Any such thing as decent Binoculars for £150 or less

Primer

Well-Known Member
I don't really know the 1st thing about binoculars but it looks like I could do with a pair for my new venture but I don't have a great deal to spend on them, so there's no point in quoting leicas or Swarovski to me as they are just way to far out of reach at the moment, I see a lot of the expensive ones are a fixed magnification, is there a reason for this to say a zoom pair?.

I have a budget of around £150 for a pair and looking on sportsman gun centre they have loads of Bushnell's at half price or more and also a pair of vortex well within my budget but are any of them any good or should I say any better than what the wife got me about 7 years ago for watching birds and deer on some farmland behind our house at the time, don't laugh but they are a pair of Hawke nightwatch 8x42's, should I just make do with these and save up for a better pair next year or replace these now?

Thanks in advance
 
I have just bought a pair of vortex from sportsman and all I can say is they are fantastic and for the money they seem as good as some of the more expensive ones my buddy has

adrian
 
Hawke actually don't do bad binoculars to be fair, I know several folk that use them for birding etc and for the saving it's hard to see the £12-1400 difference, that said you can't beat good optics and I would always get the best I could afford..... Try a few out and find something that suits you. Most bins are fixed mag, I've only ever experienced one pair of zoom ones and they were shockingly bad!
 
Take your Hawkes along with you and have a look through some others in your price range and compare them side by side. You may find little advantage.

The only safe advice anybody can give is always "the best you can afford". That sort of gets mis-translated to "the most expensive you can afford". I would far rather base a purchase on what suited my eyesight and the purpose I was going to put them too, rather than the latest trend and fashionable brand. Though we are all guilty of believing the luxury marketeers mantra "you only get what you pay for".

I prefer carrying and handling porro prism binoculars. With their shorter wider format they are less pendulous around the neck and ride higher on your chest. I find the wider spaced objective lenses enhance the 3d effect making it easier to pick out an animal from its background.

I once asked to look through a professional stalker/Swarovski agent's binoculars at some fallow in a field. I was really shocked at how heavy and cumbersome they were, and worst of all how dim and flat was the view. My mum's 1990s 7x42 Miradors seemed to me far brighter and sharper looking at the same herd in the same light conditions. So I am always surprised when I read on here that what you are paying for is that they are still picking out animals clearly at dusk long after others have failed.

I will now probably be stoned for heresy....

The main advantages of the roof prism designs seems to be their external simplicity, and thus robustness, and the ease with which they can be weatherproofed. My mum's Miradors are dry conditions only, but there are a number of weatherproof / marine porros available. My recently purchased and equally bright rubber clad weather proof and fog proof and over 8 degree wide angle 8x40s cost me all of £50 on Amazon, second hand of course...I did have a pair of 10x50 of the same brand and range so I knew what I was going to get. No longer made I am still on the lookout for them in the lower mag ranges, stocking up as insurance!

Just go by your own eyes, be subjective!

Alan
 
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This won't be a popular suggestion but my best binos are an old set of binocs made in Japan and bought at a second hand store (charity shops?). They are crystal clear with beautifully ground lenses and very precise focus. I have bought and given away many of these old (50's and 60's) Japanese-made units from 7x35 to 8x50. The clarity rivals my hunting partner's $1100 binocs.... They have never cost more than $10 each.

I don't know if you have such shops there but it might be worth a look. I seldom see budget binos that will come close to the quality of these old units.~Muir
 
Many people in stalking are using gear that is WAYYYYYYY over engineered for their purposes and this is mostly driven by marketing. You see people with waterproof gear costing hundreds that wander down a farmer's field 3 times per year and are never more than 400 yards from their car and their money would be better spent on buying more stalking. Of course it is fine and good if you either want such stuff or if you have infinite resources but for the rest of us it is much, much better to spend the cash on actual stalking rather than on "stuff."

So, what you actually need is something suitable and adequate for your purposes rather than "the best" because the best will not give you any advantage beyond the knowledge that you've spent an extra fortune getting features that you don't need. Paying less could leave you with something much better suited to your actual purposes.

Given this £150 on binoculars might actually get you something well suited to your purposes that will leave you at no practical disadvantage over those spending 10 times as much.

Most binoculars, especially good quality ones, tend to be fixed magnification and most people seem happy with this so unless you have very specific requirements beyond the needs of the average stalker I'm sure you will find fixed mag binos ideal. It is also the case that most stalkers go for something in and around the 8X42 size and there is a good reason for this as well as they offer a good compromise in terms of size and weight and low light performance and field of view and enough mag to see what you are looking at. So, again, unless you are very different to everyone else start with something around 8X42 and you can use this as a firm base from which to assess your personal preferences.

Lots of people make binos and, in some senses, you do pay for the name. It is also the case that with "physical engineering" like optics to some extent you get what you pay for but you want to pay for what you need rather than for what looks good in a magazine advert. However, there are several manufacturers who punch above their weight and Minox happen to be a favourite of mine and I think they really do produce decent glass at the best price. Someone above mentioned Vortex and I've briefly tried a pair and also thought them to be really great glass for the money.

If you can go and take a look through some pairs and see what you think but it is useful to get the views of others and, of course, if everyone is pointing you in one direction then that at least gives you a starting point for something that works well for almost everyone else. Also don't discount good quality second hand. You can often make good savings and get something that has only been out a few times.
 
I've got a pair of minox 8x42 and lately three professional stalkers have compared them to the zeiss and swaros that they use. One guy couldn't believe the clarity and said he could see no difference. At very last light I thought his swaros had a slight edge but I doubt it was 2 grands worth of edge, he did say that's his last pair of swaro's
 
Vortex gets a vote here ( interest declared ). A mooch on Google will throw up some insane deals on them. I wont go over what I wrote on a recent bino thread o regards them and bino choice generally.
 
Minox bv 8x40 I think they are, anyway, my go to binocs from woods to hillside. 4 star glass, 5 star price and service, and they are nice and light
 
Barr and Stroud, do some excellent bins for very reasonable prices and the glass is crystal clear.
Been using mine for few years now and my mates have also purchased them.
 
I like to enjoy nice things. And as I see it whilst Zeiss is nice for all reasonable use aren't necessary. That said I do own a set of Zeiss 10x40B*P* Diatal binos. Which in my mind are better than the legendary 7x42 Zeiss. And were a steal from Garland's at £ 550 earlier this year.

However I've also some cheap faux German name zoom binoculars and my late father's issue type No5 MkII 7x50 searchlight battery binos. My advice is buy what you like or buy what achieves what you need in vision performance but at the least possible price.
 
Thanks all for some excellent advice, I will see what sportsman in Dorset has to offer (closest to me with a reasonable range) and compare them to my Hawkes and if no discernable advantages observed then I will stick with what I have, then see what others are using on my DSC1 course and see if I can try a few out then I can also have a proper look at some at the shooting show.
 
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