Bino's

AIDY

AIDY

Well-Known Member
Joined
19 Jan 2004
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7,763
Location
Muckle Flugga
www.ybw.com
any recommendations for a set of mid priced binoculars for the boat.

need to replace my existing pair on the boat after dropping them and turning them into a telescope :) with one lens 2 look through now.
 
The Lady Market in Hong Kong! Bought an excellent pair last year cheap enough that I don't really care how long they last.

Best tip - go with a Cantonese speaker and disappear while they negotiate prices! The look on the face of the stall-holder when a Westerner appears to pay is "interesting" :)
 
Boating binoculars

Firstly I must declare an interest as I am Action Optics. I have a workshop for repairing
optical instruments and was asked so often for advice on what to buy that I decided to
stock a range of bino's and telescopes which I would be happy to use.
The Aldi bins are very cheap but not very robust. In normal careful use they will survive
but normal use on a boat requires something a bit better built. If it gets knocked whilst out at sea you can't just pop into Aldi and buy another one.
The Canon stabilised model is brilliant. I have a 10x30 on board but it is not waterproof and only has a 3mm exit pupil so compared with a 7x50 (7.1 mm exit pupil) it needs much brighter light. It also costs about £300.
I sell the Helios Weathermaster III 7x50 with centre focus, water proof and rubber covered for good grip for £44 (RRP is £60). You can see an illustration on my web site.
We have a Helios Oceanmaster 7x50 on board which has individual eye focus, water proof, rubber covered and built in compass and rangefinding reticle. Costs £90 (RRP£119).
There are a number of pages of information on my web site which anyone may find useful explaining the differences and what the technical terms mean. I'm always happy to talk about bino's even if you don't end up buying from me.
 
actionoptics said:
I'm always happy to talk about bino's even if you don't end up buying from me.
Click to expand...

Ok - any recommendations for ones which work well with glasses? Or general advice for the glasses-wearer using any model? I know about folding the eye-cups over, but still find it quite difficult to see a clear picture through most binos.

Pete
 
Another vote for the Canon IS 10x30. We use ours a great deal. For establishing fine detail there's nothing better (so far as I'm aware) at even twice the price.

An elderly glasses-wearing acquaintance recently used ours after folding back the rubber cups and found them good. But peoples eyes, eyesight and face shape vary considerably so there's no substitute for trying out as many different pairs as practical.
 
johnnichols said:
Yes..ALDI........ believe it or not...do a pair of excellent binos....with a compass
at a really cheap price...with a guarantee!.......at least they used to?
cheers
Click to expand...

I buy 2 or 3 pairs when they have the non compass model on offer, usually ~£10.
They are far better than the price would indicate and if they are dropped, well its not the end of the world and there is always a spare pair in the locker.
I have paid 100's of pounds for binoculars in the past and its heartbreaking when they get dropped and go out of alignment.
 
actionoptics said:
Firstly I must declare an interest as I am Action Optics. I have a workshop for repairing
optical instruments and was asked so often for advice on what to buy that I decided to
stock a range of bino's and telescopes which I would be happy to use.
The Aldi bins are very cheap but not very robust. In normal careful use they will survive
but normal use on a boat requires something a bit better built. If it gets knocked whilst out at sea you can't just pop into Aldi and buy another one.
The Canon stabilised model is brilliant. I have a 10x30 on board but it is not waterproof and only has a 3mm exit pupil so compared with a 7x50 (7.1 mm exit pupil) it needs much brighter light. It also costs about £300.
I sell the Helios Weathermaster III 7x50 with centre focus, water proof and rubber covered for good grip for £44 (RRP is £60). You can see an illustration on my web site.
We have a Helios Oceanmaster 7x50 on board which has individual eye focus, water proof, rubber covered and built in compass and rangefinding reticle. Costs £90 (RRP£119).
There are a number of pages of information on my web site which anyone may find useful explaining the differences and what the technical terms mean. I'm always happy to talk about bino's even if you don't end up buying from me.
Click to expand...


No connection but a happy customer of the above. He is a good man.
 
As an aside, I recently bought a Russian 7x50 Monocular off E Bay.

It is very easy to use and I seem to be carrying it about everywhere now.

After using it, bino's seem so heavy.
 
prv said:
Ok - any recommendations for ones which work well with glasses? Or general advice for the glasses-wearer using any model? I know about folding the eye-cups over, but still find it quite difficult to see a clear picture through most binos.

Pete
Click to expand...

I have had a pair of these on board for the last many years. I bought them because they had the best eye-relief figure I could find at the time. They have proved to be exceedingly good, often commented upon by visitors. They are light, waterproof, they float, don't normally need re-focussing. All round, very pleased. I wear specs too.
 
alahol2 said:
they had the best eye-relief figure I could find
Click to expand...

Hmm - sounds like exactly what I should have been basing my decision on, but didn't know enough to look for. Unfortunately I have a pair of nearly-new compass binos (a present) and it doesn't quite seem worth splashing out for another pair.

Pete
 
Eye relief

As has already been mentioned, it is the eye relief which makes the difference when wearing spectacles. Eye relief is the distance from the little lens in the eyepiece to the lens in your eye. Not many manufacturers quote a figure and the eye relief that you need depends on the shape of your face but when wearing specs, you may need as much as 15 or 16mm to be comfortable and to still see the full left to right field of view.
This means that some expensive binos are worthless to some people and why some cheap binos appear to be so good.
 
actionoptics said:
Eye relief is the distance from the little lens in the eyepiece to the lens in your eye.
Click to expand...

Same as for shooting, hence I recognised the term immediately :)

When I first got glasses as a teenager, I damaged them within a week by taking my usual rifle and on the first round the iron sight recoiled straight into the lens and put a pair of big scratches right up the middle. As well as getting new glasses (parents must have loved that!) I had to unbolt the sight and slide it forward to make room.

Pete
 
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