Binoculars - on a budget for stalking binoculars?

bod1st

Active Member
If like me you cannot stretch/justify spending several hundred quid plus for a decent pair of stalking binos, after reading loads of reviews on budget end binos i bought a pair of Bushnell 8 x 42 Waterproof FOV368FT H2O compact (bird watching binos). I have had them for several months now, they are excellent, very robust and have good low light clarity. I paid £80 or so having searched on Amazon, my mate has a Swarowski pair and he was impressed with my little Bushnell 8 x 42.
 
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If your mate was that impressed offer him yours plus £ 20 and he will rip your hand off !!:D
 
These are excellent value, I bought a pair of 10x42 H2O a few months ago to take on holiday. At £90 I was very impressed with the quality. Last week I got the chance to compare them side by side with a pair of Swarovski 8x30. In good daylight, apart from some pin cushion distortion at the extreme edges, there was no diference between the two. Only when the light was almost gone did the Swarovski show what you pay for.

On our shoot we have a Swarovski man - 3 scopes and a set of binos. He is going to buy a set to keep in his Argo.
 
I admit that would be a good offer and I would bite his hand off!! Dream on eh. Serioulsy they do a reasonable job for the money, of course can't match the top end binos.
 
I took the advise of some good guys, on this site,bought some steiner pro 8x42,I am so glad I did,they are unbelievable value and quality,loads of extras,30year warranty,thanks all.
 
Hi Guys,

I was in my RFDs yesterday picking up my Rem 260 (bought of site) and he had a very good offer on Minox 8x42 Binos. The original price was £399 and they were on offer at £199. I have EL 8.5 x 42 Binos and i would say that they are not as good optics wise but for £199 they were excellent value.

The RFDs was Neil Sutherland
corsehouse farm
stewarton
KA35JU
Tel No 01560 484799

Dalkur
 
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I use the 10x42 h2o they are great for the money, they lie under my seat of the jeep when not in use, don't look after them and they are great for crawing in peat bogs in the flow counrty, i dont worry about them i just use them, and if they fail get a new pair for around £95, i have had this pair for three years.
 
I've seen two brand new pairs of Bushnell 8X42 (Nature View), belonging to two walking ghillies to the stalking, mist up after one season, but the optics are excellent for the money. I got my wife a set for the windowsill - birdwatching - and she loves them.
So if they are to spend their time in a vehicle I see no problem. Maybe the fellows who had the problems were a coincidence and just unlucky.

I've moved on in my old age to a more delux make, but I swear by 8X42 Opticron which I used for the latter third of my professional stalking life. (All I could afford, but they ARE good for the price and NEVER let me down in any weather).

I qualify that by saying that the binos were mainly used for scanning and locating before getting the Grey's telescope out for a better look, but I must say that I never suffered from eyestrain as I would have done with indifferent lenses.
 
Opticron are very good value for money. I have just bought a compact pair for a relative. I will always use and recommend Swarovski as a first choice but If you don't have the cash available then Opticron get my vote. One thing that I can't understand is why people by brand new mid range binos for £400 when you can get 2nd hand Swarovskis for £500 but each to their own. JC
 
For what it's worth I had a pair of Leupold Yosemite 8x32 sent over from the states, bought on a popular auction website and delivered across the pond for about £110. Needless to say HM Customs and Excise impounded them, adding about £20 to the cost, and Parcelfarce then asked for a further £20 to deliver them (and then lost them for two weeks before denying I had paid them at all... long story but suffice to say I will never deal with that incompetent rabble again if I can help it) but even after all that time and additional expense the Yosemites are still streets ahead of anything I have seen for a comparable price.
 
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