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Photo Forum / Film Photography / Other Equipment / September 2003Binoculars ?
Does someone have a list of high quality makes of binoculars? Is tasco considered a good company for binoculars? Tia Binoculars? I've got a 300mm lens and a 2x tele converter, I don't need binoculars :) > Does someone have a list of high quality makes of binoculars? > Is tasco considered a good company for binoculars? > > Tia Sorry, I thought this topic was moderately relevant, but sorry if it's not - there isn't any dedicated group. > Does someone have a list of high quality makes of binoculars? > Is tasco considered a good company for binoculars? > > Tia The usual suspects of high quality camera gear also make high quality binoculars--Canon, Nikon, Minolta, Olympus, Pentax, Leitz, Zeiss, plus some other brands such as Bushnell, Swarovski, Steiner. Go to a good store and check them out. Dont think Tasco is in the same league as these, but I am not certain. > The usual suspects of high quality camera gear also make high quality > binoculars--Canon, Nikon, Minolta, Olympus, Pentax, Leitz, Zeiss, plus some > other brands such as Bushnell, Swarovski, Steiner. Go to a good store and > check them out. Dont think Tasco is in the same league as these, but I am > not certain. Have you heard of any of these? Pearl Praktica Halina Jessops Centon Swallow Summit Cobra Russian made types Japan made types The Steiner and Ziess ones seems to be worth there weight in gold (almost ;-) ) > Have you heard of any of these? > [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > Summit > Cobra Most of these are re-branded or re-badged cheap binoculars probably mostly of chinese origin. If you just need binoculars to cut the distance to an object they might fit your need. If you need something producing contrasty sharp images even at dawn and something not scratching your eyeglasses then you should look for something different. > Russian made types If this refers to the binoculars currently offered by the truckload on fleamarkets and ebay, these are the worst ones I have ever seen, especially those with rubber coating and eagles and other military signs on the body. The eyepiece bridge seems to be made from chewing gum and can be bent to any direction so you don't need any focussing mechanism, just press the eyepiece a bit... the red front lens coating is just a marketing hype and is in no aspect better than any standard coating. I have see russian binoculars claiming 20x magnification. From the field of view and from the shake of my hands my best guess would be 8x. Some have fantastical numbers printed on them, and I would not rely on a quality control which accepts very obvious errors on the outside. There are very few among them which are better made. Obviously anyone who is able to grind some glass is making binoculars in Russia now. > Japan made types Some of them are of surprisingly good quality. > The Steiner and Ziess ones seems to be worth there weight in gold > (almost ;-) ) I once saw a guy carrying his 8x50 mail order binoculars looking through a 7x42 Leitz binoculars. His first words were: 'The image is so much brighter'. According to the technical data, the Leitz should have been at least 20% less bright, but obviously the cheap binoculars lost so much light they could not compete even with 20% more lens diameter. Among serious bird and star watchers there is no doubt that Leitz, Zeiss and Svarovski (and maybe Steiner and Canon) are the only binoculars worth spending some money for. I recently bought a Danubia 8x40 binoculars which have reasonable quality. The main body with the prisms is die-cast metal. Edge sharpness is acceptable, and eye relief is sufficient to use it with eyeglasses. It cost me around 50EUR/USD. But you have to pick an item out of the crap which usually is offered in this price field. It took me months to find decent binoculars at a rather low price. Winfried > > Have you heard of any of these? > > [quoted text clipped - 31 lines] > There are very few among them which are better made. Obviously anyone > who is able to grind some glass is making binoculars in Russia now. Absolutely :) > > Japan made types > [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > out of the crap which usually is offered in this price field. It took > me months to find decent binoculars at a rather low price. I got a pair of really cheap ones from ebay ( 17 euro ) and now when I look at the stars I see everything double. Apparently when viewing close objects they seems to work, but for far object I see everything double, I simply didn't realise that such a thing could actually happen. Someone said Tasco are not in the same league as the good ones, but I thought they may be worth a try since they do also make telescopes. >I got a pair of really cheap ones from ebay ( 17 euro ) and now when >I look at the stars I see everything double. Apparently when viewing >close objects they seems to work, but for far object I see everything >double, I simply didn't realise that such a thing could actually >happen. That sounds like they aren't collimated. At that price you might as well throw them out because it would cost too much to fix them.  SignatureBrian Reynolds | "But in the new approach, as you know, reynolds@panix.com | the important thing is to understand http://www.panix.com/~reynolds/ | what you're doing rather than to get NAR# 54438 | the right answer." -- Tom Lehrer >Someone said Tasco are not in the same league as the good ones, but I thought they may be worth a try since they do also make telescopes. > > > >They might sell telescopes but who says they make them. Tasco is the bottom of the Bushnell lineup the top being Bausch & Lomb. One owner has as "Sears" would say, good, better, Best. The top of the line as others have pointed out are the Leica and Zeiss. Canon Pentax are good. Almost all nikon binoculars are made in China. It all depends what the person wants to carry around. A small pocket size or a larger standard pair. I have what I consider to be among the best and that is a pair of SWIFT Audubon 8.5 X 44. Francis in VT > >Someone said Tasco are not in the same league as the good ones, but I thought they may be worth a try since they do also make telescopes. > > [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > > Francis in VT o.k. My needs are for star viewing. I understand the best for that are the offshore type i.e. 7x50, low mag. for steady picture combined with large lense for brighter viewing, am I right ? > o.k. My needs are for star viewing. I understand the best for that are the > offshore type i.e. 7x50, low mag. for steady picture combined with large > lense for brighter viewing, am I right ? I suggest you read the excellent article "Everything You Need to Know About Binoculars" by Phil Harrington at astronomy.com: http://www.astronomy.com/content/dynamic/articles/000/000/000/482fvpdc.asp or, http://tinyurl.com/n7wr. Signature~~Bluesea~~ Spam is great in musubi but not in email. Please take out the trash before sending a direct reply. coulyo> o.k. My needs are for star viewing. I understand the best for coulyo> that are the offshore type i.e. 7x50, low mag. for steady coulyo> picture combined with large lense for brighter viewing, am I coulyo> right ? In theory. In practice, unless your pupils actually open to 7mm (some people's do; others don't), you might be better off with one of Canon't image-stabilized binoculars. Sky and Telescope did a review of the Canon 18x50 binoculars a while ago and loved them. The Zeiss 8x56 binoculars are also excellent for stargazing. SignatureAndrew Koenig, ark@acm.org > Does someone have a list of high quality makes of binoculars? 1. Look at Leica, Zeiss, Nikon, > Is tasco considered a good company for binoculars? 2. No Good binoculars start(!) at about $350-500. My usual recommendation is the Leica 8x32 for an all-rounder. See: http://www.leica-camera.com/sportoptik/einsatzbereiche/index_e.html for the most part you get what you pay for? > Does someone have a list of high quality makes of binoculars? > Is tasco considered a good company for binoculars? > > Tia >Does someone have a list of high quality makes of binoculars? >Is tasco considered a good company for binoculars? What do you want to use the bincoluars for? My experience is mostly with astronomy. You might want to check previous discussions in the sci.astro.amateur newsgroup. There are also bird watching news groups that could help. If you dig through the Astronomy magazine web site <URL:http://www.astronomy.com/> you'll find some useful articles on choosing binoculars. Look for "Not Too Close: A few simple tips for picking binoculars" by Stephen J. Edberg (there are two different versions of this article) and "Everything You Need to Know About Binoculars" by Phil Harrington. Phil Harrington <URL:http://www.philharrington.net/> is also the author of the book "Touring the Universe Through Binoculars". His web site has a more direct link to his article on the Astronomy magazine web site. Sky & Telescope and Astronomy magazines have both occasionally run articles comparing different binoculars and explaining what features to look for. Besides the brands already mentioned Celestron, (especially their Ultimas), Fujinon and Oberwerk make nice binoculars. I'm considering getting the Oberwerk 15x70 (to be used on a binocular mount, not handheld). I have a pair of Minolta Wide Angle 10x50 binoculars. I got them at J&R Music World (or whatever their consumer gadgets branch is called) a few years ago for about $150. As I recall from the Astronomy comparison chart at the time the Minoltas are much lighter than the other 10x50 binoculars. The only complaint I have is that they are only multi-coated, not fully multi-coated. This means that not all the air/glass surfaces have anti-reflection coatings. When I look at bright objects (e.g., the moon) I see some internal reflections. Other than the moon I don't have any problems with these binoculars. The current Minolta 10x50s are different than my binoculars. SignatureBrian Reynolds | "But in the new approach, as you know, reynolds@panix.com | the important thing is to understand http://www.panix.com/~reynolds/ | what you're doing rather than to get NAR# 54438 | the right answer." -- Tom Lehrer o.k. this is actually what I needed, some guidance as to how to choose, and yes I do need them for star gazing. thanks!!! > >Does someone have a list of high quality makes of binoculars? > >Is tasco considered a good company for binoculars? [quoted text clipped - 36 lines] > Other than the moon I don't have any problems with these binoculars. > The current Minolta 10x50s are different than my binoculars. Check out the Astro binocular reviews on http://www.cloudynights.com/index.htm for some good advice. I bought the Helios Stellar 15x70's and am still pleased with my purchase. Happy (star) hunting............Adam This is one that can really benefit from a tripod. Dale > Check out the Astro binocular reviews on > http://www.cloudynights.com/index.htm for some good advice. > > I bought the Helios Stellar 15x70's and am still pleased with my purchase. > > Happy (star) hunting............Adam Signature_ _ Dale DePriest /`) _ // http://users.cwnet.com/dalede o/_/ (_(_X_(` For GPS and GPS/PDAs Im with you on that Dale (Or at least an upturned broom !) Adam > This is one that can really benefit from a tripod. > [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > > > > Happy (star) hunting............Adam <<Is tasco considered a good company for binoculars?>> Some else posted that Tasco is the bottom of the Bushnell line. That can be true, especially for the economy binoculars. But I happen to own a Tasco Offshore 54 marine binocular, water resistant and with a built in compass for seagoing use. I compared it very very carefully in the West Marine store with Fujinon and Steiner, trying to differentiate how the added expense of either warranted the investment, rather than the less expensive Tasco (hundreds of dollars less!). Guess what...I could not see any difference. Admittedly I was not trying out the binoculars in the dead of night in the ocean, to judge the relative light gathering of the Tasco, but I could not see any difference in resolution, contrast, etc. looking in the store! So much for 'bottom of the line'! I have a very good set of binoculars and have gotten rave remarks about them, and saved myself some money in the process. --Wilton |
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