The difficult £400-£700 range? (1 Viewer)

[matt green]

So, with regret I’m back on the hunt for some bingos in the above price bracket..not bonding with the Hawke frontier Ed x I purchased a few months back, problems with glare, insufficient eye relief, floating diopter and rough focus have sealed their fate!

I‘m curious to enquire what night be considered the next level, before I purchased the hawks I tried most of the other brands binos around the £400 price point..all seemed reasonable and ok for the money but nothing heart stopping!

My preferences are for a solid 8x42, not particularly swayed by close focus, field of view etc just a nice sweet spot and ‘no issues’

Matt

 

[Maljunulo]

When you say £400 to £700, I think you will be happier with the result of you just spend the £700, and forget about any less.

You might be able to do very well in the used market for that sum, if you are careful. Try a reliable dealer.

 

[Ratal]

Save yourself some pain. Save a little bit more.

800 gets you the Aurora BGA VHD. 8x42

Every single birder I meet who looks through them goes 'bloody hell they are cracking!'. As for me? I do not miss my Zeiss SF. There. I said it.

** Edit - Stellar bargain below!

 

[Ratal]

Give them a call - 600 quid for these is an absolute steal.

Used OPTICRON AURORA 8x42 BGA VHD - York Camera Mart

- Free delivery available on all orders over 50 pounds. Come and see us in our York store, or call 01904 642491

yorkcameramart.co.uk

 

[[email protected]]

I would look for a Zeiss Conquest HD 8x42 or Nikon Monarch HG 8x42. You can probably find one close to your price point.

 

[Binocollector]

Fujinon HC 8x42 gets my vote.
Here's where I bought mine. Sold as "demo item" but mine looked brand spanking new.

Fujifilm Hyper-Clarity-Serie Fujinon HC 8x42 Ferngläser - Schwarz (10956) for sale online | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Fujifilm Hyper-Clarity-Serie Fujinon HC 8x42 Ferngläser - Schwarz (10956) at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for many products!

www.ebay.co.uk

Best bino I ever bought in that price range. And I have quite a few in that price bracket.
To my eyes it's better than the FMTR. Slightly sharper and more contrast and "pop" to the image.

 

[matt green]

Thanks for all the replies, the opticron and Zeiss models do spark some interest as I’ve looked through both and been impressed with the view and build especially the Zeiss, though I can’t quite recall which had the better optics..might have been a very, almost inperceptable match. I’m a little weary of the eyecups on the Zeiss which a few folk on here seem to find problematic after a short period of use.

The Leica trinovid hd is on the list to demo also, never looked through one of those yet!

Matt

 

[Owene]

I got a second hand Zeiss Conquest HD for £500, I've since upgraded to NL pure but still use the Zeiss about 50% of the time because its almost as good.

 

[William Lewis]

I'm with Ratal on this one, the aurora are absolutely excellent.

I use the trinovid hd's for a couple of years as my main bino. By all means see for yourself but for me their only major shortcoming and the reason I sold them was c.a. The build quality is excellent as is the resolution, brightness is ok, field of view in terms of curvature and colour rendition is classic Leica - it's a good view.

The nail in their coffin for me was viewing egrets at long distance and hardly being able to make out their shape due to c.a fringing against the dark marshy background they were foraging in. You may not see it but I would recommend you specifically look for it when trying them out.

Will

 

[Peregrine Took]

Another vote for Zeiss Conquest bins. You mention a 'sweet spot', that's exactly how I defined mine, since they are 'only' 8x32's (in preference to the 8x42 and 10x42), but leave me wanting for nothing. I went shopping for nothing other than 8x42's, but a smaller objective might surprise you, it did me.
.

 

[jafritten]

The Leica trinovid hd is on the list to demo also, never looked through one of those yet!

I went for the 7x42 Ultravid, eventually. But for 800€ (that's what I paid) I thought they were great. See this thread:

Trinovid 8x42 HD

Hi there, I've been looking around for a pair of 8x42s as I hope, they will give me a better ease of view and better low light qualities than my standard Ultravid HD 10x32. I'd like the 8x42s for use at dusk and dawn and while most people would probably say a pair of 8x42s are bound to give me a...

www.birdforum.net

 

[Foss]

The Leica trinovid hd is on the list to demo also, never looked through one of those yet!

@ Matt. Longtime owner here. It seems to click the boxes in your #1 post. Super solid build, great color rendition, sharp center, and no bad habits.

 

[[email protected]]

@ Matt. Longtime owner here. It seems to click the boxes in your #1 post. Super solid build, great color rendition, sharp center, and no bad habits.

The deal killer for me with the Leica Trinovids HD 8x42 was the CA, especially on the edge. As William above says above, and I found the same thing when looking at dark birds against a white sky.

"The nail in their coffin for me was viewing egrets at long distance and hardly being able to make out their shape due to c.a fringing against the dark marshy background they were foraging in. You may not see it, but I would recommend you specifically look for it when trying them out."

 

[Binocollector]

That's what I like so much about the Fuji HC -- zero CA in the center.
Only very slight at the edge of the FoV. Watching birds against the sky is a pleasure with these. I bought them explicitly for birding (many of my other binos were bought for stargazing) and couldn't he happier.

 

[Ratal]

Fujinon HC 8x42 gets my vote.
Here's where I bought mine. Sold as "demo item" but mine looked brand spanking new.

Fujifilm Hyper-Clarity-Serie Fujinon HC 8x42 Ferngläser - Schwarz (10956) for sale online | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Fujifilm Hyper-Clarity-Serie Fujinon HC 8x42 Ferngläser - Schwarz (10956) at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for many products!

www.ebay.co.uk

Best bino I ever bought in that price range. And I have quite a few in that price bracket.
To my eyes it's better than the FMTR. Slightly sharper and more contrast and "pop" to the image.

Awww hell no! To go from close focus to horizon you have to do, what? Near 3 complete turns of the focus wheel? Going on memory here, but it was a try once and rage quit. Never again. That slooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooow focus is maddening. Do not get this bin for fast moving birds or if you are in a dynamic environment and need to switch fast. You won't be able to turn that wheel fast enough.

 

[[email protected]]

That's what I like so much about the Fuji HC -- zero CA in the center.
Only very slight at the edge of the FoV. Watching birds against the sky is a pleasure with these. I bought them explicitly for birding (many of my other binos were bought for stargazing) and couldn't he happier.

Do the Fuji HC's still have those COLD steel eye cups? That was a deal killer for me here in Colorado when I had them.

 

[Binocollector]

Awww hell no! To go from close focus to horizon you have to do, what? Near 3 complete turns of the focus wheel? Going on memory here, but it was a try once and rage quit. Never again. That slooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooow focus is maddening. Do not get this bin for fast moving birds or if you are in a dynamic environment and need to switch fast. You won't be able to turn that wheel fast enough.

Never was an issue. From a few meters out the focuser is much quicker. It's not that often that I switch from 2 meters to 300 when observing.

 

[Binocollector]

So, just tested the Fuji HC focuser again. From 5m to 300m distance it takes exactly a half turn. Not sure how that would ever be an issue but it seems there are people who regularly look at stuff right in front of their feet and then at birds one kilometer away. Granted, I wouldn't recommend it to these folks.

 

[Ratal]

So, just tested the Fuji HC focuser again. From 5m to 300m distance it takes exactly a half turn. Not sure how that would ever be an issue but it seems there are people who regularly look at stuff right in front of their feet and then at birds one kilometer away. Granted, I wouldn't recommend it to these folks.

Sounds weirdly as if you have never been birdwatching then, as close to far and back and far to close is par for the course in every environment bar dense primary canopy. In my birding experience of course - your experience may have varied, but I cannot see how unless you ignore most of what is out there.

 

[Binocollector]

Do the Fuji HC's still have those COLD steel eye cups? That was a deal killer for me here in Colorado when I had them.

True - that they do. Not an issue when using them with glasses like I often do.
Still for the price I paid, I really can't think of many that might be better optically. But of course I didn't pay full price but 530 instead of the regular 850€. Not sure I'd have bought them for regular price.
But I absolutely love the neutral colors and lack of CA in the center as well as sharpness and contrast. I also like how they handle and build quality is solid.
But as always - try before you buy would be best.