So I want to spend in the neighbourhood of £200 on a new pair of binoculars. I wondered if anyone had any recommendations. I know that everyone says it's all very subjective, but I'd be interested to know opinions. I've been reading a lot about porro vs roof prism with the opinion that porro is better for the money, however there don't seem to be many porros on the market. I'd be interested in folks' opinions on that matter too...
Any advice gratefully received.
I think the old adage of getting 2 to 3 times the optical performance for the price with porros (vs. roofs) generally continues to remain true. The only exception to this is the current crop of open-bridge ED bins currently on the market. There are now four models which have been receiving high praise here and on a variety of other optics related forums on the net. These models are the Atlas Optics Intrepid, the Zen Ray Zen ED, the Hawke Frontier ED and the Promaster Infiniti Elite ELX ED. I believe the Hawke model is sold on your side of the pond but I am honestly not sure what the going price is for it over there. It may be higher than your listed limit.
Having said that I would also suggest considering the internal focus porro prism Opticron model. I believe it is the WP 8x42 (if someone familiar with it could clarify this I would appreciate it). I have the Leupold version of it and find its optical performance for the price to be superb. Ergonomics are one of the best I have ever held. The combination of these two factors is one of the reasons I find myself using it over many of my other bins.
Hope this helps somewhat.
Thank you for that advice, peculiarly, the Opticron porros that you mention are, I think, precisely the ones I had been wondering about. I suppose I'd best wait for the August bird fair and do lots of testing, but it's nice to have the input and guidance, thanks.