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Need a recommendation for lightweight mono or binoculars

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Day Hiker said:
A good binocular set is a lifetime purchase. I'm convinced the cost is worth it. I'm proud of and feel fortunate to own my Leica 7x42. I actually have my Leica binoculars bequeathed in my will. Not so with any of my camera equipment.

Jim Pilcher
Summit County, Colorado, USA
Life is good in the woods. All paths lead forward.
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I hate to be blunt - but my husband is 83 - he's lived much of his lifetime! :-) (and I'm not far behind at almost 77...and I might have said looking at 78 in a previous post - math has never been a strong point of mine - I was born in 1940, so it should be easy!)

Isabel
 
The choices are overwhelming! I so appreciate all the time you put into sharing your suggestions.

Seems like the best bet really would be to go to a store and check some out - nothing beats looking through them and seeing what they're going to feel hanging from your neck!

A birding friend of my husband's uses a monocular which he wears because of weight considerations.

Isabel
 
clemcam said:
As this thread has made clear, binoculars are a very personal matter. You, of course, are very aware of the enigmatic question of "what is the best camera" or even "what is the best EVF". You need to go to a store and compare things like brightness versus magnification, compactness versus quality, eye relief and exit pupil (for flexibility in placing your eyes), and whether lower magnification (6 or 7) which allows a big view or higher magnification (8 or 10) which show more details, is what you (or your husband) want. I suspect you might find a model you find adequate anywhere from $100 to $600.
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rogerstpierre said:
Binoculars is all about compromise. I chose the Pentax 9x32 DCF BC over many more expensive, brighter, sharper ones as the best compromise between lightness, brightness, quality, and price ($245CDN). Haven't been disappointed.

--
Roger
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No not really. Unlike cameras with all kinds of different formats and standard, binoculars are pretty straightforward with respect to the best. But a photographic analogy may work none-the-less. An all-in-one $350 Cool Pix may give you perfectly satisfying results photographically . . . until you use a Nikon 8100 full frame with premium lens. Then you discover there was a very dramatic difference after all.

A Zeiss HT or a Swarovision EL, a Leica Nocitivid 8x42 will take your breath when compared to binoculars costing around $1,000, and provide a religious experience for those coming from binoculars running below $350 :-). However, the $2,599 for the Noctivids will also take your breath away. But for many, just like photographers, the best results are well worth it.
 
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Isabel Cutler said:
The choices are overwhelming! I so appreciate all the time you put into sharing your suggestions.

Seems like the best bet really would be to go to a store and check some out - nothing beats looking through them and seeing what they're going to feel hanging from your neck!

A birding friend of my husband's uses a monocular which he wears because of weight considerations.

Isabel
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Isabel Cutler said:
...for my husband - when we trek through Costa Rica looking for wild critters - low cost preferred to high cost!

Isabel

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http://www.pbase.com/isabel95
https://www.flickr.com/photos/isabel95/
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www.hawkeoptics.co.uk

These are type i use isabel and are very good well priced and well built mine are the 8 x 42 i find x 8 easier to hold steady you can go 10 but you will want ones with a wide field of view otherwise everything becomes shaky .

They make even more budget friendly ones in frontier ,to be honest some of the other brands and hawke have 95% caught up with leica ziess and swarvoski

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www.bestbinocularsreviews.com

Try this website it will give you a good run down on what you are going to be using your binoculars scope for and what is needed

But i will recommend hawke they have served me well and give 3d pop to objects and work well in lower light .
 
Isabel Cutler said:
...for my husband - when we trek through Costa Rica looking for wild critters - low cost preferred to high cost!
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I really like my 10 x 25 Leica Trinovid BCA. They're small, light, armored (rubberized) and not crazy expensive, $460 at B&H, like the bigger Leica or Swarovski binox. Image quality is excellent with no distortion. They fold down to very small size and can be discretely carried anywhere.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/358309-USA/Leica_40343_10x25_BCA_Trinovid_Binocular.html

I've had mine for about 20 years. I use them for everything from hiking and biking and birding to regular trips to the Metropolitan Opera (3 complete Ring Cycles and counting… 😃) , Carnegie Hall, NY Rangers games, and several trips to Costa Rica.

The 10x power is great for birding or watching the tympanist select his/her next set of sticks from near the back of the Hall.

I'll be getting a second pair for my girlfriend.
 
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clemcam said:
My choice of a compact is the Vortex Viper 8 x 28. Whether this is bright enough for your needs I don't know. But it is very sharp and remarkably compact for a high quality optic.
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I purchased Vortex Diamondbacks in 8x28 for a family holiday in a game reverse in South Africa.

Very light, sharp and compact. Rubberised coating soaked up all knocks and the girls wore them around their necks all week without a single complaint.
 
hello Isabell, I made a good experience a few years ago. I had a "cheap" (approx. 100€) Nikon binokular and compared it in very bad light with a Swarovsky for about 5.000€, it was that one of a friend of mine, he is hunter. And we compared it in near compleat darkness in the forest and looked to a bad enlighted small house in the middle of the forest.

The expansive glas was a 7 x 42 (that means 7-times enlargement and a 42 mm front lense) and it was from Swarovski, one of the best glasses of the world. Mine was a 8 x 25 Nikon with a much smaller front lense.

But the difference when viewing was very very small because our eyes compensate that this glass let pass less light. When viewing through the glasses, the result was near (not exactly) the same. My friend was realy very disapointed about his very expensive glass and I was very suprised and happy!

So if you want a good quality-glass that is affordable, small and light, than I can recomand Nikon:

- http://imaging.nikon.com/lineup/sportoptics/binoculars/compact/travel-vi_25/index.htm

- http://imaging.nikon.com/lineup/sportoptics/binoculars/compact/star_x25/index.htm

- http://imaging.nikon.com/lineup/sportoptics/binoculars/compact/travel-ex_25/index.htm

I was very happy with this glas!
 
I really liked my west marine 8x32, compact and light weight and weather proofed. https://www.ebay.com/itm/401132651395

My current pair is a Bushnell 10x42 but they're heavier. 8x32 is a great size balance for optics. Also check out Cabela brands, these are rebranded (like west marines are) but often cheaper than OEM.
 
drj3 said:
richj20 said:
Isabel Cutler said:
...for my husband - when we trek through Costa Rica looking for wild critters - low cost preferred to high cost!
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For trekking, I assume you want compact. For more years than I can remember, I've carried a Nikon Sportstar 8x25. Nicely compact and very bright.

I think brightness is very important, so if you can get to a store to compare, look through them at a white wall to test. You will be surprised at the differences between brands/models.

Another factor to consider when comparing is the FOV. Will you be scanning/panning/birding over a wide area, or mostly zeroing in on a small area, like up in the trees or down a ravine?

- Richard
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We're going to REI tomorrow to check some out - no way one should order any of these online.

What's critical for us is WEIGHT! My packed Think Tank Urban Disguise Camera bag which will contain two bodies and 5 lense + chargers, cards, batteries, etc. weighs 10.8 pounds and when we arrived will be subdivided into two LowePro PhotoRunner 100 belt backs (shoulder straps removed) so each one of us can carry equipment around our waists. I find this to be the most comfortable camera bag I have to tote around for a long time - turned around to my back it sits low and comfortably. It's easy to flip around to the front and grab what I need. It's severely lack in storage pockets, though, and has been discontinued.

Some compromises will have to be made in the optical quality of the binoculars we eventually settle on, but we're not going to compromise on low weight. I've spent too many years being dragged down by dslr equipment and know what a downer (literally) that can be!

Thanks for all your sharing!

Isabel
 
b00mer said:
I really liked my west marine 8x32, compact and light weight and weather proofed. https://www.ebay.com/itm/401132651395

My current pair is a Bushnell 10x42 but they're heavier. 8x32 is a great size balance for optics. Also check out Cabela brands, these are rebranded (like west marines are) but often cheaper than OEM.
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Initially I thought we had one near Asheville, but it turns out I saw it on one of our shopping jaunts to Greenville, SC - that's about 50 miles from here...if REI doesn't have something will go there.

Isabel

--
http://www.pbase.com/isabel95
https://www.flickr.com/photos/isabel95/
 
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If you can get them over there try Hawke and Vanguard with ED glass. Both Japanese makes but manufactured in China, though I'm sure they do more expensive models made in Japan too. I thought the Vanguard were slightly better but preferred the eye-relief on the Hawke. I paid £160 in the UK for 8x32 Endurance (I think that was the model name). I have an older friend who is an expert birder and bird ringer who only uses Swarovski, he is retired and is out birding all of the time so it is understandable that he would have alpha glass. He was suitably impressed with my cheapies, his only real concern was how many years they would last - but given that I have a habit of dropping mine on concrete and smashing them I don't take length of service into consideration :)
 
We were very happy with REI brand binoculars for years, around $150, the 8 x42. Sharp and good in low light. Eventually the eye cup fell apart. We just bought a pair of Celestron 8 x 42 binoculars, very similar, more or less the same class, also sharp, waterproof, etc, for $300. There are many well reviewed binoculars in that price range. Vortex makes one that's a bit cheaper.

No doubt a $2000 binocular is nicer, just like the $6000 Olympus Zuiko 300 2.8 is nicer.
 
Nikon Travelite Isabel. Sharp wit good contrast, light weight and they come in below your budget. My friend tried my pair and preferred them straight away to his Leica's of the same magnification. (8x) He said not quite as sharp but the contrast was better. Also reckoned they were more comfortable.
 
Isabel Cutler said:
We're going to REI tomorrow to check some out - no way one should order any of these online.

What's critical for us is WEIGHT! My packed Think Tank Urban Disguise Camera bag which will contain two bodies and 5 lense + chargers, cards, batteries, etc. weighs 10.8 pounds and when we arrived will be subdivided into two LowePro PhotoRunner 100 belt backs (shoulder straps removed) so each one of us can carry equipment around our waists. I find this to be the most comfortable camera bag I have to tote around for a long time - turned around to my back it sits low and comfortably. It's easy to flip around to the front and grab what I need. It's severely lack in storage pockets, though, and has been discontinued.

Some compromises will have to be made in the optical quality of the binoculars we eventually settle on, but we're not going to compromise on low weight. I've spent too many years being dragged down by dslr equipment and know what a downer (literally) that can be!

Thanks for all your sharing!
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Since size, weight and image quality are most important, PLUS go for 10x vs. 8x binox. It makes a big difference, especially with all hummingbirds you'll see in CR.

the Leica Trinovid BCA are only 245g and 4.3" long, great Leica optics. The eye cups retract for using with eyeglasses, too.

681b0d806125400d9a1dfc99d294cc7a.jpg
 
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