Binoculars recommendation anybody??

I would buy either Zeiss, Bushnells or monk optics own (I have got a pair of their cheapest 20 quid ones after having one encounter too many with light fingered people helping themselves to mine /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif) or if you can get hold of them a pair of Heleos which are/were a Russian company heavier than modurn equvients (my dads are over 40 years old and still going strong after many years of abuse by me). Also being short sighted I find that I can get a crisper image with varible focus rarther than fixed.
I have also always found monk optics to give good no noncence advise.
Hope this helps.
cheers Pip /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
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1. Steiner
2. Steiner
3. Steiner

PS: did I already mention Steiner?

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how about "Steiner"
i bought a Pr of Comanders with Fluxgate compass in a sale, unused ,rip-off @ £225.00 Ex Case /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif
bought a case from a very nice man on the Forum for 23 squids /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
1. Steiner
2. Steiner
3. Steiner

PS: did I already mention Steiner?

[/ QUOTE ]

how about "Steiner"
i bought a Pr of Comanders with Fluxgate compass in a sale, unused ,rip-off @ £225.00 Ex Case /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif
bought a case from a very nice man on the Forum for 23 squids /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

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Bought Steiner Marine (with compass) of Allgadgets 2 years ago. They were the same as the Steiner Skipper, but the "wrong" colour. Black iso grey. Paid £199 inc VAT

Bought case from the very same man for £19.99 + p&p - was his "closing down" sale.
 
I also visited the Monk stand and they showed me a pair of 7x50s with a digital compass for £175. They were fitted with adjustable eye-cups rather than the roll back rubber types. The digital compass may offend the purists but, when you are sailing with inexperienced crew, it takes some of the opportunity for error out of taking bearings.

I've definitely promoted them to the top of my birthday list!
 
As a birdwatcher I replace clapped-out boat binoculars with my birdwatching pair every 10 years or so, and treat myself to a new pair for birdwatching. I'm always a bit puzzled about the recommendation not to go above 7X. I always use 10x50, mainly because the large object lens (the 50 bit) collects a lot of light and so produces a bright image even in low light conditions - it also increases the resolving power (image detail). Although 10X50s are fairly heavy, the trick for steadying any binoculars is to tuck your elbows down as far as they will comfortably go. My own current boat pair are E German Zeiss and my birdwatching pair are Nikon, but any of the makes named should be satisfactory. Monk are certainly good value.
I'm surprised by the suggestion that the human iris loses the ability to dilate properly with age - I can't find that in the literature. Certainly the lens loses elasticity so that one needs reading glasses, but this gives no problem when looking at distant objects or their binocular images.
 
As a not very serious birdwatcher, I tend to go the other way round! The one thing that infuriates me with my fixed focus 7x50's is that they won't focus close enough for birdwatching. Fixed focus seems ideal for use at sea 99% of the time. But if you ever want to examine your rigging from the deck, most fixed binos will not focus that close.
 
We bought Monk Optics binos at the last LBS at Earls Court, their own model with built in compass and they are superb. We paid around £300 back then but they were to replace a pair of Offshore 54s costing much the same (if memory serves) which were stolen. The Offshore ones were no longer available but the Monk Optics ones are hugely better, thoroughly recommended.

However the reason I replied to your post specifically is that these Monk binos are fixed focus BUT each eyepiece is individually adjustable to compensate for vision anomalies. In practical terms that means if SWMBO and I are wearing our glasses or she her contacts, no adjustment is required. Otherwise we have put 'spot' marks on each eyepiece to match our own settings required without gklasses/contacts. The additional feature that is relevant to your post is that by adjusting BOTH eyepieces beyond the 'correction' points, the otherwise fixed focus can be made to move and it is very possible to focus on the mast top - very useful indeed.

My other comments on the Monk ones are that they are slightly more bulky (longer) than the ones they replaced, but they balance well and feel sturdier. They are nitrogen flushed, fully waterproof and fog free.

As far as size goes IMHO it has to be 7x50, any more magnification gained by 10x50 is lost with shake and the light gathering suffers. Light reaching the eye is governed both by the object lens diameter (the '50') AND the magnification. The 10x50 may take in as much light as the 7x50 but you will SEE less. We can definitely see much more with the binos in poor light than with the naked eye, and more again by having really good quality ones over cheaper versions. We tested ours against Nikons at the same price and both felt the Monk ones to be superior notwithstanding the up market Nikon brand name.

Usual disclaimers, just a very happy customer.
 
It's a shame, Bluedragon, that you don't live nearer to the Solent. I have a repair workshop for Binoculars ( used to do the repairs for Monk Optics before they got big enough to have their own ) Compass cards stick because the compass unit is only 8 or 9 mm deep and when the bino is tilted, the card touches the inside of the compass case. The brightness of a bino depends on the magnification and the size of the front lens. Divide the mag in the front diametre and you get the size of the disc of light coming out of the eyelens into your eye. 7 into 50 goes 7 so you get a 7mm disc. At night most peoples pupils open up to at least 7mm ( until we get old ). I use a cheap fixed focus Plastimo 7x50 when I need a quick look; a Steiner 6x30 for the dinghy; a Helios 7x50 with compass @ £98 for serious viewing and a Canon Stabilised 10x30 to help identify details of bouys or wildlife when rocking around a bit. The Canon is not waterproof - all the others are. I'll be happy to chat about bino's to anyone - been in the business over 40 years and still enjoy the subject.
 
Fixed focus means just that. Nothing moves. Easier to make a water proof bino if the outside is sealed. Otherwise a bino can have individually focusing eyepieces as found on the Steiners or centre focus which moves both eyepieces together. These also should have seperate adjustment on one eyepiece - usually the right side - to compensate for your eyes not being exactly the same. Centre focus can be water proof but the gaps need 'O' rings to keep the water out as you move the focus up and down. As light through a bino is effected by a Square Law, the difference between 10x50 ( 5mm exit pupil ) and 7x50 ( 7mm exit pupil ) is considerable and I agree that 10x is usually too powerful to hold steady enough on a small boat at sea. There is a chart on my web site which clearly shows the effect of age on pupil dilation. I don't want to be guilty of advertising so PM me if you want the site address.
 
Thanks to all for all the input. It's been very helpful. I've tried another £99 model with compass this week at a local chandlers, and 2 out of 3 in stock had faults!! I've no confidence that the one that was OK will stay that way. Will probably give Monk a visit and have a look at the cheaper Steiners.
 
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