Peter,
There are three very valid threads here.
1. The robustness of certain brands versus others. Probably well and truly
done to death.
2. The cost of collimation/repair of binoculars. This thread is of great
interest to me as I am a notorious binocular wrecker. I used to use a pair
of Nikon Travelite Zooms but I dropped them a couple of weeks prior to going
to Hong Kong (this time last year). No worries, I thought - I'd get them
repaired. I took them to Michael's in Melbourne and they told me that they
would have to go back to Nikon. There was an inspection fee ($44, from
memory) which would come off the total cost of repair - $140 as it happened.
Unfortunately it would take much more than two weeks to repair. Obviously I
thought, "No worries!" (again), as I was off to Hong Kong and could buy a
pair there - which I did - a pair of Nikon Sport something or the other.
Fortunately they lasted the week in Hong Kong, because they didn't last much
longer than that. I got the Nikon Travelites back from Michaels, and within
a week or two they screwed up again. Back to Nikon via Michaels. So now I'm
down two pairs of Nikons, so I decided to buy another pair of backup
binoculars. This time I opted for Nikon Action Zooms. Fortunately they
lasted longer than the four weeks that my Travelites were away this time...
Just. The right eyepiece simply dropped out of these binoculars. So, my
tally is one twice-repaired, but still functioning pair of Nikon Travelites,
and two faulty (and too expensive to repair commercially) pairs of other
Nikons. Needless to say I bought a pair of Leicas, and the Travelites are
now just a backup pair.
3. Which brings me to the third thread. Donation of binoculars. I currently
have two pairs of non-functioning binoculars that I would happily donate to
anyone that could repair them and put them to good use. If I had my choice
it would be to a local person/organisation fostering birdwatching amongst
young people, or to Denise's indigenous relatives in the top-end. To be
honest, if I could get them repaired for much less than Nikon/Michaels would
charge, I'd even consider paying for the repair and then donate the repaired
binoculars! I also have a perfectly good, but cheap, Bushmaster 20-60x
spotting scope that I will happily donate as soon as I've replaced it.
Paul Dodd
Docklands, Melbourne
-----Original Message-----
From:
On Behalf Of Peter Shute
Sent: Wednesday, 9 April 2008 3:43 PM
To: Judith Hoyle; Gregory Little;
Subject: old binoculars
I was under the impression that the cheaper the binoculars the more
expensive they are to fix, so I was surprised to hear that Zeiss cost so
much to fix. I was also under the impression that the more one pays for
binoculars the more robust they are, so I'm equally surprised to hear
that Zeiss binoculars would end up out of alignment every 2 years. Is
this only true of older models?
And if they do go out of alignment that easily, is an impoverished
birder going to end up throwing them away or, more likely, using them
misaligned? If so, why bother fixing them before handing them over?
A call to York Optical in Melbourne has confused me more. They said
Zeiss cost more to fix because they won't touch them because it would
void the warranty, so they go back to Zeiss who charge what they like.
A call to Camera Clinic confirmed that Zeiss are very complicated to
collimate. Why would anyone buy binoculars that are expensive to buy,
expensive to fix, and break easily?
York Optical seems not to do the work themselves now, but said that
seeing as I had bought my Bushnells from them (for $270) they'd just fix
them under warranty if they needed alignment.
Sorry to hijack the thread about donating binoculars, but I'm very
interested in this issue of robustness and repairs and I'm sure others
are too, as it's often put forward as one of the main reasons to buy the
more expensive brands.
Peter Shute
_____
From: Judith Hoyle
Sent: Wednesday, 9 April 2008 2:00 PM
To: Gregory Little; Peter Shute;
Subject: old binoculars
Hi Greg,
I could not agree more about this dilemma. Gavin and I have 2 pairs of
Zeiss 10x42s in the cupboard - 1986 and 1989 models. We got fed up of
having to pay between $400 and $600 to have them realigned every couple
of years or so and have replaced them. I just can't bring myself to
chuck them out! If there was a cheap repair option we would be happy to
donate them.
I like Michelle's idea because we seem to be doing a pretty poor job in
this country as far as converting our children into birders. Our 15
year old son is an avid birder, but as far as his school mates are
concerned (with the exception of a very select few), he would die rather
than admit it! It would be wonderful if your musings on this issue
resulted in more young birders out there.
Regards
Judith
_____
> From:
> To: ;
> Subject: RE: [Birding-Aus] old binoculars
> Date: Wed, 9 Apr 2008 13:58:40 +1000
>
> Peter
>
> You might be right, but I would have thought that most of the expense
> was labour. So the cost of cleaning and recollimation repair in for
> example some African or Asian countries may be far less than here. But
> then that cost may still be expensive for the recipient of those
> binoculars in those countries. Plus also as you suggest many cheaper
> binoculars may not be repairable and are simply disposable. What a
> dilemma. So do we simply chuck the old ones into the bin?
>
> Greg Little
>
> Greg Little - Principal Consultant
> General Flora and Fauna
> PO Box 526
> Wallsend, NSW, 2287, Australia
> Ph 02 49 556609
> Fx 02 49 556671
> www.gff.com.au
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Peter Shute
> Sent: Wednesday, 9 April 2008 12:24 PM
> To: Gregory Little;
> Subject: RE: [Birding-Aus] old binoculars
>
> I was under the impression that collimation costs about $100, assuming
> the binoculars are constructed in a way that allows it to be done at
> all. Everyone has different standards, but I'm wondering whether many
> Australian birders use binoculars worth less than that. Perhaps what
> the customer was really being told was that their binoculars really
> couldn't be fixed.
>
> As for getting it done more cheaply overseas, if the construction
> doesn't really allow it, then collimating them might require even more
> precise equipment than for more expensive ones and might not be
> available. I don't know anything about binocular construction, so
> perhaps my dealer misled me about this.
>
> I'd be very interested to know if your idea is feasible, but I suspect
> that it might be more feasible to have the recipients use them with
one
> eye closed or just send them money to buy cheap ones. $10 compacts
> definitely have their limitations, but are still heaps better than
> nothing, some of them anyway.
>
> Peter Shute
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From:
> On Behalf Of Gregory Little
> Sent: Wednesday, 9 April 2008 11:39 AM
> To:
> Subject: [Birding-Aus] old binoculars
>
> Gooday birders
>
> I was recently in a shop that sold surveying equipment, telescopes and
> binoculars etc and repaired these. A customer had a not so old and not
> so expensive pair of binoculars and was asking if these could be
> repaired. Apparently the collimation was out and they needed an
internal
> clean. The shop owner responded that they certainly could easily
repair
> them but that it would be much cheaper for him to buy another pair of
> binoculars and he would probably get a better quality pair into the
> bargain. This is probably realistic as the repairer has to charge for
> the service. I suppose that the person then buys another pair of
> binoculars and puts the old ones into the top of the wardrobe. I have
an
> older pair of Nikon Travelites that also need cleaning and
recollimation
> and that are simply sitting in a cupboard.
>
> Is there someone out there who collects such unwanted binoculars and
> sends them to countries that could cheaply repair them and then
> distribute them to bird watchers who may otherwise be unable to afford
a
> pair of binoculars? They are welcome to have mine.
>
> Greg Little
>
>
>
> Greg Little - Principal Consultant
> General Flora and Fauna
> PO Box 526
> Wallsend, NSW, 2287, Australia
> Ph 02 49 556609
> Fx 02 49 556671
> HYPERLINK "http://www.gff.com.au"www.gff.com.au
>
>
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