I thought about the Nikon Action Zoom bins for stars but was on the (Mount Oriel) fence about it.
Definitely glad I got to test different types of magnifications yesterday. The Hawke bins were very nice, but I’ve used Nikon camera lenses for donkeys years so trust them to make decent quality binoculars for a casual user.
For stargazing I don’t buy that Dwarf or Seestar cobblers all the ‘influencers’ (that word needs banning) are peddling either.
I was asking the fella in the shop yesterday about Pentax. Basically what I thought already, that they were good for optics about 20+ years ago. I tried a pair of Olympus (or OM System) too which I thought were poor quality in comparison to the Hawke ones.
I’ve been lurking and reading this thread but stayed out because I do not have binocular vision! Not that I don’t have any bins, they just get used as monoculars. I carry a pair of 8X21 folding bins, no idea who made them, they came as a free gift for joining the National Trust. They fit into a small pouch in a pocket of my camera bag when not in use. The quality may not be up to that of the big names but frankly for most purposes they are perfectly adequate. I also have a true monocular, a Zenith 8X30, ancient now, just like me, but perfectly OK for a bit of casual sky watching, though (like all bins) you have to take a stance (or seat) with your elbows tucked in and braced. They’ve logged a good few comets over the last fifty years! Talking of Zenith (Zenit) my wife has a pair of 8X30 bins, a bit on the heavy side but perfectly serviceable. Its nice to have high grade stuff but for 99% of the time more pedestrian stuff is perfectly adequate!
Going on to birds, I have a largish garden (~400m^2) in a leafy suburb of a city with a population of about a million - its long enough for an 80m dipole. Recently the garden score of species rose to 44, with parakeets moving into the area. The feeders are busy but in ones and twos, the nesting season is in full swing here, and of course nuthatches are regulars. The resident robins try to repel all comers but with two feeding stations they have their work cut out!
I’m 37.2% sure I have a Zenith camera and/or lens somewhere. Might be confusing it with Zorki, which I definitely have one of and in a matching case. I’ll have to look now!
I used to have a Zenith camera, built like a tank! A climber friend dropped one at the top of Milestone Buttress on Tryfan. When he recovered it from the scree, about 70m lower, it still worked OK but the case had some damage!
I owned one of those for years until I graduated to Pentax SLR
I still have zenith 8x40 binos I bought for £10 in Gibraltar In 1971. They are dented , scratched but easily repaired and dismantled for cleaning or repair using an ordinary screwdriver.
20 yrs ago I bought a pair of Ziess conquest bins especially for birding. Rather more than the Zeniths but bomb proof and the optical quality is excellent. Which for me and other birders means bright images to show accurate colours of bird plumage and see clearly in dull or poor light.
Nice! Zeiss, Swarovski etc are S++ Rank optics. Enjoy!
Looking forward to receiving my Nikon P7’s. I’m out of the country and Amazon won’t deliver them without a PIN code. That’s a new one on me. I was hoping they’d have been punted over the wall and left out in the rain til I got back!
Had a quick peek through them and have to say I am mighty impressed. A little focus adjustment test on some tree branches and buds and manually blurring the background bokeh to get the sharpness of the buds. Chefs kiss for bins at this price point.
Glad I waited on these Nikon bins and didn’t buy the Hawke ones the other day. Personal preference of course.
Ah sure these won’t compete with the Zeiss, Leica and Swarovski owners bins! Though for well under RRP on Amazon these look like they are the bizzo.
The P7’s have a few upgrades on them in terms of coatings and for 10x42’s they are not unwieldy or heavy. Definitely bins to pack for non-running activities.
I will definitely pick up the Sportstar EX II’s though for everyday pootling and my running pack. An interesting thought occurred for using a pair of bins for tree antenna bungles! Or aspiring Rear Window fans.
Looking forward to trying these with the moon and skies tonight if it is clear enough. Colours on a bright afternoon were lovely (to my view) and the P7 are supposed to be good with low light too. I like the multi barrel focusing too rather than CF focus, plus it has the focus lock which the P3 do less not have.
On Friday, April 10 (2026) I activated Big Cedar Mountain, W4G/NG-023. Since it was a fairly early start, leaving the trailhead at 0815 local time, I took the Monarch M5 binos for some birdwatching along the way on that sunny morning. I was rewarded by spotting three spring arrivals, the black-throated green warbler, black and white warbler, and blue-headed vireo, as well as locally resident chickadee, turkey vulture, white breasted nuthatch, Eastern phoebe, and tufted titmouse. Also heard but didn’t see a Blackburnian warbler and an ovenbird (which, despite its name, also is a warbler). Springtime morning SOTA activations bring many rewards!
Another reward started when I reached the summit and met a camper who asked “ Are you another one of those antenna people?” That was how I ended up meeting Jill N3ICE and her OM who were about 20 meters away activating the other side of the same broad summit – guess I didn’t look closely enough at the Alerts page.
By keeping enough distance between our stations and operating different bands, we avoided any QRM. Later we had a pleasant chat as we walked out together to the trailhead.
Some keen birders here probably already know about this podcast, but I only stumbled upon it the other day. I was thinking for ages where I knew the name Jim Moir, and of course it’s Vic Reeves (stage name). Jim Moir and Johnny Vaughan I’ve not seen on telly for donks, I almost didn’t recognise them.
I noted as well that Sean Bean, Jim Moir and Mya Rose Craig are all using Swarovski bins while Johnny Vaughan prefers a pair of Leica’s. They all have expensive tastes!
I carry a pair of 8X21 folding bins, no idea who made them, they came as a free gift for joining the National Trust. They fit into a small pouch in a pocket of my camera bag when not in use. The quality may not be up to that of the big names but frankly for most purposes they are perfectly adequate. I also have a true monocular, a Zenith 8X30, ancient now, just like me, but perfectly OK for a bit of casual sky watching, though (like all bins) you have to take a stance (or seat) with your elbows tucked in and braced. They’ve logged a good few comets over the last fifty years! Talking of Zenith (Zenit) my wife has a pair of 8X30 bins, a bit on the heavy side but perfectly serviceable. Its nice to have high grade stuff but for 99% of the time more pedestrian stuff is perfectly adequate!
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