OT: Binocs

[Another John]

Off-topic, but I know the crowd here will have useful, practical opinions:

My binocs (8x40s) are now rather old, 15-20 years. I love them more than any pair of mini-binocs I've tried because of the field of view, magnification, etc.

OTOH, I'm getting a bit tired of lugging them [1] on long walks[2], given that the view seems to be diminishing (do the internal optics become mucky, with time?).

So I fancy looking to buy some more. My budget is limited. Following a recommendation seen [somewhere], I looked at Bressler 10x50s and see that they cost 37.00: which is what I'd be prepared to pay.

My problem is that I don't know the "names" any more. Is Bressler a good brand?

I could ask in a bird watching forum, but I'll be inundated with expert advice, with a good co-mingling "oh you dont want to buy cheap rubbish: you need to spend at least 200.... etc.)

Any thoughts folks?

John

[1] My current ones are Miranda (Dixon's own make IIRC) 8x40, and weigh 1.5lbs (700g). I'd buy a compact pair (*and* go over budget) *if* I could get comparative performance. [2] Aside: There seems to be a law of nature involving binoculars: if you take 'em on a long walk, you see virtually nowt. If you forget to put them in your rucksack, you will see ospreys mating, a flight of roseate starlings, and the Red Arrows circling around you before going on to their next display.

[Huge]

The same law applies to cameras.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Ive got a really old pair of Russian binocs that I picked up somewhere before going to Africa. They are big and clunky. like yours.

we tried many pairs of very expensive lightweight miniatures at a country show once. None matched them.

Sigh.

[Tim Streater]

Even without a camera in my pocket, the times when it would have been handy are rare to non-existent.

Perhaps the only time was when the sky over my house seemed to be being used as a staging area for a Duxford air show. 25 Spits, the Lanc, and various other stuff circling around.

[newshound]

I'd say go with the Bressler, they are likely to be good value. Ideally, get them from a shop so that you can try before you buy, and check that the focus and eye spacing adjustment is smooth. It will also confirm that the alignment is OK. Failing that, use Amazon for their excellent "returns" service.

They will be a bit more bulky than your 8x30 but not necessarily heavier. The one advantage of mini binocs (apart from weight) is that they will fit in a pocket.

[Davey]

Many years ago, when visiting Falmouth, we picked up a pair of beautiful Russian binoculars, absolutely fabulous, to coin a phrase. Then some years later, when we moved house, they disappeared. We still hope that they are in some unpacked box, somewhere....I would love to find them again.

[Davey]

I usually try to carry a camera wherever I go. But a couple of years ago, I didn't have one with me, and we came around a country bend to see a field totally smothered in red poppies, marvellous. Of course, I couldn't take a photo without a camera, and the next time we were there, with a camera, the poppies were all gone. And they didn't come back the following year.

[Huge]

I finally bought a 'phone with a camera, so hopefully I can at least take snaps ... :o)

[Davey]

Hah! My mobile is the most basic, I'm not even sure if it can do text, as its sole intended function is to be available in the car in emergency. But I have occasionally wished that it had a camera function, but I can't find a replacement 'phone that is cheap enough to justify itself to me! Mine cost me £12 three years ago, and costs

5 per month to keep alive. I know I could probably play around and get the monthly cost down, but what I have is simple, automatic, and needs no attention, it's just there when I need it. But it would be nice if it had a camera ability.

[Davey]

And likely also inundated with complaints from somebody about culling the old pair, abandoning them when they have run out of usefulness, ......

[Tim Streater]

My mobile spend is prolly £5/year or so.

I wouldn't want a camera on it as basically the optics are going to be crap. I'd want a proper camera with me if I came across a field of poppies.

[Davey]

In general, I agree, but any camera is better than no camera.

[stuart noble]

Actually I'd rather my camera had a phone than the other way round

[Vir Campestris]

That's true, but a landscape on a sunny day is one of the places where it won't matter much (no zoom, small aperture...)

What I find with my proper camera is not that it takes pictures much better than my wife's mobile's camera, it's just that it will take decent pictures under conditions where the mobile will produce **** if anything at all.

Andy

[Vir Campestris]

I'm using a pair my father bought when I was a kid. I rather suspect I'm older now than he was when he bought them, and they still work fine.

Zeiss Jena (The cheap East German ones). Though cheap may be relative...

Andy

[Martin Brown]

They can develop haze from plasticisers just like car windscreens.

It is OK but you might prefer to have a smaller pair of higher quality. I don't know how good the new cheap Nikon 10x25 and 8x25 are, but my old pair back when they were more expensive are excellent and have the advantage of being small compact and easy to carry anywhere. eg.

The only disadvantage is that they are no good at all for astronomy. Paying more gets you increasing levels of waterproofing and ever closer to optical perfection. Or closer to your original ones but with modern wider angle eyepieces the Olympus 8x40. There is an 80:20 law of deminishing returns in terms of optical quality vs price.

Modern eyepieces on better brands tend to have a wider apparent field of view than historical designs. This lets you trade a bit more magnification at fixed aperture or wider actual FOV.

If you want diffraction limited optics and no purple haloes around the highlights in images then you rapidly end up with expensive binoculars.

You can spot serious twitchers by the oval red Leica mark on their kit.

Almost any decent modern brand should beat them even if you had an exceptionally good pair. You should definitely try any pair of binoculars before buying though. It doesn't matter how many 5* performance reviews they get if they are not comfortable in your hands.

That is why I have a small pair of 10x25s always in the rucksack outer pocket. My others are much heavier to lug around long distances.

[fred]

For possible future reference poppies grow on freshly tilled soil (Hence their preponderance on the battle fields of WW I). So if you saw the field being ploughed you could chance nipping back in the spring

[Allan]

[snip]

Which, Nov 2011, short item

[charles]

Haven't the two merged yet?

[Tim Lamb]

In message , fred writes

Umm.. Not too sure about this. Poppies sometimes appear for a single year on arable land: ploughed every year.

I think Poppy seed remains fertile for many years (oil seed). Deeper ploughing, bringing seed to the surface, or particular weather conditions may trigger germination.