I have recently got into hiking with my wife (something we can do together outdoors) and with it has come photography, and now we are looking at binoculars.
I don't want to collect different copies (at least not yet!). I am considering either 7x35 or 8x40 from the following manufacturers: Tento, Swift and Bushnell. I would also consider Pentax but have been informed by a recommended repair guy that Pentax never made binoculars, just stamped their name on them and that they are inferior. I am looking at spending no more than GBP 30 on Ebay (this is entirely feasible as I just saw the Bushnell Sportview binoculars sell for GBP 6). I am keen on older solid optics from the 80's.
I've been reading the forums and it appears that the Swift are good. Tento sound good but variable. Pentax sound like they are indestructable and therefore likely to be well collimated, but with daft coatings. Bushnell sound like they were good in the 60's, but then that is a bit too old and I wonder if the coatings are poor. (Bushnell history half way down this page is an interesting read: http://www.europa.com/~telscope/binotele.htm).
Advice much appreciated. I can see collecting binoculars could become an interesting hobby, especially thanks to Ebay.
Thanks for the advice, I had not thought about modern Bushnells. I am really looking for a bargain amongst older binoculars, which are cheap.
So far 2 contacts on ebay have been discouraging. A guy selling some old Pentax 566 8x40's had a string of negative feedback and did not answer questions about fungus and collimation, and a person selling some old dirty Swift Saratoga's has said to me its best I don't bid if I am concerned about how she packages them up and their quality.
Is it easy to take these things apart and play with the glass...I would not dream of doing this on my old Pentax lenses, as everything gets enlarged 10 times afterwards. But on binoculars? Maybe if they do get knocked about I can fix them myself?
Maybe its best to buy some revamped kit from the repair guys, with fresh grease and collimation with a warranty? Doing this would mean I would have to raise my budget to GBP 50 at which point I could get some new Nikon Actions from Amazon....but then I wonder whether decent old binoculars are better than new Nikon Actions??
Any opinions on the best Ebay purchases much appreciated.