I have been through several cheapo binoculars over the years,and want to get a good pair.With a $100 budget if possible,Nikon or Vortex have been recommended to me so far.Primarily for wildlife watching.
Well, given the budget we will rule out the Swarovski's ;) . I have a set of Bushnell's that have served me well for a long time. And when you look at brands like Nikon (known for optics) you can pretty much buy with confidence; at that point: do you know what level of magnification you are looking for/most useful? Spotting moose at 3000 yards is a lot different then birds at 75. My budget Bushnell's have served me well. Also they came with a carrying case (helps insure longevity).
https://www.sportsmans.com/hunting-gear-supplies/optics-binoculars-scopes-rangefinders/binoculars/leupold-bx-2-alpine-hd-binoculars-10x42/p/1696469
These are double your budget but Leupold has a lifetime warranty and great customer service.
I use to like Steiner a lot but they were bought out by Burris and their customer service isn't as good as it use to be.
If you really want to keep within a $100 budget, there are still a lot of WWII binoculars out there and some are in really good condition. Look for Zeiss or Lietz 8x30 (German Officers Model) Americans built some good ones too but they seem to be harder to find.
200-300 yards is about max before any tree line.10-12x is suffice.
I have several Nikon at various PP's, James. Solid.
Man, without a tripod or support I can't hold 10X steady enough to decipher a whole lot. Everything becomes blury pretty quick so I prefer 7X or 8X. I've always had good luck with Bushnell & they're usually priced reasonable.
My Dad had a pair of Bushnell's in a leather velvet lined case.
Might have been 10X50's.
He was a forward artillery spotter in the Army during WWII —- previous to his training as a pilot on P-63 Black Widow Night Fighters.
He was in the South Pacific arena up through the occupation of Japan.
He would go ashore in a landing craft, and with a Jeep and a driver.
His job was to direct both ship to shore artillery batteries as well as aerial attacks on enemy positions. He used a radio as well as these Bushnell's.
When a mortar shell struck close to their Jeep —- it overturned, and Dad landed on a Coral Reef. He spent 3 months in a New Guinea Army Hospital, on his stomach —- until the injuries and infection were healed. Then, just back into the war effort. No going home.
He brought home these binoculars, a .45, a fold-up Camillus Machete, a compass, a leather flight jacket, and a mess kit.
I still recall the smell of the leather case and instrument grade binoculars —- when I was old enough to be allowed to use them.
Nowadays, there are so many brands available —- I would just go to Cabelas, Amazon, or online to compare ratings, performance, and value.
Best, Fred
Have you thought about buying a used pair?
For a $100 you should be able to buy a nice used set that sold for up to $250 new.
Garage sales are a treasure trove as well but obviously a whole lot of hit and miss.
I have a hard time finding a crow bar big enough to pry my wallet open at times to, but look at my signature and you'll get my opinion. 8)
My Wife and a good friend both bought Vortex Diamondback 10x42 binoculars. They both really like them and you can't beat their warranty. They bought the non HD version and you can pick them up for sub $200. Probably a little more than you might have wanted to pay.
https://vortexoptics.com/vortex-diamondback-10x42-binocular.html
I keep a pair of Leupold Rogue BX1s in my truck. I really enjoy their size and weight. They can be bought for under $100.
https://www.leupold.com/bx-1-rogue-8x25mm-compact-binocular
Quote from: Midway Tommy on September 19, 2023, 09:36:13 PMMan, without a tripod or support I can't hold 10X steady enough to decipher a whole lot. Everything becomes blury pretty quick so I prefer 7X or 8X. I've always had good luck with Bushnell & they're usually priced reasonable.
Tommy is right; magnification is fine, but the higher you go, the harder it is to keep them steady enough to see anything.
Frank
I recently got nikon prostaff p7 10x42. They are great so glad I took the plunge to get better bins. Been using them in the bush for birding, wildlife viewing and hunting
Quote from: jgp12000 on September 19, 2023, 08:06:57 PMPrimarily for wildlife watching.
100 bucks might prove disappointing. As mentioned, stability will be a problem and will be frustrating for you. Look into a pair with an image stabilizer. I have a pair of "10X30 IS" by Canon. Probably not the highest quality optics and definitely not Zeiss-class 10X50 long eyes, but I can't say enough about the stability factor. I use mine for birds and such...also very handy for watching the water under feeding birds in the surf. This feature also reduces instability while in moving a vehicle....for the passenger, of course ;)
Sounds good I dont wanna buy again if i go over $100 so be it Shell.capefish those nikon prostaff p7 sound like keepers.
Fred your Dad sounds like a true Hero.
Occasionally Midway USA will have some deals on refurbished Binoculars. I was looking for a dedicated pair for hunting and picked-up a refurbed Nikon ProStaff P5 8x42 for about $85. They work great (for me). If you are near a Cabellas or a Bass Pro, you can test a lot of these out. The store out here had some big game mounts on walls over 70 yards away. It was nice to use them in a semi realistic manner. My wife preferred her 10x Vortex over the rest Cabellas had, while I liked the Nikon 8x.
I have bought Binoculars on sale at dvor.com, midwayusa.com and also have used camelcamelcamel.com to track pricing and set alerts for items at Amazon. Hope that helps.
Binoculars have never been a high priority for me so I won't claim any expertise but I do have Bushnell and Celestron and they have both served me well. I've had the Bushnells for going on 30 years and also have a couple of rimfire scopes I've purchased in recent years. No complaints, considering their price and intended purpose.
I have several Nikon rifle scopes and camera lenses. I'm a big fan of their scopes. Never had any issues with the quality and the clarity, brightness and color rendition is excellent in my humble opinion. Again considering price point.
Zeiss and Leica both make high quality equipment with superb optics and unmatched color rendition. I have Zeiss camera lenses so I'm very familiar with their glass and highly recommend their optics.
B&H Photo-Video sells numerous brands of binoculars at competitive prices and even has used binoculars with a rating system of 1-10 which I find to be very accurate. The staff can and will answer questions about any item if possible. Great to do business with. Quite often items sold as used are store or show demos, discontinued models or manufacturer refurbished.
Back to Nikon they also have a refurbishment program for cameras and optics that includes a limited warranty.
Absolutely no offense intended here but $100 in today's market would be considered cheapo in my opinion. Binoculars are all about the glass and that doesn't come cheap. Buying used can get you more for your money but even great optics can have problems not noticeable through casual observation. Look the glass over carefully for signs of chips, scratches and coating failure. Small scratches and chips usually don't interfere with your view but should affect the price. Coatings that are crackling or flaking off will affect color, clarity, flare. Look through the lenses with a weak light for dust/dirt inside. A few small particles are probably negligeable but a lot can affect the image and can lead to fungus. Cloudiness indicates fungus and can affect color and clarity. The optics in good quality binoculars can probably be professionally cleaned - but not for free.
Hope this helps.
I did a little searching for you, hope don't mind.
B&H Photo has a large number of used binoculars in stock. Lots of brands, all price ranges.
Someone else mentioned being able to buy Nikon with some degree of confidence and I agree with that so I Googled "refurbished Nikon optics", came up with a site that said Nikon refurbished cameras and lenses. Make sure you go to the Nikon site not a store that sells refurbs. Once there select sport optics, binoculars, then sort low to high price. They have quite a range of models and prices.
I would like to add that I think your choice of 10X is good but unless physical size is a major concern I think 10X50 is a better choice, greater light gathering capability. Bigger glass of the same quality always wins. Another thing to consider is the field of view. Generally speaking as magnification increases the field of view at any distance decreases. Even within the same magnification class it may vary depending on manufacturer and design. As far as being able to hold them steady, it's defintely a concern but primarily at longer distances, a lightweight, collapsible monopod with a ball mount can work. I know you said 200-300 yds but the size of what you're looking at matters. Do you want to just see it or do you want to SEE it to study it? Finally, consider a cheap, lightweight, palm size 7X or 8X for finding and a 10X for studying.
I am leaning toward Nikon. I dont think I will be disappointed.I will probably look thru some at BPS and Academy,then buy on Amazon.
I really like my Nikons. In case you or anyone else is interested, DVOR just started a sale on the Vortex 10x42s for $115. This sale is for 3 days or until they run out of stock. Vortex has a really great warranty.
https://www.dvor.com/vortex-diamondback-10x42mm-binoculars-d241.html