10 by 50 Bins

[roger]

I've always followed the usual advice to buy 7 by 50 binoculars as the best compromise between magnification and the ability to keep them steady.
However during the winter LIDL sold some very cheap 10 by 50s ( I think the price was about £15)
To my surprise, in calmish water which we had all summer, I could hold them steady and get a good image of very distant buoys. They were a pronounced improvement on my 7 by 50s.
Now we didnt sail at night but they may be worth a try if you can get them cheap.

<hr width=100% size=1>Roger

 

[jerryat]

Hi Roger,

I suspect that you were lucky in your choice of weather/sea conditions, or you are one of the few people who can remain extremely steady when all around are swaying about!

It's not for nothing that 7 x 50's have gained the 'higher' ground and, as you rightly noted, they are by far the most popular because of the compromise of field of view versus magnification. I haven't tried the stabilised type, but have even heard varying reports of these.

I think you hit the nail on the head re night viewing. In my view, the light gathering qualities of the lenses far exceed any other aspect I look for, as the use of bins at night is used a great deal on my boat. I have a cheapy pair of Tasco's ('cos they're light) that are popular with the fair sex on board, but the main pair are Fujinon Solaris FMTR-SX that were horribly expensive, but are simply superb - day or especially at night.
They are very heavy though, and whilst this aids stability, your arms do start to ache after a while. I like the lifetime guarantee too. This is my second pair (they were replaced under the guarantee though problem was my fault) are totally waterproof and are indispensible.

I'll certainly have a look at those you mention though. It wouldn't hurt to have a third pair on board at that price! Thanks for the info!

Cheers

Jerry


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[roger]

I should have mentioned that the LIDL stores are pculiar in that each week they offer a narrow range of goods (clothes, furniture, tools, electronics etc.) They have very limited stock and usually the goods sell out within a day or two (sometimes and hour or two). They seem to sell as they are of adequate quality and priced very cheaply.
Dont expect to find what you want when you want it.

<hr width=100% size=1>Roger

 

[jerryat]

Hi Roger!

Yep, thanks for that! I know the oddities of Lidl stores as we had exactly the same problem in their Spanish stores when we were cruising the Med.

We'd get something of really good value or use, rush back to the boat and tell others. They would rocket over there the next day......... all gone!! 'No Senor, we don't know when we'll have them again' etc etc!!

I'll keep a lookout in our local store though, just in case.

Thanks again

Cheers

Jerry

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[LadyInBed]

Snap, I did the same. I bought them to leave on the boat; I also have some more expensive 8x42 waterproof Bushnell’s but the wife snaffles those. Comparing the two, the sharpness is similar but the Bushnell’s low light performance is much better, surprising considering they are smaller (42) diameter.

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[actionoptics]

I have the luxury of being able to try out all sorts of binoculars on my boat and with out doubt a 7x50 has to be the first choice if you only have one bino on board. In a quiet anchorage, a 10x40 or 10x50 is better for looking at the wild life and on a calm sea thay can be used for buoy spotting but in any sort of a choppy sea, a 10x will be too hard to hold steady and may increase the risk of sea sickness. The Image Stabilised bino's were a real surprise and a pleasant one. I used Canon 10x30 IS and had no trouble reading the names of buoys at much greater distances than would have been possible with a 7x50. They are not water proof and have to go back to Canon for repair or realignment and that costs £90 at the moment. I am now playing with a Bushnell Laser Rangefinder to see if it would be any good for coastal navigation / distance off.

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[Gordonmc]

Not to hijack the threat... but have you had any experience of fixed-focus binos. I got a cheapo pair from the chandlers last year for a bout £65-ish because I was fed up having to re-focus every time the 10 year old crew had a play with them.
The pleasure of picking up a pair of binos I knew I could see things through was spoiled the first time we took a green one and the binos flooded. Not water or even splash proof. I took them to bits to dry out and had to refocus by trial and error before re-sealing.

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[milltech]

<<in calmish water which we had all summer>>

Where were you boating? I thought is was lumpy lots of times this summer. Seriously though I'd agree with Richard, Action Optics, about the benefits of 7x50 and the problems with image stabilised binos.


<hr width=100% size=1>John
http://www.on-line-marine.com

 

[roger]

We spent the summer travelling mostly with rocks sheletering us from rough seas roughly from Stockholm to Helsinki and Tallinn then back. Our only open water was between Sweden and Finland and then for the side trip to Tallinn. They have good forecasts there so we just stayed put if the weather looked dodgy or it was raining. Our boat is over there for the winter.
As far as image stabilised binoculars are concerned I know nothing. I am retired, find that good bins break if you drop them, and am still spending money slowly upgrading the boat itself.
I guess my main point was that these cheap bins, of an unlikely spec, seemed very good for calm conditions.

<hr width=100% size=1>Roger

 

[snowleopard]

the question of image stabilises bins raises an interesting issue. i don't know whether i am particularly wobbly but i found canon 10x30IS bins absolutely useless at sea, they couldn't keep up with the motion. others say they are the dog's b*****s. i guess it's an individual thing.

i can say however that when i won a free pair of steiners (£600 retail) they really do the business.

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