Binocs (1 Viewer)

Terry

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Hi would these Broken Link Removed be any good for watching the spuggy's /spuggies/sod it birds in the garden ?or would I be wasting my money ?
terry
 

icantremember

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Hi Terry, at that price you won't waste a great deal.

With bino's you do get what you pay for as far as the optics are concerned but so long you have a steady hand yo should be ok for a bit of birding.

I have a pair of 8x42 which serve me well as I can't hold steady anything with greater magnification, Joyce has a pair of 10x50.

Brian
 

JohnM

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Hi Terry, at that price you won't waste a great deal.

With bino's you do get what you pay for as far as the optics are concerned but so long you have a steady hand yo should be ok for a bit of birding.

I have a pair of 8x42 which serve me well as I can't hold steady anything with greater magnification, Joyce has a pair of 10x50.

Brian
How do you know when you cant remember?:ROFLMAO:

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Terry

Terry

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just spotted they are 10 x 30 :Smile: don't want to spend a lot on them because no doubt grandson will get his mits on them and claim them ::bigsmile: Not me being soft but he will ask SWMBO and she will tell me not to be mean and let him have them :Doh:
terry
 

icantremember

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just spotted they are [HI]10 x 30[/HI] :Smile: don't want to spend a lot on them because no doubt grandson will get his mits on them and claim them ::bigsmile: Not me being soft but he will ask SWMBO and she will tell me not to be mean and let him have them :Doh:
terry

I think they have a zoom facility and the "-30" mentioned in the add refers to the maximum magnification. They are not designed to focus very close-up (17m) but at £16 are not bad value, specially if your g/son wants to use them.
 
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Terry

Terry

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Hi Brian you have lost me now :Doh:::bigsmile: I thought I had it at 10 x 30 but the 17 mtr bit has got me confussed :Smile: does not take a lot :winky:Will they be OK to watch the odd blue tit etc, at the bottom of the garden (prob 15 to max 20 mtrs away )or should I look elsewhere ?I don't intend G/Son getting them but he rakes through drawers etc so that he knows what goes where ::bigsmile:
Wish he could find where I put 2 rather expensive watches 1 TAG auto and 1 Omega out of his way :Sad::Smile:
terry

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Apr 12, 2012
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The 10 is 10x magnification, the 30 is the diameter of the lens.

10x is good, 30mm is a bit on the small side, restricting the amount of light they'll let in (on the plus side, they'll be compact); but for the price you can't go badly wrong I reckon (bear in mind you get what you pay for).

I have a pair of Opticron 10x42 which are really very nice, but cost me ten times that!
 

hilldweller

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Cheap zoom binocs, just say NO.

I found that the hard way and a lot more expensive than that.

On the other hand, you might be lucky. Anyway you must try before buy, look for serious fringes and poor focus as you zoom and note how dim it gets when zoomed.
 

Wildman

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I bought these for someone christmas box.
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they claim to be 30 mag, not sure about that and certainly no 60mm lenses buut they are a great pair of glasses for birding thats for sure.

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Spacerunner

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I bought a pair, not zoom, same make 5 years ago.

They ain't that bad in good light conditions.

Best of all you wont be too upset if they get lost or damaged.

At that price, go for them. :thumb:
 

mikebeaches

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About 3 years ago I bought some 10 x 50 glasses (not zoom) from Lidl for £15. I thought they were too cheap to be any good, but in fact I think they're amazing. The clarity and the light are superb.

So much so that when similar came up on offer again 2 years later, I bought another pair - £16 this time.

Keep one lot in the van and the other in the house. :thumb:

Wife an I both like using them and it's hard to tell the difference in performance from my brother-in-law's £300 glasses!

As others have said, you can't go too far wrong for the money. And the great thing about Lidl (and Aldi for that matter) is that they will happily give you your money back without question if you return them with the receipt within 28 days - can't say fairer than that.

My advice would be... give 'em a try!

Mike

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BwB

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I might have read that Lidl description wrong but those binos appear to be

10-30 x 60

10 to 30 being the magnification
60 being the lens size.

Probably going to be a disappointing experience at that price but you can't tell with these special buys. If you're near the shop ask to try a pair (if there isn't some already out of the box on the counter).

Be interested to know how you get on.
 
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Chockswahay

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I agree with Brian :thumb:

Sometimes (not always I know)....buy cheap.............buy twice :Eeek:
 

stcyr

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I bought a pair off a Chinese lady with a bicycle, on the quayside in Ancona in about 2000. They cost me 7 euros (after a couple of minutes of merry banter).

They have been heavily used ever since and are excellent - IMHO - well, they enable us to see things at great distances and very clearly. Got fancy tinted lenses too.

::bigsmile:

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jonandshell

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Don't waste your money!

I too have learned the hard way. A lower mag quality bino will outperform a cheap chinese pair any day.

For a bargain, try looking for a secondhand pair of Russian ZOMZ binos on Ebay!

They are the match of many quality German makes and you will see the difference immediately when compared with the Chinese rubbish on the market.
 
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Forget any bino that has a zoom, give your money to charity you'll feel better at the end of the day. Big magnifiactions result in dim images, a simple aid to light gathering is to divide the diameter of the objective lens (the big lens at the front) by the magnification factor, ideally the higher the number the better ie 7 x 50's brilliant in all light conditions 50 divided by 7 = 7+ light factor), drawback is size and weight, 10x is the absolute maximum you should go for anything higher and the average human (never mind us wrinklies:RollEyes:) will never manage to hold them still enough to view anything clearly and in all but the sunniest conditions the image will be will be dim and lack contrast suffer from fringing and probably poor colour (and be like looking down narrow tubes).

Optimum size for us serious birders and anyone wishing to experience the best compromise with modern lens coatings and technology in a compact size is 8 x 32, or 8x 40's even better. These are reasonably compact easily used and carried.

I currently own 5 pairs of serious bino's 8 x 32, 8 x 40 (birding in poor light ie forests, dusk etc) 2 of 10 x 42 for general birding and 10 x 50 probably the least used due to their weight. I won't go into the cost as they are all so called "Alpha Bins" but I've birded since a school-kid so are a tool and cost is not a deciding factor.

Don't get me talking telescopes, thats serious money:Eeek::Eeek:

As said by others don't expect quality if paying peanuts, expect to pay from £100 for something that you'll enjoy using and will give years of service or better still buy used.:thumb::thumb::thumb:
 
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Terry

Terry

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Thanks everyone :thumb:I have nothing to compare them to, never used any since being a teen ::bigsmile:May well get the air rifle out (super scope) and have a pike through that first just to get an idea ::bigsmile:
Terry

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beachcaster

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I have many pairs of binoculars.........from cheap lidl to Nikon Superior E's
which cost a fortune are my favourites and take a lot of beating.
8x magnification is easy to hold still and 10 is do-able is you dont shake too much.

Zooms tend to be rubbish.....second hand older Russian bins which appear on ebay are lovely things and have good optics

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Things like this can be great value............but you take a risk .I have bought some great russian stuff.........always old....not the new stuff.

The little Nikon Travelites are also great light pocketable bins and I often take mine out when walking. The x 9 are great and these can be often found on the 'bay for less than £50

Lidl bins are ok till you look through a good pair......but as you say they are not going to break the bank

barry
 
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Terry

Terry

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Was in Lidl this morning and they still had a few pairs in :thumb:took them out for a look and was quite impressed by them but they were quite big,so did not get them but bought yet another torch ::bigsmile:There 3 w CREE bulb Lenovo -- skinny, light, ajustable and bright for it's size :thumb:::bigsmile:
terry
 

Campercaillie

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Cheap binoculars?? Forget it!! Particularly any that are zoom, and anything that goes beyond 10x magnification. When it comes to optical equipment it's simple, the more you spend, the better the quality. No exceptions.There is simply no substitute for good quality glass. I own a pair of Opticron 10x50's and they are superb! Well... that was what I thought until I had the use of my son's Svarovski 10x50's for a week, and oh!! What a difference. Superbly bright sharp images, even in low-light conditions. There will be many who are satisified with their (cheap) binoculars, but, until you've compared them to top-quality glasses, you simply don't know any better. But, regardless of how much you spend, this is my No.1 tip - Be sure to test them and compare when lighting conditions are poor. Only then will you discern the difference.

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jonandshell

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I'm in the process of looking for a new rifle scope. Being on a budget (skiing to pay for!!), I am looking for quality secondhand rather than anything Chinese-made.

I already have three scopes, a Chinese-made Tasco, an ELCAN (Ernest Leitz Canada) and a WW2 Russian PU scope.
Despite the fact the PU is 70 years old, the optical quality is head and shoulders above the 2 yr old Tasco. Not sure of the price, ask Joseph Stalin when you meet him on the other side!
The ELCAN is fantastic and even though it is only 3.4 magnification, the sharp image makes up for it's low power. It is, however, a £1000 instrument!:Eeek:
The Tasco scope, although a 6-24 magnification, is reserved for indoor shooting at 20m. The image is so bad, it is impossible to place shots accurately at anything over its 10-power setting. Any hint of poor light and the image is milky, dull and difficult to work with. Price of that one, £85.:Doh:

Although not binos, these comparisons do illustrate the fact that with optics, you really do get what you pay for. British Army Snipers aren't equipped with £2700 Schmidt and Bender scopes for no good reason!

My own binos aren't binos, they are a monocular, made by ZOMZ in Russia and bought off Ebay for less than £30. The quality is well up there with Carl Zeiss and the like and it was worth every penny and more besides.

Hope these opinions help!:thumb:
 
Feb 4, 2010
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Optimum size for us serious birders and anyone wishing to experience the best compromise with modern lens coatings and technology in a compact size is 8 x 32, or 8x 40's even better. These are reasonably compact easily used and carried.

I currently own 5 pairs of serious bino's 8 x 32, 8 x 40 (birding in poor light ie forests, dusk etc) 2 of 10 x 42 for general birding and 10 x 50 probably the least used due to their weight.

That matches the advice being given out by the serious birders on Symonds Yat Rock when I was there earlier this year. They all had serious high magnification gear but advised 8x for hand held binoculars, and second hand Nikon, etc. gear rather than cheaper new stuff.

I've got an old pair of 10x50s and they were a bit too heavy to lug around and then try to follow a peregrine falcon flying around the Rock.
 

deisel doctor

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I have a set of binos they are 7x50f field 6.6 115m/1000m brought them earlier this year £70 i think they are vangard in a case sitting in the cupboard( let me now if you are interested) but i done the fatal mistake by not doing enough home work they are fine actually they are very good but they are bigger than i needed, so next time i done more research and brought a pair far smaller, that i can get in my top pocket they are practika and just the job.

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dave newell

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I have a pair of Bresser 10x50 binos from Lidl and they're fine. Sure more expensive ones have better optics but these are perfectly good enough for a spot of occasional birding.

D.
 

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