Binoculars and Monoculars, How many PW members use either for Decoying, Bird Watching, General use, I cannot resist buying !!!!!, Now 5 Pairs and 1 Mono

[oldypigeonpopper]

Hello, as above, today was no exception, perusing in the charity shop i spied an interesting pair of Binoculars, sold by Boots called Fleet,  interesting name but then i see made in Japan, i reckon 1980s ?? They Zoom, 7 - 15 x 35  after a very good clean up i am surprised how good they are, not up to the standard you might need for stalking etc, a few weeks ago i found another pair, Scope over Field 9 x 35 Made in Japan, Now this is interesting , on the strap were 2 Labels from 1968 and 1969 Newbury Race Course Club Stand for Gentlemen, July 13th/July 12th, Makes me wonder who this Gentleman was ??, This has a lovely leather square case, Another pair i found was at Oxford market, Called WALLER ZCF DE LUX , Fine coated 8 x 40 , Made in Japan, Excellent Optics, Not sure on date, ??, My best Pair i bought many many years ago, called PYSER- SGI EAGLE 10 x 42 Waterproof , Made in Japan, outstanding Optics, good as my Hawke Monoculars 8 x 40, i did have 2 more pairs of old Carl Zeiss , they must have been over 50 years old and good as the day made, Superb Optics, Alas i was offered some £££sss so they went to 2 Pigeon shooters, so any more PW members like me ?????, 

Edited April 23 by oldypigeonpopper

[Sweet11-87]

i use a pair of solognac 500 10x42. think i payed about £120-£150

650g, silver coated BAK-4 prizum,

on par with vortex crossfire and hawke endurance specs so not the best but still a solid set get used mostly at holy island during the season when nowts happening for the shotgun i become quite the twitcher

Edited April 23 by Sweet11-87

[oldypigeonpopper]

4 minutes ago, Sweet11-87 said:

i use a pair of solognac 500 10x42. think i payed about £120-£150

650g, silver coated BAK-4 prizum,

on par with vortex crossfire and hawke endurance specs so not the best but still a solid set get used mostly at holy island during the season when nowts happening for the shotgun i become quite the twitcher

Hello, Thanks to reply, i am going to look for a good pair of Pocket Binos for when i go on my afternoon/ evening walks down by the Thames

[enfieldspares]

I have had Zeiss 10x40, Leica 7x42 and my late father's 7x50 binoculars he has as a gunnery officer in WWII when engaging German bombers either as light anti aircraft or as searchlights. Sad fact is that even the cheapest, almost, of today's Made in China binoculars surpass, just, but enough to be evident his WWII set.

[Minky]

34 minutes ago, enfieldspares said:

I have had Zeiss 10x40, Leica 7x42 and my late father's 7x50 binoculars he has as a gunnery officer in WWII when engaging German bombers either as light anti aircraft or as searchlights. Sad fact is that even the cheapest, almost, of today's Made in China binoculars surpass, just, but enough to be evident his WWII set.

that doesn't make sense.?

[enfieldspares]

What? That today's Made in China binoculars out perform 1940s British Army issue binoculars? They do. Even fairly recent 1970s and 1980s Pecar telescopic sights don't compare to today's Hawke stuff.

[JohnfromUK]

I have several - which is really rather wasteful, but bought over quite a long period. 

Binos;

• Leica Trinovid 10 x 50BA.  Very good (indeed) in poor light, but very heavy.  Around 30 years old.
• Leica Trinovid 8 x 32BN.  Very good all rounder - and virtually as good in my view as the much more expensive Ultravid.  Around 25 years old.
• Leitz (Leica) 10 x 40BA (old type).  Very good optically, but poor eye relief makes them difficult with glasses.  Bought second hand in the 1970s.
• Leica Ultravid 8 x 20BL.  Really good compacts.  better eye relief than Trinovids.  10 years old?
• Zeiss (West) 8 x 20. Compacts - but poor eye relief makes them difficult with glasses and focus fiddly.  Not as good handling as Leica.  30 years old.

Monoculars;

• Leica Monovid 8 x 20. Very convenient and 'modified' with flip lens caps each end.  Eye relief only just OK with glasses (half an 8 x 20 Trinovid bino).
• Zeiss (West) MiniQuick 5 x 10.  Good in bright light and very light and convenient.

Telescope;

• Gray and Co. stalking telescope.  The original highland stalking telescope.  Lovely thing.  I don't think they are made any more?  I ordered and bought this around 15 years ago, collecting from Grahams in Inverness who I think then owned the name.  Beautifully made and lovely handmade leather case.

 

[JohnfromUK]

14 hours ago, oldypigeonpopper said:

called PYSER- SGI EAGLE 10 x 42 Waterproof , Made in Japan, outstanding Optics

I used to deal with Pyser SGI for lenses wearing my 'business hat' around 30+ years ago.  The guy who ran it (name now escapes me, Simon ??) was very knowledgeable on all matters optical.  I think at one time they imported Swift binoculars from Japan which were considered very good and not crazy prices.

[oldypigeonpopper]

20 minutes ago, JohnfromUK said:

I used to deal with Pyser SGI for lenses wearing my 'business hat' around 30+ years ago.  The guy who ran it (name now escapes me, Simon ??) was very knowledgeable on all matters optical.  I think at one time they imported Swift binoculars from Japan which were considered very good and not crazy prices.

Hello, Thanks to reply, cannot remember what i paid when i bought them but they were the best for the money i had at that time, i have just tried those binoculars i bought yesterday, after a good clean, the zoom works very well and diopter is on lowest setting, not as good to the Pyser but i did not expect that, still a good buy,

Edited April 24 by oldypigeonpopper

[Wylye]

I have a pair of Swift 8x42 which must be 25 years old. They live in the front window so I can spot birds and general happenings..I also keep a pair of Swarovski 10x40 in the car and the quality is excellent as you would expect

 

[martinj]

Entry level Nikon bins, not bad for occasional birdwatching and pigeon spotting, I'm sure that much better ones are available for a price but not sure that I would appreciate the difference.

Being 10x42 they have a narrow field of view but great for bringing LBJs close up

I have a pigeon guide mate who swears by 7 x magnification for pigeon spotting as you get a wider field of view

[gmm243]

I am.a big fan of auto focus binos. Have been using a pair for stalking for years. Sadly the company is not about anymore - Dowling & Rowe 7x 50. I saw a mint pair on Ebay last year that I meant to bid on but was on holiday and forgot about them. Think they made about £35. 

I have since bought a pair of 2nd hand Bushnell 10 x 50 which are good but can multiply the shake in your hand. Friends I stalk with have all sorts from Zeiss to Leica and all are good but I still stick to my old ones. I was tempted to buy a pair of Vortex last year but couldn't find anywhere locally to get them before I bought them so didn't bother in the end.

[oldypigeonpopper]

31 minutes ago, gmm243 said:

I am.a big fan of auto focus binos. Have been using a pair for stalking for years. Sadly the company is not about anymore - Dowling & Rowe 7x 50. I saw a mint pair on Ebay last year that I meant to bid on but was on holiday and forgot about them. Think they made about £35. 

I have since bought a pair of 2nd hand Bushnell 10 x 50 which are good but can multiply the shake in your hand. Friends I stalk with have all sorts from Zeiss to Leica and all are good but I still stick to my old ones. I was tempted to buy a pair of Vortex last year but couldn't find anywhere locally to get them before I bought them so didn't bother in the end.

Hello, thanks to reply, i seem to remember some auto focus Cannon binoculars but never heard of Dowling and Rowe, i will keep a look out for some, Today on Farmoor with Stuart another PW member i tried the Zoom Binoculars i bought yesterday and could see others fishing across the other side of No 2 Reservoir ,  

[JohnfromUK]

2 minutes ago, oldypigeonpopper said:

i seem to remember some auto focus Cannon binoculars

Canon certainly did some image stabilised ones.  I tried a pair (this was some years ago and I suspect they are much better now) and found that they worked reasonably in stabilising the image .......... but for the price you got a heavy and optically rather limited binocular ........ which was understandable as i suppose much of the cost was in the stabilisation.

In my view, the key thing to understand with modern binoculars is that in good light conditions even quite modest binoculars can work very well.   The expensive 'famous names' are a bit better at the limits of performance as the light fails and against challenging backgrounds, and are beautifully made and smooth to use - but the average mid priced products work very well under the vast majority of conditions.

[oldypigeonpopper]

Just now, JohnfromUK said:

Canon certainly did some image stabilised ones.  I tried a pair (this was some years ago and I suspect they are much better now) and found that they worked reasonably in stabilising the image .......... but for the price you got a heavy and optically rather limited binocular ........ which was understandable as i suppose much of the cost was in the stabilisation.

In my view, the key thing to understand with modern binoculars is that in good light conditions even quite modest binoculars can work very well.   The expensive 'famous names' are a bit better at the limits of performance as the light fails and against challenging backgrounds, and are beautifully made and smooth to use - but the average mid priced products work very well under the vast majority of conditions.

Hello, Ah that is right John, Expensive and heavy, yes my Pyser Binoculars and Hawke Monoculars work great in low light

[Dougy]

Was out last night after muntjac and took a pair of Bushnell infinity for spotting in woodland. Pretty good for the price I paid £0.00.

If its a high seat or more open I'd use Leica RF hdb 10x42. 

[oldypigeonpopper]

14 hours ago, gmm243 said:

I am.a big fan of auto focus binos. Have been using a pair for stalking for years. Sadly the company is not about anymore - Dowling & Rowe 7x 50. I saw a mint pair on Ebay last year that I meant to bid on but was on holiday and forgot about them. Think they made about £35. 

I have since bought a pair of 2nd hand Bushnell 10 x 50 which are good but can multiply the shake in your hand. Friends I stalk with have all sorts from Zeiss to Leica and all are good but I still stick to my old ones. I was tempted to buy a pair of Vortex last year but couldn't find anywhere locally to get them before I bought them so didn't bother in the end.

Hello, The Auto Focus seems interesting, So how do these work and are they as good as normal binoculars with manual focusing , ???, i googled a pair called Slokey 8 x 32 AF ??

[gmm243]

Morning. The auto focus binos work really well for me. I use them for all my stalking and they have always been grand. I also use the for looking for pigeons, geese etc. They are not as light as some of the newer brands but I don't notice them on my chest in a harness. 

They are literally just point and look. Anything over about 20m out to 300 or 400m is prefectly in focus and to look at things furher will also be in focus, but you just aren't able to dial down to increase the focus. They are often advertised as sailing binos and the ones i have were sold  as racing binos so you could watch the horses running around the course without having to keep fiddling with the focus. 

I know they don't have the final adjustment to get really focused in on an item especially at range but at normal ranges they are perfectly good for counting points on deer antler,s etc.

There are a few different types for sale on Ebay.  Mostly advertised for sailing and with returns offered so you could buy and try then return if not happy. I would buy 8x 50 if I wanted another pair, think the 10 x 50 are slightly too highly magnified and show up a bit if shake at times.

[oldypigeonpopper]

3 hours ago, gmm243 said:

Morning. The auto focus binos work really well for me. I use them for all my stalking and they have always been grand. I also use the for looking for pigeons, geese etc. They are not as light as some of the newer brands but I don't notice them on my chest in a harness. 

They are literally just point and look. Anything over about 20m out to 300 or 400m is prefectly in focus and to look at things furher will also be in focus, but you just aren't able to dial down to increase the focus. They are often advertised as sailing binos and the ones i have were sold  as racing binos so you could watch the horses running around the course without having to keep fiddling with the focus. 

I know they don't have the final adjustment to get really focused in on an item especially at range but at normal ranges they are perfectly good for counting points on deer antler,s etc.

There are a few different types for sale on Ebay.  Mostly advertised for sailing and with returns offered so you could buy and try then return if not happy. I would buy 8x 50 if I wanted another pair, think the 10 x 50 are slightly too highly magnified and show up a bit if shake at times.

Hello, Thanks to post, Found these, Bushnell Spectator Sport 8x32 but could not see if had a diopter setting , just need pocket size

[ShootingEgg]

Got two pairs of swarovski bino's one pocket for the dog walk to see what's about, and then my stalking pair EL 10*42

Thermal monocular hik Gryphon - fox and rabbit spotter 

Thermal binoculars hik Habrok -  used to spot foxes mainly but have used them stalking thick woodland too., beauty of these is they have 4k day mode too so are great to spot with thermal then use day mode to get into right position for the shot

[Mice!]

I've got a big old pair of Zeis that are great but heavy, 12 x 50, old Carl Zeis 8 x 30? Some old Tasco with a zoom.

But I bought a pair of second hand Bushnell last year with ED glass, wow, there 8 x 40 possibly and they wipe the floor with everything else, the clarity is unbelievable,  I'd like to compare them with the top makes like Swarovski or similar because I can't imagine me being able to notice. 

[wymberley]

I keep a half decent pair of Bushnell stashed in the car for serious looking but for a quick shufti I have half a pair in a dash cubby-hole. I don't know what's current, but back along if you found a decent pair in a charity shop there was usually something wrong with them: so one looked until you found a pair for which the defect did not affect the central focusing or the half secured to it and bought them. A quick hacksaw job and a nice little Zeiss 'monocular' which takes up no room and cost all of a £5er does the job nicely.

[Mice!]

I didn't have these to hand the other day.

 

Hands down the best binoculars I've used, and cost me £85 second hand, I'd buy another pair tomorrow if they came up.

[wymberley]

45 minutes ago, Mice! said:

I didn't have these to hand the other day.

 

Hands down the best binoculars I've used, and cost me £85 second hand, I'd buy another pair tomorrow if they came up.

 Yep and I even paid the full whack for the HD rubberied version.

[oldypigeonpopper]

Hello, could not resist another pair and this time 10 X 25 and Bushnell , posty should deliver today, cost £18 with signed posting, it said in VGC so will see how it goes,