Binoculars for birding

[Shortsighted]

I'm looking for advice about binoculars for birding.  I have four bins laying around and none of them are any good.  Three of them are the standard army style designs that are of poor quality and one is a Pentax mini binocular.  The largest bin (Tasco) I bought in the early 70's and is too heavy and not particularly eyeglasses-friendly but seems to be quite sharp and very bright (10 - 16 zoom x 50mm).  This device is not something I would enjoy dragging along with me in the field.  The other two bins of this style are slightly smaller at 8 x 40 but they have terrible optics.  I don't even know where they came from because they must date back to the late 50's.  My father had a Zeiss 8 x 35 that I really liked, even when I was a kid, but I dropped it and cracked the lens.  It was never repaired.  I too may never have been repaired but I could run faster than my dad ever could.  If only I had left those bins alone, but it's a curse being born Shortsighted.

I understand that there are birding bins from under $100. for a Tasco, all the way up to $4,500. for a Leica.  That's quite a range.  Canon even makes bins with IS installed but for some reason they don't seem to have a fan base.  I guess that in order to be a true fan you must be unstable.  I also understand that some bins are waterproof down to a meter in depth but I don't plan to follow diving ducks down to the zebra mussel banks, aka the gym, where all the mussels are.

I'm sure that members of this forum board have birding bins.  Some of you may dislike your bins and are thinking of getting new ones, while some of you love your bins and sleep with them.  How does one choose among all those bins?  At what price range does the "gain" become a matter of prestige instead of function?  What bins represent bang-for-the-buck?  How heavy is too heavy?  I'm short, senior, stupxx.  I can't carry anything cumbersome, heavy, beyond the sheer weight of my nonchalance.  Even if I could afford a Leica, would I dare take it into the field where another birding might wrench it from my neck and steal it.  You know how some birders can be ... vicious.  The weight of responsibility inherent in toting an ultra-expensive bin that constantly demands great sightings.  I'm not sure I can handle it all.  I must genuflect to the more experienced among you.

Any suggestions, beyond wanting me to get to the point a lot sooner.

[cabz]

I have the Zeiss Terra Ed 8x42 for birding.  Also, get a harness as years ago, found the neckstrap made the bins feel heavy, especially if you are wearing them for hours, tramping around the woods.  These bins are fairly light and have been on several trips.  Always carry them in my carryon the plane!!!!!


This is my, i think, fourth pair of bins i have had over the years for birding and sometime, unintentionally they are not treated well!!??


When i decided to get this last pair, made a special trip to the Pelee Wings store. I would suggest you try and atleast go to your local birding store that sells a variety of bins.  I had a ballpark figure that I wanted to spend and the patient person at the store as I took awhile comparing the four models that they suggested.


Good luck and hope you find a pair that suits you!!!!  Always enjoy your posts!!!!!

[Shortsighted]

Thanks for your input.  I checked the weight of that Zeiss model and found two values that were dramatically different.  One stated just over half a kilo, while the other stated closer to 1.5 kilos, which is heavier than my telephoto lens ... too heavy.  Also, Henry's only carries it for online purchase, as if I would purchase binoculars without touching them, feeling them, looking into them.  This online business is getting on my nerves.  Retail outlets are closing, those remaining are carrying less merchandise because they will eventually close too.  I had to drive from Pickering to Whitby to get to an Indigo bookstore because the one in Scarborough is now closed, and then the book I wanted had to be ordered online.  The last time I did that I ordered at the end of November in hopes of getting it by Christmas.  I finally got it half way through February.  Once you pay for something there is no incentive for the company to follow through at their end.  I will not be doing that again.  I would not pay for anything with a credit card ot debit card from the keyboard of a PC that might be infiltrated with malware just searching for relevant key strokes.  A friend tried that on a PC only twice in her life and got hacked the second time and her CC was breached and used by nefarious agents. 

Henry's does have a lot of Nikon bins.  I have not, as yet, checked their weights.  I've learned to keep away from scales and weight issues, but let's face it, one needs to face it eventually.  Right now, there are no birds to look at, not even in my backyard.  Post apocalyptic!  I saw some ice the other day.  Ice clinging to the edge of a boulder ...  cool.  Who coined the term "cool"?  Apparently it was the Jazz saxophonist Lester Young.  I think he used in in the 40's, but it didn't become popular until the 50's.  Then eventually the valley-girls got a hold of it and that annoying inflection ensued.  You see, there I go again, I digress.