binoculars

[Mr. Friendly]

brand name you haven't heard of...Acuter, sub-brand of Sky Watcher. check out their 8x42 and 10x42. they sell for $188, but punch above their weight. well known brand sells the same bino for 2x the price because it comes with a better warranty and a 'brand' name.

 

[AP]

Leupold makes a 6x30 that I've wanted to try out for a long time now. It's their BX-1 Yosemite. If you have a bit more cash the BX-3 Mojave should be excellent, if my mom's original Mojaves are any indication.

Yes .. I have looked at several sets of the 6x,30 Yosemite's and they are an excellent binocular. And were great value - I promised myself I would grab a pair one day as an impulse buy when/if I saw them on sale for around the $125 mark .. but they suddenly seemed to disappear from the market as folks snapped them up. Quick confession - I am not Leupold's biggest fan as I think they frequently get over hyped ..but those Yosemites were pretty darn good .. and excellent value!

 

[The Kurgan]

My vintage (70's) Bell and Howell 8x40 binoculars are still going strong after all these years. No cheap parts in them! Look around for a quality used unit instead of dropping $200 on junk.

 

[TheTooner]

A good rule of thumb for all optics is devide the objective lens size by the magnification to get the exit pupil size it should be above six. The average exit pupil for a normal person is between six and eight mm. Any lower than six is going to give you bad light transition in low light conditions.

Our maximum pupil opening gets smaller as we age. Typically in their 40s most people will get down to 5mm so more than that is wasted, and you should be spending on the quality of glass and coatings to make the most of the smaller exit pupil.

 

[TheTooner]

Leupold makes a 6x30 that I've wanted to try out for a long time now. It's their BX-1 Yosemite. If you have a bit more cash the BX-3 Mojave should be excellent, if my mom's original Mojaves are any indication.

I used to use 7x50s but now have a Minox 6.5x32mm. I don't think you lose anything significant going down 1x in magnification if you buy good quality.