I'm after some smaller compact binoculars for viewing wild life. I'm taking them for a trip I am planning in july, so I'm after something that travels well and doesn't take up too much space and weight. Any suggestions appreciated, something preferably under $50.
Personally I find that the cheap $20 10 x 25 binoculars work well for that.
They are light weight, inexpensive, small and if they get lost or damaged it’s no big deal.
Nice ones are generally heavier and more expensive. It just depends on how demanding your use for them is. I just keep them in the glove compartment of the car or in a backpack and use them more than I ever did nicer binoculars because they are light weight and always available.
Have a look for bushnell H2O they do various models but the smaller ones are good
I have these in Black and they are clear crisp and usable and above all smaller than a big pair
Check out the Nikon Travelite series. I got a used set of 7X20s on eBay for about $30 and they are very good. They are crisp and clear and compact and very light. I almost never use my Steiners anymore because the Nikons are so much more handy. They come in different powers and prices but even the cheaper ones seem to be pretty nice. Good bang for the buck yet are really clear and don’t weigh anything. Feel kind of cheap in the hand but have held up well for me.
+1 on the Nikon Travelites. My early model eyes can appreciated the clarity the lenses on these provide. Sharp as a tack.
I have a GC and points at dinodirect , maybe I can spend them for binoculars. Any budget(around $30) recommendations?
id pickup some from amazon, have a look around the reviews a bit. you be sol ordering from DD if u get a bad pair
Thanks for the suggestions, I've been reading some bird forums and doing a bit of research on binoculars. Seems like binoculars can be a very expensive hobby, and you do get what you pay for in terms of optics. 'Binocular-holics' seem just as pedantic as us flashaholics, but need to spend a lot more money for nice stuff.
I might start selling some flashlights to stretch my budget up a little bit to ~$100. At the moment I'm looking at the leupold yosemite, which apparently is good value for money.
I much prefer monoculars as they're easier to carry and better for my uses, but I can also recommend one superb binocular set:
I bought a Bresser 10x50 High Definition Binoculars a couple years ago from MyMemory for an amazing price of 16 pounds (on sale). They don't carry them anymore but maybe you can find them elsewhere for cheap. They are excellent binoculars, very clear image edge to edge, no chromatic aberration (or at least none that I noticed), absolutely no collimation problems, very comfortable to hold, and seem quite sturdy (though I didn't make any drop test :) ). I think they could sell them for 50 or even 70 pounds and they would still be a bargain.
Regarding monoculars:
I also have a Mystery 8x42 monocular which is half the size and weight of the Bresser and so is easier to carry, also great optical quality, very easy to focus, and served me well in my trip to Italy. They also have an extremely close range focus of 50cm, which is amazing for museums. You can get them for less than 40$ I think.
I also have a VisionKing 10-25x42 monocular which is a little bigger than the 8x42. It has lower optical quality, with chromatic aberration present at anywhere north of 15x magnification, but that's hardly a deal breaker as otherwise this is a very good monocular with clear image edge to edge. Cost me about 45$ from a TaoBao seller.
I also suggest a smaller 6x30 monocular from Tmart which is a good balance between close and far range magnification in a very small and light package. They sell for about 15$ I think.
And a 5$ pocket 2.5x17.5 monocular can also be a great fun, and it's the only monocular I carry everywhere.
Also, if you need a really large magnification and you don't care about optical quality and plan to use it only in broad daylight - the 15-55x21 monocular is a nice gadget to have.