First of all, thanks to everyone who responded. My apologies for not searching
the archives but I felt it was the sort of discussion which all folks
interested in bird watching would find useful.
--- On Tue, 11/11/08, Peter Shute <> wrote:
> Good point about the relief.
I presume you're talking about the distance between the eye cups and the lenses
of the binoculars? Presumably if this distance is longer, it's easier to see
the whole field of view provided by the optics?
> Your requirement that you test them before buying is a good
> idea, but makes getting recommendations difficult. Once you
> get to a shop you'll likely find they don't carry
> the recommended models.
That was also why I asked specifically if anyone could suggest stores in Sydney
or Canberra. There's an online store which seems to stock every scope and
binocular known to man, but my experience of buying binoculars in Japan was
that most were uncomfortable. I wouldn't want to spend hundreds of dollars on
anything only to find I couldn't use it or return it.
> shop had - Bushnell Legend 8x42 porros at about $300.
This type of binocular seems to be the most popular recommendation (8x42).
Thanks for the suggestion!
> You haven't told us what you're currently using
A cheap pair of 8x25 generic brand binoculars I bought in Japan. I looked at
Nikon and Pentax binoculars at the time but they were not comfortable and some
seemed to actually have poorer optics. At the time I just wanted something
inexpensive and compact.
> what's wrong with your eyesight. We've assumed you
> wear glasses, is that correct?
My eyesight is out by about half a diopter which is not sufficient to justify
glasses (yet). When I was younger with 20/20 vision it was much easier to
identify birds accurately without binoculars, but now I need the extra
magnification. Also I now live in Canberra and some of the small species like
pardalotes, thornbills and gerygones are much closer to the ground than they
used to be in the rainforests of SE Qld. One good point which has been raised
is minimum focal distance - the 8x25s won't focus closer than about 5 metres,
and for pardalotes or other small birds, less than this distance would be
handy. The differences between some small species can be very subtle.
Rob
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