Binoculars

Cardo

Cardo

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www.yacht-tinkerbell.co.uk
I've been pondering obtaining a pair of binoculars for some time now. I've often used them when out on charter boats that had them in the inventory, but since owning our own boat I've not had a pair to use.

Sadly, I know practically nought about this kind of thing. Could someone recommend something decent that doesn't cost the Earth?

I saw these advertised in a mailshot from TCS...
http://www.tcschandlery.co.uk/7467/Konus--Tornado-7-x-50-Compass-Binoculars.html

Are they any good? I rather like the idea of a built-in compass to make taking bearings easier.

Thoughts?
 
I just bought of a pair of Tasco Offshore 7x50 marine bins (part no: OS541) with compass - to say they are good is understating it a bit, by far the best bins Ive ever looked though, even my missus likes them ! The only downside is individual eye focussing but for the image quality / price ratio thats a minor and non-issue niggle when at sea everything tends to stay focussed at a distance anyway.
 
Dont laugh!

I have two pairs on board, a pair of 7 x 50 that came from LIDL for £45 and are terrific for bearings and general use. Whilst they don't have any around at the moment as far as I know, don't dismiss these types of units, nothing wrong with them. My LIDL ones look very suspiciously identical to the Konus!

For real work I had a pair of 12x36 canon image stabilizers which are fantastic for use at sea. I think prices start from around £200.
 
For my 21st birthday ( a looooong time ago) my parents bought me a pair of Ross ex-WD 7 x 50s.

They were great and, at the time, considered the ideal for use afloat. Not too much magnification, so they can still be used in rough conditions and the 50mm lenses provide excellent light gathering capability at dusk.

Hope that helps.

Paul
 
7x50 night glasses are excellent for boat use.

7x magnification is enough & OK to hold steady-ish on a moving boat. 50mm object lens gathers loads of light for use at dusk/dawn or even at night, but makes them fairly big to carry around - not that that is an issue on a boat.

For personal use - birdwatching & walking etc, I carry a small pair of 8x25 compacts in the car. These are very small & light & easy to slip in a pocket. Modern lenses & coatings mean that a good quality make will be almost as good as a cheap pair of 7x50 in reasonable daylight.

I don't buy expensive pairs for the boat as they are easy to drop - onto hard decks or over the side, they also suffer damage to coatings, focus mechanisms & metalwork due to salt exposure. With care a cheap pair will last 10 years, that's about a fiver a year. You can spend 10x as much & still drop 'em over the side & they are unlikely to last 50 years even if you don't.
 
SeamanStaines said:
Dont laugh!

I have two pairs on board, a pair of 7 x 50 that came from LIDL for £45 and are terrific for bearings and general use. Whilst they don't have any around at the moment as far as I know, don't dismiss these types of units, nothing wrong with them. My LIDL ones look very suspiciously identical to the Konus!

For real work I had a pair of 12x36 canon image stabilizers which are fantastic for use at sea. I think prices start from around £200.
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I bought mine from Aldi - they look identical aprt from the colour scheme to those shown in the first link and to others seen in chandlers for about £100. I actually put mine side by side in a chandlery and they were the same. Mine cost £39 and given the source were probably the same as the Lidl ones.
 
SeamanStaines said:
Dont laugh!

I have two pairs on board, a pair of 7 x 50 that came from LIDL for £45 and are terrific for bearings and general use. Whilst they don't have any around at the moment as far as I know, don't dismiss these types of units, nothing wrong with them. My LIDL ones look very suspiciously identical to the Konus!
Click to expand...

Lidl = Buyer Beware

I have had 2 pairs of their binoculars, both fell apart within a month, never dropped or mistreated...........perhaps I am just unlucky but I would not buy again.
 
Blue5 said:
Lidl = Buyer Beware

I have had 2 pairs of their binoculars, both fell apart within a month, never dropped or mistreated...........perhaps I am just unlucky but I would not buy again.
Click to expand...

I have bought 2 pairs from Lidl & both excellent.
Had a slight problem in Summer with one pair (not aligning) & Lidle replaced them. Checked the duff pair & found that one of the stems had started loosening, so tightened up & good as new. Excellent service from Lidl + supplier in Germany.
Try these http://www.lidl.co.uk/cps/rde/xchg/lidl_uk/hs.xsl/index_37094.htm
 
Any binoculars are better than none. Some are easier to use than others, so you need to try them before buying. You more or less get what you pay for.
 
Make sure you get European bins not Japanese pattern
You will find European pattern have the lenses further apart
I am not being racist but their eyes are different to europeans
Someone bought me a pair of japanese pattern bins with compass in but the lenses are so close together they hardly go over my nose & the compass is at an angle of 45 deg

Years ago my wife & i went to a camera binocular shop the chap placed the whole stock of over 30 on the table & allowed us to try each in turn eliminating the ones we did not like
Oddly enough he placed a set of 7x50 Bushnells slightly to one side & we chose them. After we paid he said he had guessed we would choose them but was having a personal bet to see if we did
They are excellent but the wife will not let me have them so i am stuck with using the others like a monocular to read the compass
 
Cardo said:
I've been pondering obtaining a pair of binoculars for some time now. I've often used them when out on charter boats that had them in the inventory, but since owning our own boat I've not had a pair to use.

Sadly, I know practically nought about this kind of thing. Could someone recommend something decent that doesn't cost the Earth?

I saw these advertised in a mailshot from TCS...
http://www.tcschandlery.co.uk/7467/Konus--Tornado-7-x-50-Compass-Binoculars.html

Are they any good? I rather like the idea of a built-in compass to make taking bearings easier.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...

How often do you actually want to take bearings? rarely in my experience. I find I want bins most often for identifying buoys from a distance and for things like checking whether a big ship close inshore is anchored or not.

For that you need good magnification but thats a problem on a moving small boat. For that reason I would recommend image stabilised. You can use 10x mag or even a bit more whereas with unstabilised bins the max really is 7x. Big difference.
 
wotayottie said:
How often do you actually want to take bearings? rarely in my experience. I find I want bins most often for identifying buoys from a distance and for things like checking whether a big ship close inshore is anchored or not.

For that you need good magnification but thats a problem on a moving small boat. For that reason I would recommend image stabilised. You can use 10x mag or even a bit more whereas with unstabilised bins the max really is 7x. Big difference.
Click to expand...

I tend to navigate traditionally & only set waypoints on my gps for harbour entrances for emergency
Therefore i enjoy taking & plotting bearings. I also enjoy trips out of site of land & making conventional landfalls
Taking bearings is an essential part
That being said i also have a Sestral handbearing compass & tend to use that first if i can see the target OK
On a boat high magnification bins are a definite no no you just cannot use them
Although i admit never having tried stabilised bins
 
+1 for Aldi (I can't tell the difference between these and Lidl anyway). They even have a compass for bearings, although it's not as good as a decent handbearing compass for closing vessels or fixes.
 
2 pairs on board. A generic pair of 50x7 with compass that we bought at the LBS about 5 years ago for £70, which have proved their worth, especially at night when the larger objective lenses gather enough light to help figure out what the lights are. The other pair are ancient Nikon 15 x 7 pocket types which are great for daylight use as they're very light and for carrying round when ashore.
 
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