Good Binoculars
 

I am looking to pick up a pair of binoculars, any recommendations? I don't want to spend more than 50 bucks. Thanks for the help.

Re: Good Binoculars
 

Bushnell Falcon 7 x35 - $25-$30

Bushnell Falcon Zoom 9-27 x50mm - sale $50 - reg $129

picked up the Zoom because it was on sale
and i've always had a pair of 7 x35 around ( small & compact )

Re: Good Binoculars
 

Any binoculars for $50 are disposable.

And that is not an exaggeration--the cheaper ones are all plastic and are GLUED together now. If they get out of internal adjustment or get condensation in them, there is no way to even take them apart to clean or adjust them without damaging them even further.

Buy any you want, they will all work about the same. Except for the ones with zoom eyepieces, because those are even worse (dimmer and fuzzier) than the single-power ones.

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For something a bit better, I'd try the $230 Orion Vista 7x50's. These are not waterproof, but they are serviceable and do come with a decent warranty.

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Re: Good Binoculars
 

$50 ain't gonna get you much, I'll agree. I'm not an optics snob by any means, but I'll disagree that you have to spend $500 for a good pair of binos. What is the application, general surveillance, birding, astronomy? That will make a difference. I got a low-to-middle end pair of Celestron 10x50's 5 years ago for around $100, about 5 years ago, I'm fairly happy with them. Stay away from zoom binos, unless you spend big $, you're probably going to end up with junk. For general applications, I like 7x50's.

Re: Good Binoculars
 

My recommendation - spend more than $50.

As has been said, you don't have to spend $500, but if you spend any amount of time using junk binos, you'll find yourself simply not using them and just using you naked eyes.

A good way to get some more affordably, may be Craigslist. I have pair of Bushnells that weren't super expensive (I think were on sale for about $100 a number of years ago). They work fine. I have a pair of compact Leicas - sweet, they go with me all over. I've used Nikon Monarchs - very good for the money.

In optics, you get what you pay for.

Re: Good Binoculars
 

I only want them to keep in my truck, I drive for a living and occasionally have an instance where I would like to have some binocs so I don't wanna spend much, since I would only use them maybe once a month and never for any really important task. I was considering these


Thanks for the replies.

Re: Good Binoculars
 

The ones at Amazon won't do you much good. 7x 35 cheapos if anything

Re: Good Binoculars
 

I'm not a fan of cheap roof prism binos. 12x is waay to much magnification for 25mm objectives. If you're going this route, look at the 8x21 style. Remember, the first number is the magnification, the second is the diameter of the objective lens in mm. Take a look at Orion:
http://www.telescope.com/control/cat..._id=binoculars

Re: Good Binoculars
 

$50 buys garbage....$150 will buy some reasonable quality.

Re: Good Binoculars
 

Thanks for the links, those Waterproof 10x50's for 80 bucks seem like a good deal for what I would need them for.

Re: Good Binoculars
 

Take it from a person familiar in the surveilance business,you get what you pay for.


The most important difference in "cheap" and 'expensive" is cheap will hurt your eyes-eg, eye strain,headache, etc after long use.
Expensive pairs will allow you to look through them all day long with no eye discomfort.
What is your application?-short usage 1-20 minutes a day -go cheap.2-3 plus hours a day-pay the most you can.

Also-do NOT buy a pair without looking through them before buying-no online purchases for the pro's.

Re: Good Binoculars
 

I have a cheap pair of 8x21 Wal-Mart "Sports Afield" roof prisms in my gun bag, I use them for looking at bullet holes without moving the target in at the (indoor) shooting range I go to. The range is about 30 yds long I think, and I don't have a range box to put a spotting scope on, and don't want to bring a tripod either.

They work okay for that, but the exit pupil is pretty small--you need to hold them exactly in front of your eyes to see through them at all.

I think I spent about $22 for mine, at that price they are a fair deal.

....I would warn against buying any ones hand-held that are more than about 10X magnification. They get harder and harder to hold steady as the power goes up.


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Re: Good Binoculars
 

Re: Good Binoculars
 

Also, demending on if you want to use them in dim light conditions....you must also know what to select to allow maximum light into your eye.....this also applies to rifle scopes:

Your pupil can get as large as 6mm.....perhaps 7mm if you have young eyes....this is a big as they get.

To determing the pupil exit size of a scope/binocular.....you divide objective lens diameter by the magnification power:

Example = 7 x 35 binoculars .....35mm / 7X = 5mm......thus they are not the best choice for night/dim light......a very common night binocular would be 8 x 56.....56/8X = 7mm....this matched the maximum pupil of your eye.

Or, think of it this way just multiply power x 7mm to get reasonable requirement for lens diameter.

6X = 42mm
7X = 49mm
8X = 56mm
9x = 63mm
10x = 70mm