Sorry - binoculars again

I spent about £14 on a cheap pair from Aldi/Lidl (I forget which). Quite impressive but probably suffer in low light, but at that price, I don't really care. Next time they have them on offer, buy some. At that price I'm not bothered if they get sat on or dropped.
 
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michaelchapman said:
I got a pair of these:-
Bynolyt SeaRanger II 7x50 Compass Binocular.

About 150 squids. Very happy with them, particularly at night - very bright clear image. And yes - the inbuilt compass with a button to light it up at night is very useful. I haven't used the hand bearing compass since.

The RNLI use them, so they must be pretty good.
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Both the mark II's (£165) and mark III's (£195) come with a 25 year guarantee
 
I got a pair of Steiners as a retirement gift and they have been fantastic. We have kept our original Jessops bins that did the job were are not a patch on the Steiners, especially in low light conditions.

I was on an American boat last year where the skipper had two sets of bins , one of which were the Canon IS. He almost went berserk when I attempted to take them up on deck, screaming that he did not want them to get wet and was terrified that they may be dropped and ruined. I asked him how often he used them " Oh a couple of times," he said.

Until such times as the IS bins become more robust I would say they are not really fit for sea duty.
 
noelex said:
In simple terms everyone’s eyes suffer from a small degree of misalignment. We have a compensation mechanism to fix this, but if stressed too much it fails and we get double vision.
If your eyes are poorly aligned (and I think than is probably your case) a pair of binoculars with a misalignment that matches your eyes may well be better than a pair with no misalignment. Expensive binoculars tend to have no misalignment, but cheap pairs are more hit and miss.

Oh and another vote for Leica if you can afford it is a long way ahead of the Steiner equivalent.
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Thanks, Noelex, I think you are right about this. When I concentrate on a distant object I am conscious of slight double vision and I wear glasses for driving.
Incidentally, Leica and Swarovski were two brands I tried when I spent a morning trying out bins. Maybe my vision isn't good enough to appreciate them but they seemed no better than the ones I chose - an Opticron waterproof model.
 
Humblebee said:
Thanks, Noelex, I think you are right about this. When I concentrate on a distant object I am conscious of slight double vision and I wear glasses for driving.
Incidentally, Leica and Swarovski were two brands I tried when I spent a morning trying out bins. Maybe my vision isn't good enough to appreciate them but they seemed no better than the ones I chose - an Opticron waterproof model.
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Consider yourself lucky. I have spent years peering down optical instruments and that probably makes me more sensitive to differences. I could not believe the difference in image quality between Leica Ultravids and the Steiner Commander series. The Swarovski were close to Leica, but still not as good especially in low light.
 
I find that the most important thing with binoculars is to ensure that the lense coating does not distort the colour range. A friend has a pair on his boat which have a blue hue which completely eliminates red light. At night a bit of a problem.

The other thing is that binoculars that are not fixed focus are an absolute pain at night. It is almost impossible to get the correct adjustement. Fixed focus however need to be adjusted to your own eyesight, so you may need more than one pair to cover the night watches.

As a spectacle wearer for distance, I find it is easier to have a pair of bino's to hand when sailing than wearing specs which get wet and salty and lose definition. I can then pick them up to see detail that is not clear to the eye.
G.
 
samwise said:
Until such times as the IS bins become more robust I would say they are not really fit for sea duty.
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Your American friend's fears may be misplaced. We use our Canon IS binoculars, on deck, very frequently. They seem as robust as most. I find the ability to clearly see detail at two or three time the distance it's visible at with unstabilised 7 x 50s a great advantage.
 
I sailed with friends who ha d some expensive Steiners. They were kept below in a waterproof padded case and it was like trying to get blood out of a stone to get them to bring them into the cockpit, by he time they appeared with them whatever we wanted to look at had passed.

We keep two pair of cheapo Aldi £12.99 bins on board, always keep a pair in the cockpit for immediate use. If they get dropped and go out of alignment, then they get binned and we get the other pair out, generally we get through one pair a season.
I've spent too much money in the past on fancy binos and when they get dropped they are all useless and if I want to read ship names, better to look at the AIS.
 
Bought a pair of the Silva ones with built in compass for 150 quid, the nitrogen degraded and one lens misted, Silva customer services said they could not help as they no longer manufactured and all there binoculars were bought in, eventually gave up trying to get a refund and bought a pair of Lidls finest for 15 quid, lasted about 6 weeks before bits started falling off.

Next stop the charity shops in the high street, a pair of 10 x 50 Japanese brand name in leather case for 20 quid, no problems at all and if I ever need another pair the charity shops will be my first choice.
 
I have a pair of Bresser compass 7x50s, cost me about £100 and are a good pair of binoculars. I think, as has been mentioned, that they are the same as those sold under various other brands; haven't seen the Aldi ones though.
I'm happy with them, quality and performance are fine, and I'm glad I bought them. Can't really ask for more...

Whoops - I've just checked and they seem to have gone up in price -

http://www.scopesnskies.com/filter_products.php?category=16&filter=BINO9&sort=price
 
Sadly, I'm in the cheap and cheerful camp, too. Over the years I've tried junk to top quality, on many different items. Top quality lasts much longer, sure, but if you don't drop them over the side, someone else will, so I buy cheap, and wait for the inevitable.

I bought a floating pair of bins with compass and range finder from Aldi a couple of years back. £50 I think they were, not bad at all though, and they've done 2 seasons in the Bristol channel/Pembs.
 
I have a yellow pair of marine bins' Plastimo or something, there is no focus available on the lenses they are hopeless. I have asked my wife for a pair of Nikons for my birthday..


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I won't hold my breath.
 
Had a pair of the Fujinon Mariner WPC for the last 10 years or so. Lightweight and floating, nitrogen filled, non-focus and the compass is quite steady. They have been superb. I originally bought them because I wear glasses and these had the longest eye relief at the price, it was well worth it. Being non-focus I always thought they would be useless for checking things at the masthead but, while messing with them this year, I found that there is enough focus adjustment on each eye to allow me to focus down to about 20 feet; great, only took me 10 years to find out. Well recommended.
 
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