Binoculars, talk to me.

[dodsi]

Binoculars, my mother wants to buy my father some for his birthday. Not sure why he likes this sort of shit... Probably planning a murder or something.

However, the budget is about £100 -£150.

I believe he likes watching ships and using them at air shows along with his scanner type thing.

So what are the best sort of buy for the money? As we literally know nothing about this?!?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

[Slacker24seve...]

I've got some Bushnell 10x50s that I bought for about that much a couple of years ago. Massively impressed and built to last too and the Bushnell glass on my rifle is exceptional for the price, if thats anything to go by.
____________________
Triumph Daytona 675 track bike + girlfriend's Honda Hornet 600
Selling a hack/winter bike for less than a grand? PM me.
Banger rallies are ace

[_Will_]

Look for high transmission (light it lets through, the bigger diameter on the objective lens generally the better) rates, magnifcation, focus & build: look for waterproofing, o rings & weather seals.

Look for optical companies that make a variety of products like camera manufacturer (canon, nikon et al) they make medical optics, binoculars, feildscopes, cameras, photocopiers and all sorts, these companies make use of their other products but the cost is better value as they are generally considered side products.
____________________
Past -Honda qr50 | 2004 Peugeot Tkr s 50| | 1996 Yamaha XJ600s Diversion|

[Ariel Badger]

Buy cheap ones (C£50) as they always get lost.
____________________
Bikers make great organ donors, get 115 on your licence today.

[Islander]

10 x 50s give the best overall performance - not too high a magnification which can make hand holding for a steady image tricky, a decent size objective for light gathering and not too high a weight.

Lidl sell cheapish binoculars from time to time which are rebranded Bressers - surprisingly good optical quality for the money. Make sure you get the traditional centre knob type focus - some of the cheaper brands come with a rocker type focuser which is hard to work accurately.

[Walloper]

MOST IMPORTANT ASPECT: Exit Pupil.

Basically younger folks pupils can open to 7mm older people can only open to about 5mm.

A 10X50 will have an exit pupil of 5mm (50/10=5) which is about the limit for older people's eyes.

It has to do with how much light projected by the binoculars can enter the eye. If the exit pupil it too big then the image will apear dark to a smaller pupil.

To get an idea of what the exit pupil is hold the binoculars up to a light source and focus the projected light on your hand the small disc of light you see will have a diameter that is the Exit Pupil. It is a waste of £££ to use the wrong lens combination.

You do need a load of light so a big number 60 and a smaller number like 10 seems more powerful but 1mm of light will be lost in projection.

60X12 will work fine.

Also the bigger binoculars tend to be more shakey to hold so although the image may be clear it is not easy to hold the image steady and they may need a tripod or one of those mono-pods to make them really useful.

60X12s will pick out most of the planets in the solar system and show great images of the moon and craters on the surface.

You will not get good binoculars for £150 unless you look on ebay decent camera shop, high street or online.
Good start around £200 but very good £300-£350

The lens coatings also play a big part in light transmission. i.e. what the coating is actually made of.

The lens material is important too. Very expensive binoculars use very very optically perfect crystal made in special factories. Cheaper equipment use bog standard plain glass to better plain glass.
____________________
W-ireless A-rtificial L-ifeform L-imited to O-bservation P-eacekeeping and E-fficient R-epair