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Bird watching Binoculars

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Hi,

 

I am just getting interested in bird watching, bought the book etc... However, I need some reasonable binoculars. Can someone please advise me to the best buy in the £50 - £100 price range, I would prefer a small compact set.

 

Thanks

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Hi,

 

I am just getting interested in bird watching, bought the book etc... However, I need some reasonable binoculars. Can someone please advise me to the best buy in the £50 - £100 price range, I would prefer a small compact set.

 

Thanks

 

Unfortunately the phrase "you get what you pay for" was coined for binoculars.

 

8 x 30 or 10 x 40 magnification is what you should go for. Make sure they are lightweight, and feel good in the hand. There are plenty of £50 - £100 binocs around and they'll do the job, but the day you look through a pair of £900 Leica's is the day you realise, that if you are serious, then you really cannot beat spending good money on good optics

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Hijacked this thread because I wanted to ask the same question.

So, what do the numbers mean? Which one is best?

8x30 or 10x40?

Thank you x

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First number is the magnification. 8x30 makes things look eight times as big, 10x40 makes them look ten times the size. Second number is the diameter of the front lens, the bigger the better. It decides how bright the image is: a larger front lens collects more light, which makes the image clearer, especially when the light is failing. Generally you'll find them increasing proportionally in good optics: the greater the magnification, the more light you need to make the image clear. 25x25 would be rubbish!

 

I'm not a birder, but as I'd expect that the larger the magnification, the better view you'd get of far-away birds. But good optics, as Dennis says, cost. So 10x40 is better than 8x30, but if you see them for about the same price you should be concerned about the quality of the 10x40s.

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