Hi. I am new to BirdForum. I am a casual bird watcher on Califonia's north coast (in the redwoods with ocean 1/2- mile away) near Mendocino and on the southwest coast of Mexico.
My old Orion binoculars disappeared. Like many other, I am very frustrated by Internet info on new ones.
Instead of asking your opinions about specific models, I would like people who bought binoculars in 2004 who are very happy or sad about the models they bought to report the models, price (optional), and reasons for positive or negative. My main specs are simple: near focus 2m or less; list price under $300 with discounts to under $200; and, really good images. Thanks.
Billmell
Hello bill and welcome to Birdforum.net
I'm sure some folk will be around soon to give you the heads up on their particular bin purchases. For the record I just bought the new Zeiss 8x42 FL's, and I don't have anything negative to say about them!
Regards
Greetings Bill - and welcome to the forum!
Most of what I purchased in 2004 were high-end binoculars with price tags between $500 and $1000, but I did purchase 2 pair that might be in your price range or slightly more expensive.
First off, I wanted a nice compact binocular for hiking, unexpected visits from curious birds, and keeping in the car during road trips. I looked at every compact model available locally, and ended up selecting the Zeiss Victory 8x20 Compact to fill this role. I've been so happy with these binoculars, they currently have the distinction of being my most used binoculars all around. At $379, they are slightly high for your price range, and they do have limitations (including being next to useless during late evening when the light fades). However, they have so many good things going for them that I would highly recommend you take a look at a pair and see if you might be able to come up with the extra $80 to afford them.
The other pair I have purchased this year that are on the "low end" of the price scale is a pair of Barska 10x42 waterproof roof prism binoculars. I bought these 3 days ago for $60, and so far I have been absolutely astonished with the quality of these binoculars considering the low price and Chinese origin. I wrote a review of these binoculars, and posted a link to them on this thread:
http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=24708
My review is the 3rd posting down on the thread.
Best wishes, and good luck with your selection!
Bawko