Just wondered if there were any binocluar nerds on the SOTA reflector? It’s crossed my mind to get some for a few years now, mainly for a mix of birding (we’ve some great reserves and huts not far away), astro (within the limits of binos vs a scope of course), aviation (flight path, air festivals etc). Plus if I manage a few more hikes this year they would be nice for summits.
I’m looking at two pairs. One a small, portable pair like the Nikon Sportstar EX II to chuck in a running pack or a backpack for casual use. Two, something like the Prostaff 7. Entry level but beefy enough for a casual binonerd without stepping in to Monarch, HG or Zeiss territory.
The only modern binoculars I have used in the past 20 years were a pair of Leica 8x20 belonging to the late Brian G4ZRP. Simply unreal. But they are 7x the cost of your small Nikon pair. 7x better? I don’t know but the feel was sublime and the view even more so.
Leica, Zeiss, Swarovski et al are mind-bogglingly good optics. With prices to match in binos, camera lenses and scopes etc.
Canon make some nice ones but I don’t think I’d need stabilisation for casual use. Nikon Monarch are nice mid-tier but again I’m probably better off at entry level.
Pentax would be another player in the bino game but I don’t know their form. Definitely want roof and not porro though whatever happens!
I was always told by an amateur astronomy geek friend that 10x50 was the best entry level for casual astronomy.
I picked up a 2nd hand pair of Celestron Upclose 10x50 for around £20. I think they are only around £40 brand new. Not small or particularly lightweight though but useful for just backyard stuff.
I’m a photographer rather than a birder, so to be totally honest, I went with Nikon based mostly on brand familiarity rather than an extensive knowledge of the entry level binocular market. I’ve got a pair of Travelite EX 10x25s which are my fling in the rucksack pair, and my Dad’s got a pair of Prostaff 7 10x30s which I got him as a birthday pressie a few years back.
The Travelites are quite a bit better in image quality than the Sportstars, but they’re also a wee bit bigger, although not much different in price. I’d also say that the 10x25 Travelites are much much better than the 12x25s, in case you’re tempted by a bit more magnification.
The Prostaff 7s are again, quite a significant step up in quality over the Travelites, and only a wee bit bigger, but not far off double the price, so you’d expect that. I’ve never tried any of the bigger Prostaffs like the 10x42s or anything like that, nor have I tried the Prostaff 3 range.
In terms of other brands, I thought Olympus binoculars looked good optically but didn’t feel as well made as my Nikons, and on trying my pal’s Pentax 10x25s, they were nowhere near the Nikons optically.
Sorted. Prostaff 7’s it is then! I’m looking at the 10x42 version.
The Prostaff 3 are the next model down and are missing a couple of things the 7’s have. Gas filled to stop fogging too and waterproof which is a bonus.
The Travelite sound good for rucksack binos. Thanks for the thoughts on Pentax. I am surprised they seemed to be nowhere near the Nikon optics. Pentax have a good history in optics I thought?
Some serious birder friends told me to go to a store and look through the best binoculars they have. That gives you a benchmark. Then try to find something affordable that isn’t too much worse.
I got some 10x42 Eagle Optics “Ranger” by Celestron. The 42mm has been bright enough for me. Some days I’d rather have 8 power but most days the 10 is great. These are from the late ‘90s and don’t look like today’s versions (on the outside).
There’s a Nikon dealer I’m going to pop in to tomorrow for a test drive. They do Canon, Celestron, Hawk, Olympus etc. No Pentax though.
See what occurs. Was hoping to get some duty free this weekend but airports (that I’ve passed through) these days don’t seem to stock binos that much. Used to be everywhere.
I’ve been an avid birder for almost as long as I’ve been a licensed ham (and I’ve been licensed since 1970 – where has the time gone…). In those years I’ve owned a number of binos and looked through many more. I hope these perspectives are helpful:
There are many bino reviews on the web. Some pages that I find particularly helpful and trustworthy are The Audubon Guide to Binoculars | Audubon and The Cornell Lab Review: Affordable Full-Size 8x42 Binoculars | All About Birds (see also on the latter page their links to reviews of binos in other price ranges). These are reviews by birders for birders. Once you’ve identified some binos of particular interest you can Google those specific models. These guides also provide excellent suggestions on how to evaluate binos when you test them.
I started 40 years ago with some moderately priced Celestron 8x30s - nice and lightweight, but with 30mm objectives they were a bit short on light gathering ability – although I still recall the thrill of seeing the silhouettes of geese migrating at night!
Eventually about 30 years ago acquired a set of Celestron 10x50s that I used both for birding and for stargazing, where 10x50 is quite commonly used. They were fine binos, although the images were not quite as crisp as some Swarovski binos of that era. The big challenge of using the 10x50 for birdwatching is that they are harder to hold still, especially if they are on the heavy side.
After all these years I have come to agree with so mamy others: the “sweet spot” for birding is 8x power which is plenty for most birdwatching, and 40 to 42mm objectives to gather enough light for most situations from early morning to high noon. My current birding binos are a pair of Nikon Monarch M5 8x42 that have great images and are comfortably on the light side in weight, though a bit narrow field of view. I can’t say I picked them through an rigorous process – happened to this pair second-hand at too good a price to pass by. They still probably will not look as good as a pair of Swarovskis but they seem entirely adequate so far.
If your binos don’t come with a wide, comfortable neoprene neck strap, buy one. After a full day in the field, your neck will thank you.
Good luck and happy birding. The early morning hikes toward a SOTA summit can also yield some great bird sightings!
These seem to be a very popular choice in all the sites I had a look at. The M7 seem good too with the scratch resistant coatings.
Thanks for the sound advice, very much appreciated. 8x seems to be another popular choice too. I don’t want to have to use a tripod but the 10x42 Prostaff 7 seem to be a nice all rounder.
If the shop has the whole range today it would be good to compare them all for size and weight as well as optics.
Does anyone use the smaller binos for casual use and packing in the bag as a lighter option?
If the Monarch M7 binos are in your price range then by all means give them serious consideration. Reviews suggest they are better than the M5 binos in several ways. As I mentioned, I have the M5 only because I happened to acquire a pair at a bargain price that was too good to pass.
As to your question about smaller binos, I have a pair of Pentax 10x23 binos, also purchased about 30 years ago and a model no longer sold. I have taken them on several trips including backpacking and river rafting. They are very useful – for some situations.
Even the best compact binos are a compromise, sacrificing lens diameter (especially in the objective lenses) to save size and weight. The compromise becomes most evident in dim light, whether twilight birding or stargazing, as the smaller objectives just don’t gather as much light to see things such as more faint objects in the sky (nebulae, galaxies, etc).The light-gathering capacity of the objectives relates to the area of the lenses, not just the diameter.
If your bigger binos are light enough to carry along, they definitely will give you a better viewing experience. But if the size and weight considerations mandate bringing either compact binos or none, then the compromise is acceptable.
If I had it to do again I would not buy 10 power in a compact bino, as the brightness will be much better with 8x. But the variety of 10x compact binos on the market suggests that not everyone agrees!
Good luck with your search– there are many great options available.
Interesting stuff. Didn’t get to try out any Nikon as the shop has to special order them.
I did try a range of Hawke binos which the guy said would give a decent indication of the Nikon’s and have to say the 8x25 were very impressive and according to the bloke in the shop, similar to the Nikon Sportstar EX II.
The 10x42 were great as well and the difference was very much noticeable, so on that basis I’ve gone for the Prostaff P7 10x42 and ordered a pair on Amazon IE this afternoon, €82 under RRP so a decent price!
I do like the 8x25 though. Very light and compact for chucking in a bag so will pick up a pair of Sportstar EX II’s asap.
I have a pair of Eschenbach Trophy F 8x25 ED. They’re just okay. I definitely miss my Vortex Viper 8x42s when using them. However, they are easy to toss into a pack when the 8x42s would just be too much size or weight.
Yep. Trying the Hawke 8x25 today gave me a good impression of a pair of bins I can chuck in a running pack or backpack and whip out for a quick nose around. Waste of a good park, summit, nature reserve, lake, lagoon yadda yadda otherwise!
The 10x42 I will keep aside for non active (e.g. running) days. I was thinking as well they will come in handy at the beach too. Always good to have a spy on the ships out on the horizon (maybe get a view of a ship name or reg number to check against marine databases and live maps), the seals and birds or some of the islands off the coast here!
Well worth keeping a pair of binoculars on you I think. No need to break the bank either, though I personally draw the line at porro bins, just personal preference.
I was active in a nature conservation organization for many years, caring for and mapping birds.
Of course, the details matter… I’m very happy with my Swarovski binoculars…
As a second pair, I always had a Minox 8x32 asph. – it was good and inexpensive! Minox was absolutely underrated.
Generally, you should hold a pair of binoculars in your hand and be able to compare them.
It’s about brightness (light transmission), field of view, color fidelity, distortion at the edges.
Naturally, binoculars should be waterproof, easy to handle, and quick to adjust.
If you wear glasses, try using them with your glasses or the built-in optical correction.
Lenses with a magnification greater than 8 tend to shake more easily, and I wouldn’t recommend them. Butterfly observers often use a magnification of 7.
Heavier binoculars are more stable against shaking, but not as easy to transport. It’s always a compromise.
My first pair of binoculars was the Minox BD 8x32 BR asph… after 2 years it was the Swarovski EL 8.5x42 (and the AT 65 spotting scope)
Armin’s last sentence raises another opportunity to support the optics companies: if you spend enough time birdwatching, eventually you will realize that you “need” a spotting scope. For those days on the marshes when you are trying to identify distant waterfowl, there’s nothing like a good spotting scope mounted on a solid tripod. You’ll get much higher magnification than you could ever get from handheld binoculars (with the possible exception of Canon stabilized binoculars, but those have smaller objectives than your average spotting scope) and, unlike perching birds, the waterfowl usually move slowly enough to make possible the use of the spotting scope.
But start with the binoculars and see where the hobby leads you.
OT but about birds. I live on the edge of a town of about 60000 people. There’s lots of mixed deciduous and evergreen trees and a 10 minutes walking you’re into farm land.
We started putting out bird feeders a few years back and now have a variety of feeders hanging in the trees/shrubs in our garden, Sunflower hearts, Peanuts, Niger seeds, mixed seeds. At first we had “boring” birds, Starlings, Sparrows, the odd Robin, Blackbirds. But over the years things have improved until the birds now are so colourful you may think someone put a little LSD in your breakfast.
Today’s birds: (number is how many seen simultaneously)
Goldfinches x5
Chaffinches (male) x3 (female) x4
Siskins x6
Coal Tits x2
Great Tits x2
Blue Tits x1
Blackbird (male) x1 (female) x1
Green Finches (male) x1
Nuthatch x2
Bull Finch (male) x2 (female) x1
Tree Sparrow x1
Robin x1
Over the weekend we had a Lesser Redpoll and a Linnet I think. Could have been another Redpoll but it didn’t look right. The one that I have been waiting to see if we would ever have is the Nuthatch. Whilst common in England, it’s really only the last 20 or so years that they have moved this far North into Scotland. I was impressed when I saw one because they are so impressive. When I saw there were 2 at the same time I was gobsmacked.
No Starlings this year. During Covid lockdown we had a pair of Woodpeckers who visited all the time eventually bringing their fledglings to teach them how to feed. A pair of Starlings had 4 fledges, I have a photo of them all together somewhere.
Very, very few Thrushes. We have an occasional Sparrowhawk or such. I remember it’s first visit, there was a flash of yellow feet and no more Thrush but some feathers. Wonderful but sad.
It’s good for a garden on the edge of a big town. But if it comes to playing Top Trumps, Andy @MM7MOX’s mum wins, she lives properly rural in Northern Scotland and has an Eagle that visits the trees at the end of her garden!
I definitely can understand that the form factor with porros is not desirable. However, my favorite pair of binos for stargazing are my Nikon 10x50 porro prisms. At least to me, they offer the most bang for the buck for viewing the night sky.
Perhaps someday…