binoculars?

[David McDonald <>]

Sound advice. Do not buy bins with a magnification over 10 power.
The Nikon Monarchs are excellent value for money; highly recommended.
Bintel gives COG and Birds Australia members a 10% discount if you ask for it.
Another good outlet is The Birding Shop http://www.thebirdingshop.com/ - ask them for a member's discount, too.
Regards - David

Dan & Heather Buchler wrote:

Fantastic info, Sue.  Thanks very much, and also to Bron.

regards,

Heather

On 01/10/2009, at 5:47 PM, Sue Lashko wrote:

I usually use The Binocular and Telescope Shop in Glebe www.bintel.com.au .  If you phone, ask for Don and tell them that you are a beginner and her will recommend something suitable.  However, if they recommend Bushnell Excursions, don't buy them - they have great optics but the straps break easily (I know from experience and so do many others).  You need to buy 8 x 40 or 8 x 42 or 10x 42 or 10 x 50.  Do not buy anything less than 8 x - or anything less than x 40.  The general rule is that focal width (objective lens) should be 4 or preferably 5 times the magnification- thus 8 x 40 or 10 x 50.  You should not have to pay more than about $350 for a perfectly adequate pair of binoculars.  I'm not sure whether you are likely to do quite a bit of bird watching but if you are it is worth buying a harness for about $25 - that way you don't have a strap around for neck.  Instead you attach your binoculars to straps which go under your arms, over your shoulders and cross at the back - they are wonderful inventions - and Bintel sells them.

 

It is possible that Camera House or Ted's in Civic have some binoculars but I am not sure.  If they do, ask to take the binoculars outside the shop and test them out in daylight.  Try focussing at different distances - you should be able to find a pigeon to look out.  You could compare their prices with Bintel's - the latter post them very quickly and tend to give the best prices in Australia.

 

The other option is to get them from the USA - I have just bought Nikon Monarch 10 x 42 which would have cost around $800 here for about $430 including postage - from www.bluebazooka.com - they are very well known and very reliable.  I had my binoculars within 10 days of ordering.  So models that cost around $350 here may well be only about $200 there - stick with brands like Pentax, Nikon, Gerber and you should find something to suit you.

 

Sorry this is a rather long winded answer but hope it helps.

 

Sue

On Thu, Oct 1, 2009 at 3:59 PM, Dan & Heather Buchler <m("netspeed.com.au","buchler");">> wrote:

Could  anyone possibly recommend a brand/model of binoculars for an interested newbie?  Aslo where is a good place to buy them from?

thanks,

Heather
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