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Binocular question ???.


samboy
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HI gang. 

              I have a pair of Minox 8x43 HG bino's which cost me £700 and i am happy with them.

              My pal has a pair of Swarovski 8.5 x 42 which he paid £1750 for. 

              The question is are they over a £1050 better than mine ?. 

                                                                                            Thanks all.

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3 minutes ago, samboy said:

HI gang. 

              I have a pair of Minox 8x43 HG bino's which cost me £700 and i am happy with them.

              My pal has a pair of Swarovski 8.5 x 42 which he paid £1750 for. 

              The question is are they over a £1050 better than mine ?. 

                                                                                            Thanks all.

What do you think Samboy ? 

I'm sure you have compared the 2 side by side, if not i would try, then see if there if its worth the extra. 

 

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18 minutes ago, Dougy said:

What do you think Samboy ? 

I'm sure you have compared the 2 side by side, if not i would try, then see if there if its worth the extra. 

 

No i have not looked through his ones yet but i will do when i get a minute. 

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I've a pair of old skybolts from long ago that my wife bought me for my birthday 5 years ago at the local charity shop for 15quid. In my opinion it's money well spent, can definitely find better things to spend £700 or indeed £1750 on so in my opinion spending that money on optics is only money well spent if theirs nothing else to spend it on.

I really cannot see what £1750 in binoculars could possibly offer that a £700 pair could not so nope I doubt they are £1050 better than yours. Likely just marketing.

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I use a second hand set of leicas and a cheap £60 set if there is a high chance of damage. 

In bright light and good conditions on close things the difference is minimal to nonexistent. Push any of those boundaries and the differences become very clear.  Well worth the extra £300 I spent to me.

At work we use a reasonable amount of optical kit and I can definitely see the difference between the £1.5k and £80k set, and agree with the department that the £1.5k set should only be used for training. I’m not sure where the extra money went on a £450k set I got to use once went, but the work I was doing would not have been pushing the limits of the either set. 

 

My next purchase, when there is enough spare cash will be a set of loupes to replace my Chinese ones. The step from my first £50 set to a £400 set was massive, the difference between those and the £3.5k set that comes next is still pretty big going on the demonstrator set. I’m not sure I could bring myself to spend the £7k on a Zeiss set though. I fully expect that 80% of the time when conditions are favourable my next set will perform just as well as my current ones, but it’s the other 20% that causes problems. 

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I have a pair of Swearovs which I purchased 35yrs ago brand new, been back to the factory twice. I purchased a pair of Hawke binos for my wife and night before last I took them out with me through till dark and have to say they as good if not better than the Sw's.  Glass has come on leaps and bounds in the last 30yrs and there are some excellent glassware available at sensible prices.  I purchased a fleece jacket for my wife a few weeks ago which looks a million dollars and she constantly gets folks asking where she got it and what make it was because it doesn't have a manufaturer/seller name emblazoned on it.   It was £12 from Aldi and is so comfortable and warm she lives in it.  The name means nothing these days.

Edited by Walker570
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3 hours ago, samboy said:

HI gang. 

              I have a pair of Minox 8x43 HG bino's which cost me £700 and i am happy with them.

              My pal has a pair of Swarovski 8.5 x 42 which he paid £1750 for. 

              The question is are they over a £1050 better than mine ?. 

                                                                                            Thanks all.

The answer is...NO. 

I had a pair of Swarovski EL Range 10x42 Mark 2 and now have Zeiss Victory RF 8x54. Both are fantastic, but not worth the extra money. 

If you are in a position to buy them, buy them. If you are not, settle for what you can afford. 

Its 98% marketing.

 

 

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The only back to back comparison should be made on a horrble dull day with some mist and rain thrown in.

It's in such conditions that high quality bins come into their own.

On a bright day even cheap bins seem to be sufficient. 

Edited by Robertt
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2 hours ago, Robertt said:

The only back to back comparison should be made on a horrble dull day with some mist and rain thrown in.

It's in such conditions that high quality bins come into their own.

On a bright day even cheap bins seem to be sufficient. 

Or at night

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Mine where £49.99 from Argos, 10 x 30 & a zoom, my sons £49.99 from a gift shop on a clay ground in Scotland 10 x 50. My daughter has my private purchased Army ones, 8 x 30 about £2.00 multiple second hand purchased about 1976. Not much to choose between any of them.

They only see what you see and if you drop them, generally they break.

I couldn't possibly justify that price, even for the cheapest and don't know anyone who can.

If and its a  big if, I had that sort of money to waste on a lens it would go on a quality camera lens. For that money, I could expect an auto focus that could and would perform better than binoculars and at least record what I saw. Even on a cheapish second hand digital camera would be a better buy.

 

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7 hours ago, Robertt said:

The only back to back comparison should be made on a horrble dull day with some mist and rain thrown in.

It's in such conditions that high quality bins come into their own.

On a bright day even cheap bins seem to be sufficient. 

Remember a wet day when I was guiding a client and the client said  "" Do you know you have water in your binos?"(Swarovs). Astonished by the suggestion I took a look and sure enough there was water literally sloshing around inside. Sent them back to the factory..eventually returned and then a few weeks later another client pointed out that one of the lenses was cracked and it was obvious they had overtightened the holding rim.  Back to the factory with a curt letter asking for a NEW pair not made on a Friday afternoon.  EVENTUALLY I got a new pair and on both occasions not a single word of apology.  The firm went rock bottom in my view from that day on.

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Hi

Let your eyes tell you first and last light in the environment you will be using them as everyones eyes are different - anything else is just someone elses eyes/opinion/experience.

Warranty experiences of others are also useful for longevity in use - Swaro considered top end by many (allowing for the above every so often as things just happen), Zeiss broadly next etc.

Some of the newer Marques give no quibble lifetime warranty, and their glass is getting close to the top 3-4. Light transmisson rates can only be differentiated in a laboratory. Colour rendition also varies between coatings used.

I have Swaro (7x42 SLC) & Zeiss (Victory 10x42) - cant get on with either so should have kept my original 1980s Swaro 7x42 SL's (still had 5years warranty left when moved on) - porro to roof prism.

L

 

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Buy all mine at the charity shops.   Use them like reading glasses.   Spare pairs all over the place.   If I break a pair then I just visit the charity shops and get another pair. 

Bino's or any other viewing device is only as good as your eyesight - And as mine is badly damaged by glaucoma - so spending vast sums of money on bino's is just not on. 

Always by good(ish) scopes though.   If you can't see what you are shooting at then you ain't going to hit it.

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13 hours ago, Walker570 said:

I have a pair of Swearovs which I purchased 35yrs ago brand new, been back to the factory twice. I purchased a pair of Hawke binos for my wife and night before last I took them out with me through till dark and have to say they as good if not better than the Sw's.  Glass has come on leaps and bounds in the last 30yrs and there are some excellent glassware available at sensible prices.  I purchased a fleece jacket for my wife a few weeks ago which looks a million dollars and she constantly gets folks asking where she got it and what make it was because it doesn't have a manufaturer/seller name emblazoned on it.   It was £12 from Aldi and is so comfortable and warm she lives in it.  The name means nothing these days.

The last of the big time spenders, £12? you sure know how to spoil a woman  :whistling:

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2 hours ago, Grandalf said:

Buy all mine at the charity shops.   Use them like reading glasses.   Spare pairs all over the place.   If I break a pair then I just visit the charity shops and get another pair. 

Bino's or any other viewing device is only as good as your eyesight - And as mine is badly damaged by glaucoma - so spending vast sums of money on bino's is just not on. 

Always by good(ish) scopes though.   If you can't see what you are shooting at then you ain't going to hit it.

hello, i am with you Grandalf, last year got 4 pairs 2 japanese/2 german zeiss, both made around the 1980s 1 pair charity shop,  3 pairs on Antique/bric a brac market  £5 each, shall be on the look out again when this market re opens as need some pocket binos

Edited by oldypigeonpopper
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The quality of binoculars becomes apparent if you have to use them for extended periods of observation ! There are lots of pairs that will suffice for casual use but your eyes will know about it after a few hours of constant use. You get what you pay for without a doubt ,whether your use justifies the cost is the equation to balance!!!!

Edited by matone
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On 15/05/2020 at 22:11, Walker570 said:

I have a pair of Swearovs which I purchased 35yrs ago brand new, been back to the factory twice. I purchased a pair of Hawke binos for my wife and night before last I took them out with me through till dark and have to say they as good if not better than the Sw's.  Glass has come on leaps and bounds in the last 30yrs and there are some excellent glassware available at sensible prices.  I purchased a fleece jacket for my wife a few weeks ago which looks a million dollars and she constantly gets folks asking where she got it and what make it was because it doesn't have a manufaturer/seller name emblazoned on it.   It was £12 from Aldi and is so comfortable and warm she lives in it.  The name means nothing these days.

You can't really compare 35 year old swarovski's to modern Hawkes. 

Just like the glass has come on to improve the standard of the Hawke's so has the Swaro's.

I use Bins in my job, I have a pair of Swarovski EL 8×42 and some Leica Geovids. I also have a pair of Vortex. 

The Leica and the Swaro knock the cheaper stuff into a cocked had in low light levels and for finer detail. Often the difference is enough to stop me having to climb a tree for a closer look, or being able to tell a roe is a Crappy button buck rather than a doe at the very last bit of daylight (happened last night.) 

The vast majority of the time you won't notice any difference but as with many things it's the small margins that make the difference. 

 

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