......
https://www.lidl.co.uk/p/camping-and-tr ... x50/p52870

https://www.birdforum.net/threads/lidl- ... rs.228600/

[Arzosah]

Thanks for this, Andy! I was a bit impatient and ended up buying yesterday, an Opticron, same stats as the one you linked to, 10 x 50, but I think they're likely to be much lighter, they're only about 260g, £30 so not too bad. Plus I can't get to Lidl, and I want them in my grubby little hands as soon as possible, given unexpected supply issues popping up everywhere.

Great link on the forum, I've bookmarked the "home" of it, ta muchly.

[Frnc]

Thanks for this, Andy! I was a bit impatient and ended up buying yesterday, an Opticron, same stats as the one you linked to, 10 x 50, but I think they're likely to be much lighter, they're only about 260g, £30 so not too bad. Plus I can't get to Lidl, and I want them in my grubby little hands as soon as possible, given unexpected supply issues popping up posting.php?mode=quote&p=214654#everywhere.

Great link on the forum, I've bookmarked the "home" of it, ta muchly.

That sounds very light for binoculars. Opticron are a decent make as well, I have a loupe (hand lens) made by them. Was £14. I've since bought a more powerful Kite loupe with LED which was dearer. These are for identifying plants and fungi.

For comparison I have a monocular, which is about 200g.

[tarmactatt]

I found this site useful when shopping for a pair of binos for a holiday a few years ago: https://www.bestbinocularsreviews.com/.

Various categories (price, use etc) to chose from, some for insane prices, but I guess that's the cost for top spec optics

There's a list buried in the site where the reviewer sells some of the ex-review samples at prices that look quite fair, to me:https://www.bestbinocularsreviews.com/e ... culars.php. It's almost impossible to find on his website unless you know it's there, so I hope it's of use to someone.

[Omega]

I immediately went deep and bought myself Swarovski NL Pure 8x40 because I know lots of people gradually buy more and more binoculars, so buying one expensive ends up cheaper than having lots of cheap ones. Though my main reason is because I deer stalk (I also have Pulsar Thermals with laser range finder, though laser range finder turned up redundant)
I am contemplating buying a more compact binoculars, most likely Swarovski again, but will look at Nikon, Zeiss and Leica too - I often go to National Trusts and having something all the time with in good lightning negates advantages of more expensive binoculars