Cameras and Lenses

If you had £250...

Hi,

I'm sorry this is yet another 'please recommend' thread, but I am COMPLETELY swamped by all the information.

I am trying to buy a present for a family member - I have a budget of around £250. I would like binoculars that first and foremost produce a lovely big, bright image. I used some Swarovski 8x32s recently, and they were amazing. I was hoping I could get similar (but obviously not quite as good) optics in a less compact body for around £250?

Would 8x be better - a more stable image, so hand shake doesn't cause a problem if older family mambers use it, or is 10x fine too?

They don't have to be really compact - they won't be taking out very often. they'll mainly be used in the garden and on holiday (not specific birding holidays). A reasonably close focus would be a bonus.

The holidays they'll be used on won't be specific hiking/birding/adventure holidays - so they don't have to be really rugged.

I don't want them to be massive obviously, but they don't have to be tiny either - unless you can find optically perfect, minute binoculars for only £250, of course!

The one's that look tempting are Pentax DCF-SP 8x32s for £280 - is this a good deal/starting point? Do I need a bigger 'front-element' (what's the binocular term for that?) - the Pentax DCF-SP 8x43s, or are they too pricey? I know from my camera experience that Lieca and Zeiss optics are excellent, but are their few binoculars in my price range that good?

The thing I would like more than everything is a big, bright, clear and crisp image - is this out of my price range?

Thanks in advance!

D&C

And I've seen Canon Image Stabilised binoculars. Are these too expensive for my budget, and are the optically any good? Am I better off spending the money on glass rather then technology?

Thanks!

Oh, and Merry Christmas!

Some of the bins I'd be looking at in this price range are listed below,the Nikon and Minox models are all roofprisms.They all have excellent close focusing and have been highly spoken of on this site.Oft been tempted myself!

Nikon monarch 8x36 (£199)
Minox BL 8x32 (£239)
Minox BL 8x42 (£249)

You could also think about porro prism binoculars,these are the old fashioned
chunky jobs.Not quite as sleek and sexy as the roofs above but may offer an
improvement in image quality,porros generaly having better optics than similarly priced roofs.

Nikon 7x32 action ex (£130'ish)
Nikon 8x40 action ex (£150'ish)

If you like porro's and shop around you might be lucky enough to find a pair of Nikon E11 porro's (8x30) within your price range,these are the highly regarded predecesser of the se models (considered by many to be the ultimate binocular of all time and crafted by the hand of god himself!)

Best of luck which ever you choose

Matt

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