Hi All
New to forum and wondering if anybody can help.
Im after a new pair of Binoculars prefer 10x42 but would consider 8x42.
Mainly use them for bird watching and plane watching.
Could anybody recommend a decent pair of bins roughly looking to spend between £80-£120.
Was looking at Helios 10x42 Mistral wp4 they look ok but any help and advice would be great.
Thanks
Daniel
Dear Else 918,
The best value in binoculars bar none that I know of is the ex German army Hensoldt D.F. 8X30, of which there are numerous examples listed on eBay right now at prices ranging from £69 to £99 GBP. Although these are far from new and are in used condition (some very used!) they are phenomenally good, to get something with a similar performance buying new would cost many hundreds. It should not be forgotten that these were made for use in situations where the difference between seeing and not seeing would be life or death.
I have no reason to think that my experience has not been completely typical and I would say that you could buy with total confidence, what you see on the site is what you will get and the description is 100% accurate and honest.
Since I got mine I have hardly put it down. I use a binocular for lots of things including spotting aircraft and birds; I am a binocular fanatic and own about 40, but this one beats all of the others.
The focusing is individual on each eyepiece and will get down to about 4m, quite respectable. The rubber armouring incorporates eyepiece and objective covers so a case is unnecessary, the site claims that the binocular is waterproof and nitrogen purged, haven't checked but no reason to disbelieve it, and the individual eyepiece focusing is not the disadvantage that it might at first seem to be.
I hope that what I have said above is helpful.
Hi Daniel,
My vote is for Opticron porros (maybe these are good) or Nikon Actions.
I've heard much good of both brands, and I have a Opticron SR.GA 8X32 porro that I'm very happy with, so I don't think they will disappoint.
When buying binos in the lower price range, I think porros (like the one in my link) offer better optical quality then roofs (like the one i your link). But roofs may be more weather (water) resistant and robust.
Good luck with your future binoculars! 