My GF is recently interested in birdwatching and is looking for a pair of "good" binoculars. Her price range is in the $300-ish range.
I have a pair of Pentax DCF WP 8x42's which have served me really well.
The question is:
If this were your situation, would you let her get another pair of mid-range binocs? Or would you sell her the Pentax, and upgrade to something else?
My price range for an upgrade would be <$1000.
Will I find anything in that price range that will be significantly improved over the Pentax that I already have?
There are not many poor binoculars in that price range. The Pentax WP still stands pretty well in that arena today. As has been discussed here (too often to recount much) is the exceedingly good ZEN ED, Hawke Frontier ED, and Promaster Infinity Elite ELX ED. You can get a ZEN ED to your door for about $360. The image compares to anything regardless of the cost.
Chinese EDs are one obvious upgrade. Rather less than $1000. Nice view but with all the trade offs of new companies and total quality. But I think for most people it's all the bin they'll need. If they need more they can upgrade. So you could get two pairs for $700ish: one for you and one for the GF.
The other options that spring to mind:
Meopta (which Frank likes but I' ve not used) seems like another option.
Pentax ED, maybe?
Demo or secondhand alphas start to appear at $1000 or just over too. Take a look at EO ebay store for some options. Or hunt around the secondhand market.
There are plenty of options in the $500 to $1000 range. I'm sure we'll get a decent list from others.