Binoculars

[Refueler]

I also have some 10*50, but I find they are useless on the boat as i find it impossible to hold them still enough.

7 x 50 is recc'd for most marine applications including ships which are a steadier platform than a yacht. My 8 x 50's I had for years at sea were quite often unsteady in view ...
The 10 x 26 pocket bino's I have now are much better in that respect but of course you lose the wider field of view ... that you have with conventional binos.

 

[misterg]

The Helios Weathermaster III 7x50 is water proof etc for £49
but also has the better BAK-4 optics and centre focus.
They give a brillaint image but maybe I am biased 'cos I sell them.

An (independent ) vote for Helios:

I bought the Helios Fieldmaster 7x50 5 or 6 years ago (not waterproof) after much research, and being prepared to spend ~£200 to get good optics. I initially bought a ~£120 pair from Jessops (brand escapes me) which seemed to be the brightest and sharpest that I could afford (I hadn't found the Helios ones then). They were OK until I took them out at night, then they were DREADFUL! (couldn't get the whole field in focus at the same time). If fairness to Jessops they gave me a refund without a quibble.

I was passing a photography shop and noticed some Olympus 7x50 bins in the window for ~£200. Gave them a try, and they were indeed very nice. Shop guy then said "try these" and handed me a pair of Helios 7x50 - I really was hard pushed to tell *any* difference - and I spent at least half an hour with them both outside the shop looking for aberrations and distortions (neither are free from them).

The good bit? £40 quid! I tried for a long time to find something that would justify spending the extra for the Olympus, but frankly couldn't. (Both had BAK4 prisms)

The best bit? 5 or 6 years on they still operate as they did on day 1, and deliver very sharp, bright images. If you look at the night sky through them every star is a sharply focussed pin-prick. I'm quite careful with them, but they do get used regularly on the boat.

If the Weathermaster has the same optics as the Fieldmaster then I would recommend them (also Cambrian Photography in Colwyn Bay).

Andy