Hello all
I'm new to the forums, and just want to say what a wonderful resource it is in the otherwise impossible field of binocular reviews.
I've had an old pair of Opticron 8 x 42 High Resolution for a while now, which have served me well, but have been recently severley infected with bins fever. I'd like to move up a notch, and after hours of anoraky research have narrowed my choice down to:
Nikon 8 x 30 EII - around £280
Swift Audubon 8.5 x 44 ED (model 820) - around £250
I'm confident that my aversion to wet weather birding negates the weatherproofing advantages of roofs, so am happy to stay with porros for the image quality advantages at this price point.
I realise that the Swifts are bigger and chunkier. Unfortunately, no local optics outlets have either of these for me to test in the flesh.
One thing I'd appreciate feedback on is Eye Relief. Whilst I don't wear glasses yet, I am 40 and have got a feeling that they won't be too long coming!
I would therefore be very grateful to anyone for their thoughts and help with my dilema. I just can't choose!
Hi Last Year's Man I see this is your first post, so may I welcome you on behalf of the Staff and Moderators at Bird Forum
I'm sure there'll be someone along soon with some advice for you, meanwhile enjoy browsing the Forums and Gallery
D
Many of us wear glasses for reading but bird without them. It is nice to be able to use the binoculars aith glasses, as when you have made notes or used a field guide and a bird shows up. But most of the time I do not. Quite a number of roof prisms in the $300 range work both ways. I do have some porros that also work, there are a smaller number to pick from there, mine are Nikon Action Ex 8x40.
Opticron still makes good models, someone can recommend a model.