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MrHiggins

MrHiggins

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I'm curious if there are any birding nerds on this forum that can help me find a good pair of binoculars for birding.

I currently use a pair of German binoculars that my grandfather picked up when he was stationed there right after WWII. They obviously have sentimental value, but they're bulky and far from ideal to bring on hikes.

Is there a market for secondhand binoculars like the BST for knives here?

Thanks as always!
 
Meopta meostar are some good binos. Their 8x42 models are very good and somewhat hiking friendly there used to be 7x42 that was excellent too, but discontinued. 8x32 might work well too if weight is more important, you loose some low light ability but if birding maybe not an issue. Many people make the mistake of going after high magnification, but unless you use a tripod hand holding even 10 is hard especially after a hike.

Also, check this out.

https://opticsthoughts.com/?page_id=678
 
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Yes I'm a watcher

Steiner Wildlife Pro 10.5 x 28 small & compact.

Also like my Pentax Z- Series ED 8 x 43
Medium small binocs. Great vision

IMG_20210310_184423499_HDR.jpg


IMG_20210310_184822906.jpg
 
It's like audio listen before you buy. I've had Steiner 10 X 50 for decades they are awesome can look through them for hours no eyestrain.
They are too heavy to pack.

The 8 X 43 Pentax are light enough to pack & big enough for great visuals.
 
The Meopta Meopro 8x42 on Barmoley post get good reviews. They are fair priced at around 500.00.

Pentax is known for making good optics for reasonable price. The 8X43 ZSeries ED are top of line with their binocular lineup. They have other sizes in this model up to 10X50.

Mine weigh only 17oz my Steiner 10X50 weigh over two pounds.

Paid little over 700.00 for them. I really love these binocs. Have low light capability, they dail in quickly, sharp detail edge to edge. Have watched birds in trees shaded by lichen covered branches all in clear detail. Ducks, Seabirds, & Humpback whales.


With binocs don't buy cheap ones they are lacking in many ways. You can go into the thousands with binocs. but you can get exceptional glass for under one K.
 
iirc porro prism binos (old style) usually provide better image quality. i think is has to do with the shapes of the prisms.
downside is that its almost impossible to weather proof them.

roof prism binos can be waterproof since the prism is inline with the barrel, but i think you get more CA with those.

i had a pair of pentax with alu or magnesium frame. 5-600€ or so. waaay too much CA for me. all contrasty things had this purple/green haze around it.
should have gotten a pair of porro prism minox instead.
 
wait now i remember.

the f ratio is usually too short with roof prism binos, thats whats causing the CA. the light have to bend much more.

in a telescope of binocular it works like this:
the f ratio is the focal length divided by diameter of the objective lens.
so a 50mm dia lens with a fl of 500 is an f/10 system. this is a pretty "long" system
and f/10 systems dont need any fancy glass to provide low CA, this is why almost all optical telescopes are very long.

the magnification is the fl of the objective lens divided by the fl of the ocular/eyepiece. so 500mm/50mm=10x mag for example.

now on porro prism binos the optical path is longer, they have a higher f ratio. the roof prism binos are shorter so the f ratio is lower, maybe like f/5 or similar.
and at f/5 or so you either get lots of CA, OR you put in a much more expensive objective lens like a triplet/apochromat, and/or use exotic glass like fluorite.

and this cost money. so for a given price the roof prisms will be worse in optical quality. thats my theory at least. fairly certain its accurate.
 
For walking around binos weight and size matter a lot. Funny thing is that heavier binos are easier to hold steady especially when heart rate and breathing are elevated, but harder to carry, so need to find a compromise. For birding especially in trees, but also sky CA and other optical aberrations are a big negative since the whole point is to see colors, lines and contrasts correctly. Good walking around binos are not cheap. Just need to settle on the compromises that work.
 
Easy does it sensitivity to Chromatic Abberration is likely the biggest self afflicted obsession there is. 😁

Almost all top rated birding & hunting binocs. are roof prism.

Agree if getting cheaper binocs can get better visuals with porro prism. But choose wisely there are crappy cheap porros too.

Roof prism cost more to make. Have used my Steiner 10X50 porro binocs. many years used to visit as many national parks as could on my vacations. Carried my Steiner's outer islands & mainland parks. Used them looking for flocks of birds fishing. Checking out surf. They were also excellent in low light conditions.

The top of the line Pentax I use now they are lighter, very user friendly don't wear glasses. Image quality is sharp clear in lower light forrest conditions. Even looking at trees on mountains in distance puts you right there. Distance setup change is easy. Fantastic visuals closer up & far away.
 
Keith Sinclair said:
Easy does it sensitivity to Chromatic Abberration is likely the biggest self afflicted obsession there is. 😁

Almost all top rated birding & hunting binocs. are roof prism.

Agree if getting cheaper binocs can get better visuals with porro prism. But choose wisely there are crappy cheap porros too.

Roof prism cost more to make. Have used my Steiner 10X50 porro binocs. many years used to visit as many national parks as could on my vacations. Carried my Steiner's outer islands & mainland parks. Used them looking for flocks of birds fishing. Checking out surf. They were also excellent in low light conditions.

The top of the line Pentax I use now they are lighter, very user friendly don't wear glasses. Image quality is sharp clear in lower light forrest conditions. Even looking at trees on mountains in distance puts you right there. Distance setup change is easy. Fantastic visuals closer up & far away.
Click to expand...

of course the roof prisms are more practical. much more. for for optical perfection i think the porros are the way to go.
many people into astro use the pentax porros. and those are only 2-300. and if there were better ones they would have gotten them. but afaikm there are no better ones. not even the 3k zeiss ones.

but in the end if they put good glass into something then its good. but this is very unlikely to happen under 1k imo. i mean my pentax bonos were like 500. and yet not very good optically.

vote with your wallet thats my advice. and test before you buy!
 
MrHiggins said:
Thanks for all the replies, guys! I think my budget is <$400, so that limits me quite a bit. If you had $400 to spend on birding binos that you'd be hiking with, what would you get? For example, I've been eye-balling something like this.
Click to expand...

You can get some nice binoculars in 400-500 range. It's like knives most people buy cheap stainless & don't know how to sharpen. However you can spend 200.00 & get a very nice knife or up to 1K if you like.

As Inferno mentioned test before you buy. If you have a place near that carries decent binoculars. Test them in the store reading small print on boxes. You want clear contrast image in low light.

A few binocs in your range that get good reviews for hunting & birding

Vanguard Endeavor ED
Zeiss Terra ED 8X42
Nikon Monarch , popular with birders get the better higher price models.

There are 8 & 10 power don't go less than 42 for clear imagery in the shade.
 
I really like my canon binoculars with the built in stabilization. I use(d) them for concerts but they work great for bird watching. Now if we could only watch concerts again.
 
Keith Sinclair said:
A few binocs in your range that get good reviews for hunting & birding

Vanguard Endeavor ED
Zeiss Terra ED 8X42
Nikon Monarch , popular with birders get the better higher price models.

There are 8 & 10 power don't go less than 42 for clear imagery in the shade.
Click to expand...
I'm a bird nerd. I've had the Vanguard Endeavor and I currently rock Zeiss Terra ED 8x42. Both very good, I slightly prefer the Zeiss Terra ED- if I were shopping in your price range these are the nocs that I would get. I always choose 8x over 10x for packing around b/c the magnification in shaking when using anything beyond 8x is a bigger drawback to me than the very modest gain in visual magnification. If I need something beyond 8x, then I'm gonna need a tripod so I might as well go with 15x or a scope. Also, I prefer the greater focal ratio (exit pupil) of 8x42 cuz I also geek out on binocular astronomy and use my 8x42 when leading stargazing events. The zeiss are pretty incredible in low light dawn/dusk situations. And I always spring for the ED glass... totally worth it IMO.
If you haven't looked at them yet, https://www.bhphotovideo.com run pretty good sales sometimes. I got my Zeiss Terras there for $275 a few years ago.
 
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Yeh the 8 is plenty power & the field of view in the 8x42 Nikon Monarch 7 is over 400 ft.

You get what you pay for don't go too cheap the Monarch 7 8X42 is a better binoc. than the 5. Higher grade ED glass & coating on the prism. For bright clear images in a midrange binoc.
 
Check out Vortex Viper HD 8x42.
Great construction and lens quality.
Best warranty in the business on top, close to your budget price zone.
 
Bhp photo has a good range and prices are competitive, call them up and try to make a deal.
 
Nothing wrong with paying extra for superior optics. You will forget the price when you start looking through them. If you take care they will last for decades.
 
Just picked up a pair of lightly used Swarovsky companion 8x30 as my Swift went MIA after moving house...(probably ended up in the thrift store).

Boy what a difference, I tested a few bins in the shop and this pair easily outperformed many others far larger and the new options around that price point were shattererd. Good optics are a joy to use!
 
My day job is in a photography store, and we also sell a lot of binoculars. Not surprised you like the Swarovskis, they are incredibly good in my experience, and well worth the price. I've got a pair of CL Pocket 10x25 and Habicht 7x42 myself that I'm extremely satisfied with.

Most people who try them and only have experience with cheaper binoculars are pretty shocked (in a good way ofc) with how good they are!

One very important thing with good binoculars in my experience is that your eyes don't tire as easily. Your brain doesn't have to work as hard to make sense of it all and compensate for abberations etc with good optics and that is really noticeable. The only bad thing about good binoculars is that you're screwed once you try a pair, since you'll never want to use the "regular stuff" again... :p
 
I can easily see how one gets 'spoilt'...to be honest, I'd rather do without mediocre stuff if I have to....rather buy something good second hand than new crap.

I expected the difference between a pair of Leica's to be smaller, I knew Swarovski has a great reputation but it's also priced accordingly....the difference between 20 year old optics and modern stuff was also an eye opener (pun intended), wow coatings have come a long way...

it also was an eye opener to learn that with aging our pupils cannot open as wide anymore, so anything letting in loads of light is wasted.
 
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i have one regret in life. (hahha)

i bought some great binoculars. i bought some Leica Ultravids. 10x50. the regret? i should have gotten 10x42's. the 42's are much smaller and lighter. the tiny bit of light gathering is probably not even noticiable at that level.

i used them for hunting. so have humped many many up/down miles with those things strapped to my chest. at the end of the day, those ounces get painful. i did modify my binoculars with a hunting accessory. i added a post so i can clip my binoculars to a tripod. if you have never put binoculars onto a tripod, i recommend you do. without the hand jitters, binoculars turn into HD-TV. you can stare a mountain side and see nothing. then in a blink you see the tail-flick of a deer. hand held binos, make this an impossiblity.

i dont bird watch, but i imagine you can probably see a bird with your naked eye first, then home in on the details with the glass later. in my backyard, staring at a tree, i caught the movment of a hummingbird nest, on the tripods.
 
I envy you guys who can go hunting relatively easily, over here that is pretty difficult and over- regulated (also since we lack the square miles of raw nature)...I once shot a deer in the Alps due to the fact that a friends father was the game warden, but that's it...
 
MarcelNL said:
I expected the difference between a pair of Leica's to be smaller, I knew Swarovski has a great reputation but it's also priced accordingly....the difference between 20 year old optics and modern stuff was also an eye opener (pun intended), wow coatings have come a long way...
Click to expand...
I'm not surpised! We also sell Leica binoculars, and in my experience Swarovski is vastly superior!
 
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