Hello all,
My girlfriend and I are interested in getting into birdwatching. What is a good starter pair of binoculars for under $50?
There really aren't many binoculars under $50.00 that will get unqualified recommendations as suitable starter binoculars for bird watching. There are, however, a number of them between $50.00 and $100.00 that will be quite adequate. Here are a couple of them: Leupold Yosemite 6 x 30. (About $90.00) Nikon Actions 7 x 35 and 8 x 40. (Under $70.00 many places.) Bushnell Nature View 8 x 40 Birder. (Under $60.00 many places) Eagle Optics Triumphs 7 x 35 and 8 x 40. (under $80.00--see www.eagleoptics.com) Eagle optics has an excellent 30 day return policy.
Cabelas and Bass Pro Shops among other sporting outlet stores should have the Nikons and Bushnells.
IMPORTANT: What ever you do, DO NOT GET A ZOOM BINOCULAR. (To clarify: That means binoculars that can zoom their power from say 7x to 15X or so by use of a lever near the focus knob) They are poorly made and hard to use. They are dim and have narrow fields of view.
And -- Welcome to Bird Forum!
Bob
Best bet is to try a few out and see what suits you. It's surprising how peoples opinions differ.
Phil