binos

[village idiot]

hi all, I'm in the market for some binos, 10 x 40 or 50, price limit £500. Do I go for second hand Leicas, Swaros, Zeiss, or new, but a lesser known brand? What do you chaps use? Or just give me your opinion of best value for money, cheers, vi

[JohnGalway]

Got a pair of Opticron 8x42 imagic BGA SE binos this year, am very happy with them If you get the chance take a look through a pair.

[village idiot]

Got a pair of Opticron 8x42 imagic BGA SE binos this year, am very happy with them If you get the chance take a look through a pair.

Thanks John, I'll look them up.

[Jager SA]

hi all, I'm in the market for some binos, 10 x 40 or 50, price limit £500. Do I go for second hand Leicas, Swaros, Zeiss, or new, but a lesser known brand? What do you chaps use? Or just give me your opinion of best value for money, cheers, vi

 

 

Find a decent pair of the well known makes, either of those you mentioned are all top notch, had them all but love my SLCs...

[Guest varmartin]

Got a pair of Opticron 8x42 imagic BGA SE binos this year, am very happy with them If you get the chance take a look through a pair.

 

I have had the Opticron 8x42 BGA classics for a few years and would not change them.

 

The glass is very good and are the only bins I have used that dont give me a headache when using them for extended periods.

[Vermincinerator]

Have a look at Kowa and Minox as well.

 

Ian.

[griffshrek]

the minox binos are fantastic i have a 8.5x43 very light and under £400 . try looking at http://www.24hourcampfire.com/8x42.html this give a review on a load of bino's..........neil

[foxshot]

I bought a pair of minox on the net from the states good bins in my opinion,and cheaper than over here

[village idiot]

thanks for the advice chaps. I now have two pairs of bino's. I asked a retired gamekeeper what he used, he produced a pair of 10x50 Zeiss which he bought in the 70's, they were as new and he wanted a £100, which I promptly gave him. These are a tad heavy but perfect from the pick up and in the early morning, late evening. The clarity and depth is something I have never experienced before, is it the same when looking through a good scope?

So with money left over I decided to get a set of compacts to carry with me, I settled on a pair of Steiner Wildlife Pro 8.5x26, these too have amazed me, £160 and although not in the same class as the larger Zeiss they are a brilliant piece of kit, if Steiner makes all of it's glass like this I would reccomend them to anyone. I can see I am now going to have to upgrade my scopes.

[onehole]

You just cant go wrong with those old Zeiss models, there is plenty on E bay but for anyone else looking at these beware of copies or fake ones!.The best one in my opinion are the jenoptem 7x50 as they give a superb rounded image and in poor conditions/light etc they come very very close to the performance of bins costing up to £8/900.I traded my leicas in to help me buy a big zeiss scope and I dont regret their passing.If you are on a budget and looking to meet all your shooting needs look up an old zeiss!!!!!!cheers onehole.