Binocular Recommendation

[rcarca]

Hi

I wondered if any twitchers out there could recommend a pair of binoculars for my 83 year old mother. She is extremely knowledgeable, of full faculties but finding my father's old binoculars too heavy. Any suggestions gratefully received, or comments as to what I should be looking out for (apart from weight!) much appreciated!

Cheers

Richard

[alannfrost]

Re: Binocular Recommendation

What does she want them for Richard?

[rcarca]

Re: Binocular Recommendation

What does she want them for Richard?

Sorry Alan - good question! Bird watching, both in the garden and in some local RSPB reserves...

R

[mikep]

Re: Binocular Recommendation

Richard

It will depend on several things - budget is usually the first, and I don't mean any disrespect here, but at 83 years old, is she able to hold them steady enough to be able to see the subject? I hope so, and your post suggests that she is, so she probably doesn't need stabilised ones - these can be very expensive (> £1000).

If the bins are being hand held, I would recommend something around 8x magnification. 10x would be a bit too tricky to keep steady, even for me!

Then the size of the bins will depend on how much light they let in. The higher the number, the more light.

There is usually some lettering that is important. 'B' / 'GA' are sometimes listed for bins. The 'B' means they are suitable for glasses wearers, and the 'GA' means the the eye pieces are rubber coated.

I have a nice pair of opticron 8x24 BGA T PC Oasis. Really light, fold down nice and small so fit in any pocket. I also have a larger pair of bins which are 10x50 an I never use them!

Hope that helps!

I would suggest trying some either in a shop, or sometimes wetland centres have a stall with some you can try on certain days! That's how I bought my smaller pair - at Arundel Wetlands at the In-Focus stall.

Mike

[djguk47]

Re: Binocular Recommendation

Richard,
Contrary to what Mike has said, I bought my wife a pair of the Canon IS binoculars and they are absolutely magic. Press the IS button and the image is so sharp and clear even to me.
I bought these from Carnarvon Photographic through Amazon who gave great old fashioned service

[alannfrost]

Re: Binocular Recommendation

I was always under the impression that the light gathering capability was important. Divide the objective lens diameter by the magnification and you should be looking for a number greater than 5, e.g. bins speced at 8x40 (40/8=5), 7x50 (50/7=7.14). Having said that, if you go to the deluxe end, my Swarovski 10x42 are brilliant, then again they are bloody expensive!

[mikep]

Re: Binocular Recommendation

Richard,
Contrary to what Mike has said, I bought my wife a pair of the Canon IS binoculars and they are absolutely magic.

David, I didn't mention your wife at all! lol

[DrJon]

Re: Binocular Recommendation

Canon 10x30 IS, the IS adds so much extra clarity it's amazing...

[rcarca]

Re: Binocular Recommendation

Thanks everyone for your comments. It was really helpful to get a feel for what is out there. I probably saw most of what you recommended!!! I would probably have got Canon IS ones for myself, but they were too heavy for my mother. I finally ended up with small Leica ones that are great!

Best

Richard

[RogerMac]

Re: Binocular Recommendation

Canon 10x30 IS, the IS adds so much extra clarity it's amazing...

That's what I use and I am very pleased. I think the weight is 630 gms which I do not find excessive, but others may, and (speaking from memory) the price was well under a grand - but the next step in magnification did push the price up considerably.

Edit Just spotted that I came late to this post, sorry

Roger