Birdwatching Binoculars: What's yours?

[shimsham]

Many thanks for that more opinions would be appreciated

[shimsham]

Anyone on the forum use strathspey bins if so how do you rate them

[shimsham]

Anybody on the forum use strathspey bins if so how do you rate them.

[Neil Rigby]

I'm not familiar with this brand. Where did you see these Strathspey Binoculars, and what model are they?

[shimsham]

Hi Nigel. I found them googling the Guy who is the MD is name is John Burns who i am led to beleive is a great authority on birwatching, Since my last thread i have bought a pair 10x42 which for the money [£75] are excellent.
Strathspey Binoculars

[dave.s7]

I have just returned (yesterday) from Bempton, where I tried some Leica ultravid, some Viking ed, and Rspb hd binoculars, I had my heart set on the Leica`s but after trying the other Bino`s I could not justify the cost, so I purchased the Rspb hd`s for a third of the price, I couldnt get on with the Viking ed`s at all, So with all the money I saved I also bought an Rspb scope and tripod.

[Merlin]

Good choice, I think the 2 top end binos are just not worth the over inflated price either. I checked them out at the birdfair and like you say they are just not worth the extra. My optics of choice are Opticron a good honest British company that delivers binos every bit as good as Leica and Swaro at around half the price.

[Callander1]

Some years ago. I bought a pair of 10x42 roof prisms (can't remember the brand) for around £80.00. I could never get on with them. I found that I had to have the eyepieces too close together, to avoid a constant double image. Recently whilst browsing through Aldi. I noticed that they were selling 10x50s binos for £19.95. I just picked them up out of curiosity to see what they were like. I was astounded at the image quality. So immediately bought a pair, and have never regretted it.

[Dave H]

I have a pair of Barska Benchmark 8x42. These are quite cheap at their RRP. I got mine for around half their normal price as used/almost new and was happy with them for my uses and as a beginner at birding.

I wanted a lighter/smaller pair to carry on walks (non-birding outings) and chanced a pair of Nikon Sporters 8x36. These turned out to be very nearly as heavy and large as a pair of 8x42 bins. I did not use them for my walks.

Whilst they are very good for what they cost, comparison between the Barskas and my Nikon Sporters 8x36 showed that what was (without the luxury of direct comparison) a good image on the Barskas are in fact noticeably dimmer and of a warm colouration when compared to the Nikons. The Nikons had a wider field of view and a wider apparent field of view. Looking through the Barskas gave a slight impression of looking down a tube by comparison.
Surprisingly, the Barska give a sharper and/or more contrasty image than the Sporters, together with their excellent build I preferred them to my Sporters as they are waterproof (the Nikon Sporter is showerproof).
However, viewing into the shade of a tree canopy or in poor light, I would have prefered the brighter Nikons and began to consider replacements.

I settled on a pair of 8x42 Nikon Monarch. (great discount helped.......I am weak....).
The Monarchs are better in all respects than the sum of the best features of my other bins.
They may be only a tiny bit sharper than the Barskas, but importantly, the area of critical focus is wider on the Nikons. Bright contrasty image with comfortable fit and focus control, close focus to 2.5m and very light (not sure that everyone would welcome this).

Great bins, I am very happy with them.

The bins for walks? on the strength of the Barska Benchmarks (before I had the Monarchs) I bought a used pair of Barska Blackwatch 8x32 bins. These have a similar performance and build to the Benchmarks but with a wider AFOV. They can be bought new for less than £50.

They are fine for my walks in average to good light. If there is a reasonable prospect of useful sightings on a walk, I could take the Monarchs, they only weigh 100g more!