I need some good binoculars

[njc110381]

I've been having a wander around town looking at binoculars today. A guy in one of the shops said that these are of Zeiss conquest standard if not a little better, but are a bit cheaper. I'm looking at about £300 I think. I'll be using them for general Fox and Deer stalking, as well as bunny spotting.

 

Is the 8x42 the size I want? What are your favourite binos for this sort of price? I have no idea what I'm looking at, and at the moment I have a set of Bushnell 8x21 that I got free with a magazine (so you can guess how good they are!).

 

Edited to say these Vortex jobbies have a lifetime warranty, even if you drop them. They're shock proof and waterproof and supposedly very good?

Edited June 7, 2008 by njc110381

[tuck1]

Hi mate

 

I had a similar dilemma recently, and tried loads. I did find huge variations between them, even in the same models, much more so than scopes. I would say the general message here has to be try before you buy.. As with scopes, the expensive german/austrian models are v well thought of, but at those sort of prices you will struggle. Don't discount good Japanese models, they are in many cases equal to the big 3 (Swaro, Leica, Zeiss)

 

Now I'll contradict myself. I recently spent ages looking at reviews, and trying a few models. I ordered some over the web, and found they didn't suit, sent them back. I don't live near any decent outlets, so mail order was my main choice.

Many of the "birding" places have shops by reserves where you can try different models, worth a look if there are any near you, a birdwatching magazine will carry good ads for these (pm me if you want with your address and I'll send you an old one)

 

Fisherman Mike is an excellent source of info, drop him a line.

 

I do a lot of work on open moorland. I find 10 x Magnification gives a headache after a while. (I'm not alone.) So for me, 8.5 mag is the max.

 

I finished up buying a pair of Swift 8.5 x 44 HHS Roof prisms. They are light, tough and have a good guarantee. Weight is important if you spend long periods glassing, when your arms get tired your hands wobble. They are now £299.

I was recently out foxing with 3 keepers. They all had Swaro EL's, 8x42. We compared binoculars, and only one of us could see the difference, one lad even said he was going to get a pair of Swifts and swap them for his Swaros.

There is a lot of competition in that price range, so shop around, try as many as possible. I dealt with East of England Binoculars, and arranged with them that I could return them (at my cost for postage) if they didn't suit.

 

No experience of Vortex I'm afraid. Hope this helps.

 

Tuck

[landrover]

I use a pair of Vortex Vultures 8.5x50 and find them very very good optics for spotting fox and deer

[njc110381]

Thanks for the replies so far

[dustyfox]

Ive got Lugar 8 x42 binoculars although they are good I wish I went for a 10 x 50. But my hobby is watching birds of prey, you need a more of a steady hand the bigger magnification you get.

 

Df

[Blackbart]

I have some zeiss 7x42 which are excellent and would be perfect if they were about 2 stone lighter which is why they never see it out of the house

[Dirty Harry]

NJC,

 

Slimbridge WWT has a shop inside the reserve selling binos and spotting scopes. Might be worth a look.

 

Harry

[njc110381]

Cheers H