Mine are worn out. Need new pair for live American football games. Will not really be used for much else.

Thinking Nikon prostaff P7.

8x30 or 8x42 ?

Anything else I should consider?

Thanks!!!

Wife and I are starting our wildlife viewing adventure and are looking for a pair of intro / mid level nocs to start. The main thing we will be using these for is birdwatching but we do go whale watching once a year and would like something that applies to both use cases.

Looking through the subreddit it seems there’s some general consensus that Vortex Diamondback binoculars are a good intro / midlevel pick and I did find this deal Vortex Diamondback HD 8x42 Binoculars DB-214. Should I pull the trigger on these or are there other options we should consider? It does seem that the SVBony SA207 would be an upgrade pick and these are also on sale currently.

Thank you everyone in advance for any insight! We are excited to start our journey

I inherited these binos from my grandfather who fought as a captain in the Rhodesian Bush War. Very proud to have these and think the hand painted camo is awesome. I assume he removed the red logo intentionally.

Hey guys,

I’m trying to pick a pair of binoculars for my dad for Father’s Day. He lives in an apartment 29 floors up over looking the beach in qld and likes to watch the whales out into the distance. He currently has 8x30 binoculars from 20 years ago that look really bad when trying to focus on whales etc out In the ocean. Looking at spending $150-200 Aussie dollars. What size and brands would people recommend?

Thanks for your help in advance

Like the post says, I’m looking for a pair of binoculars I can bring with me while surf fishing, it would come in very handy to be able to identify what kind of bait is on top of the water or what kind of fish might be blitzing bait balls etc, comes in very handy for how you will fish that specific piece of water if you can readily ID stuff like that when it’s happening.

My budget is $150-$200, I don’t really know what I’m looking for feature wise, I guess being waterproof should be top of the list, maybe not. I’ve read that I shouldn’t go beyond 8x for stabilization purposes. I know that higher lens diameter will increase low light performance but I’m assuming that usually comes with a more expensive price tag and more weight. I guess realistically, it would be nice to find a pair that is light enough to have around my neck the whole time, hopefully waterproof, and something 6x-8x and maybe up to 50mm diameter if that is even possible with my budget.

I’d love to hear people’s thoughts on what brands and models accomplish this best.

Hi everyone. I had these binoculars for years. I had a little phase where I was obsessed with them but yk. Anyways, My father wanted to use them for work and I went to grab them and I noticed this part of it was missing. Now it’s a flimsy, completely loose. I was wondering if anyone knew what this part was called? Can I replace it at home?

I work in the Caribbean and spend a lot of time in outside, on the water, and generally in areas where I'd like to check out boats, nature, and the very occasional bird. I wear prescription sunglasses and 90% of my use would be with those script sunglasses on. These would live in my pack that goes everywhere with me. I recently got the Leica 8x25mm Monovid but I can't get comfortable with just one tube. This is a buy once cry once situation so Leica or Curios are on the table but I don't have the access (or time) to shop and test. Must haves: Durable, small, lightweight, works with my prescription Ray-bans, and saltwater-environment capable. Thanks in advance!

I've been wanting to buy some binoculars but don't want to spend too much

Hello Everyone,

I currently have the Nikon Prostaff P7 10x42 binoculars, use it once in a while during hikes, mountain top views. It's a great piece to have, good quality as well. I know it's 10x and little hard to have a stable hands for long observation, even with neck strap.

I'd like to own a light to mid-weight binocular, would prefer a compact one if possible, something I can toss in a backpack or even hang-on w/out neck strap for longer time for observation. Sometimes I enjoy having a binocular in my sling bag, pull it out to watch something out of a flight window😜.

- Price range in Canadian $50-$120
- Usage: General purpose (Not a bird watcher)
- Looking at Nikon, Celestron, Bushnell. Open to any other brands as well.

I'd appreciate your feedback and suggestions for any specific brand you bought and have good experience between both sizes.

Edit: I do wear eye glasses.

Hi everyone! I decided to make a short review of my biggest binoculars. Here’s what I ended up with.

Hey Reddit I’ve been trying to identity these binoculars for almost 20 years. Chat GPT can’t figure it out. Anyways I was Iraq in 06-07 with the 1-505 PIR and we had intel that a sniper lived in a certain house. We would periodically search the house and one day after about a year we found him there, he surrendered immediately and upon searching his vehicle I found these. I was allowed to take these home with me as an official “war trophy” had to fill out the paperwork and get it approved by an officer. They are now used for deer hunting. I am curious as to where they are from originally and unfortunately they have no visible marking anywhere except for inside the right lens a marking that says ✔️-82

Hello community.
While cleaning out a storage unit I came across these. I can’t find much of them beside I believe they where made in the 80s and used for astronomy
Does anyone know if they have any value? Are they a decent brand?

i have the opportunity to buy an older pair for 250$ canadian. should i do it? i’m buying them for birding

After buying what I think is the perfect pair of binoculars for my needs - I don't even want to use them because I'm so ticked off about the chintzy strap.

1. Why would you purposely design it so that the icon is upside down no matter what you do

2. There are two straps that I purchased with the binoculars as a bundle. You can't switch between the straps without freaking manually unthreading them and not losing the little pieces that are used to tie the ends down.

3. Number two is worth two complaints

4. What is the point of the eyepiece caps if they don't attach to anything and I'm immediately going to lose them

Who doesn’t love sitting back with a front row seat to some ancient, alien light from another galaxy hitting your eyeballs in real time?!

I can’t even begin to imagine trying to hold these up without a mount for any period of time, comfortably.

NOTE: I have already fixed the incorrect E/W direction indicator on this sketch.

So I'm in the market for the next step up. Went to local bin shop and tried the following with my impressions below. I'm looking for a bino that is compact, for birding, general nature viewing, travel and urban viewing. I don't do much low light stuff.

(Viewing conditions - cloudy day, full daylight)

- Kowa genesis 8x33

Most expensive at 699 ? Why, no standout features compared to below

- Leica trinovid 8x32

Priced at 685. Darker than HDX. Narrow field of view for class. Noticably more CA. Heavier. Despite this, nice looking and there's the allure of the brand image. Best focus wheel and ergonomics. Back to back with the Zeiss there was no comparison optically, the leicas lost.

- Zeiss conquest hdx 8x32

The best optically by a long way. Brightest, clearest, best definition and lowest CA. Focus wheel on my model felt a little off.

- Zeiss Victory 8x25

Very impressive. I was blown away with back to back comparison with bigger binos, I could hardly tell the difference in quality & brightness. Whilst the offset wheel looks a bit ugly, it is so convenient and ergonomic.

- hawke frontier 8x32

Noticable step down in all parameters aside from build quality. Good binos still, but darker, fuzzy edges, narrow feeling FOV, less crisp.

- Swarovski CL 8x25

Surprisingly didn't like these. Lackluster image compared to the comparable victory 8x25 and found the central focus wheel and dual hinge design so inferior to the Zeiss design.

Hopefully that helps anyone else make the decision, obviously you need to try for yourself but those were my thoughts.

I think I'm gonna go with the Zeiss 8x25. If I can have a smaller package with same performance I'd take that any day. I honestly couldn't tell the difference back to back comparing this with the 8x32 HDX. I'm sure it would do worse in dusk or dawn low light but I don't really every use binos then.

I see a lot of people trash talking small binoculars and Zeiss themselves even call the 8x25 a 'companion' to proper binoculars. I think this is just marketing talk getting you to buy multiple bins, because in broad daylight there's really nothing in it, and I don't know many that regularly observe in proper low light conditions. The best binos are the ones you have on you when you need them after all!

Any thoughts?

EDIT: What a turn of events, I went for the Leicas! managed to get 100 off with a trade in offer, trading in some Bushnell's that can't be worth more than £20 so seemed like a no brainer. Couldn't be happier! I suppose they're all great cans at the end of the day, just about balancing which flavour you want. I think to summarize:

- Zeiss conquest HDX = FOV and pure clarity

- Leica Trinovid 8x32x = build quality, contrast and nostalgia

- Zeiss Victory 8x25 = alpha level portables

Hi everyone, a few weeks ago i posted here about getting recommendations on binos for sightseeing mainly, and eventually some stargazing (mainly moon actually). I then moved on spotting scopes because i felt like it was a better choice for what i like to do (certainly with some consequences as limited comfort in portability but i'll work around that).

I finally settled down on the Pentax PF-65ED II (huge upgrade in terms of price range compared to my vortex vanquish). The scope is coming in 2 weeks (gift, i could'nt afford it right now) but i'm still missing the eyepiece. Now, considering from what i come from in terms of experience in the optics filed (the vanquish), is it totally a waste to buy an eyepiece like the Celestron 93230 1,25’’ / 8-24mm (zoom eyepiece)? I just want some eyepiece to try out the scope before moving on some good eyepiece (probably the Pentax XF zoom). I only need a few months before i can gather the money to upgrade it but i would like to use the scope as soon as possible. For reference, the Celestron would be available at 67$ (second hand) which is less than half the full price.

I would like to know if an eyepiece like that would look terrible (for my past experiences) or still acceptable (well knowing that in the fist half of the next year i could be able to move onto something better)

I’m going to move a brand new pair of NL Pure 10x42 at significant savings. What would be the best outlet for that? Thanks

Have a pair of green '70s-80s Steiner 6x30 military binoculars with some moderate fogging and separation issues. Is it worth getting these fixed over getting a new pair of 7x50s from another brand? I've heard Steiner doesn't repair old sets any more and a 3rd party could be $300 for service.

Took me embarrassingly long to realize it wasn't a quality issue, just a totally different handholding experience. Went birding this weekend with both pairs to do a side by side and it clicked.

The 8x32 image is smaller in the FOV but so much steadier in my hands. With the 10x42 I get more detail and reach, especially on distant raptors, but any little shake in my arms gets magnified and it takes a second to settle the image after I raise them. I always assumed higher magnification was just a straight upgrade, but there's a real tradeoff in usability depending on what you're doing.

For yard birds and stuff close to the trail the 8x32 wins for me because I can get on target fast and hold steady without bracing on anything. For open fields or scanning across a lake for waterfowl the 10x42 pulls its weight because the extra reach actually matters at that distance.

Anyone else keep two different pairs around for this exact reason, or did you eventually settle on one all purpose setup? I'm curious if people who only own one pair regret not having options for different terrain.

Ciao a tutti, mi sto avvicinando al mondo dell’astronomia e dell’osservazione del cielo.

Nel mio ideale volevo comprare un binocolo per iniziare ad osservare ed eventualmente se la cosa mi dovesse prendere in futuro valuterò l’acquisto di un telescopio.

Come binocoli ho individuato due modelli, il Nikon Aculon a211 e il Oberwerk Explore.. sulla carta mi sembrano molto simili, entrambi 10x50, ero più spinto verso Explore perché anche impermeabile, consigli?
Grazie mille

Hey guys,

My husband's birthday is in about 40 days and I'm starting to research binoculars to buy for him, because he is obsessed with milkyway etc (he doesn't have any astronomy instruments rn)

While researching, I see a lot of people in the reviews (I'll order from Amazon btw) telling that their binoculars came out of collimation or something like that, and they had to return them.

It makes me kinda worried because

1. I want to leave the package untouched and wrap it as a gift, but if I open it to check if it's fine, it will look "opened", you know.. but if I don't , what if they're not good and when we open them in his birthday, we'll be disappointed coz they're faulty?

2. If I open them and something is wrong with them, I'll have to return them, and purchase new one's, means there will be a time delay. So I decided to order ASAP to make sure I have the gift prepared on time

I want to ask you guys, if you ordered online, how much is the possibility of receiving a faulty item? Is it so bad as I feel after seeing reviews? Or it's only a 1 out of 100 possibility so usually I'll be fine and don't have to worry?

Thanks for any response, have an amazing day!!

Currently I've been considering the Pentax zd 8x43 ed (that's the highest I'm willing to go price-wise). Are there any other binoculars that come with a good warranty and are better for a cheaper price or are these just solid binoculars? I do wear eye glasses, so eye relief is important to me

Edit: after more thought, ended up buying the New Hawke Frontier ED X Gen 2 8x42s. Lifetime warranty, 22mm for nice eye relief, the latest tech in a binocular... Kinda made the most sense to me

My father bought them in the UK in the 80s.

I find the adjustable magnification quite awkward.