Hi!
I recently bought a pair of vortex vipers and i am extremely pleased with em. However I have noticed that i need another pair of binoculars that fits in pocket of my jacket when I am not out birding but still would like to have some magnification available.
So I am searching for a pocket size bin, (roof or porro doesn't matter) for under $250. Can anyone give me a tip?
You are then stuck with 8x25 roofs that are not phase coated. Nikon, Opticron have some models. The Nikon Sportstar has at least decent eye cups, not those rubber ones. Though older models of the same had the rubber.
Vortex has some small models, but they are pretty poor, nothing to compare to the models from Fury up.
Pentax has a 8x25 and the price is OK, nothing special, almost the same as the Nikon, even though phase coated.
http://www.eagleoptics.com/index.asp?pid=5181
I would go for the widest field you can get. My favorite is a deleted Minolta model.
I got some Opticron Taiga 8x25s for about £60 ($110-ish) on eBay and they're superb. They're slightly chunkier than some, but easily fit in a jacket or combat-style trouser pocket, and the optics in them are brilliant and they have good quality twist-up eyecups that are perfect for glasses-wearers such as myself.
They're so good I hardly ever take my larger bins out any more unless I'm having a full day's birding at a reserve or whatever.