OT: binocular recommendation

[Luwabra]

Have 3 pairs of adult bald eagles perching on a tree maybe 150-200 yds away from my house overlooking their hunting grounds. Looking for a bang for the buck binoculars that will allow my family a good view from the deck. Thanks! There’s two this am to give you a crappy reference of distance

[dustyrider]

Have 3 pairs of adult bald eagles perching on a tree maybe 150-200 yds away from my house overlooking their hunting grounds. Looking for a bang for the buck binoculars that will allow my family a good view from the deck. Thanks!

I don’t have any name brands, but when I was a kid my uncle had a deck and I had a telescope. They’re wonderful things!

[bjf]

Vanguard. Read the reviews; they often have very highly rated ones at good prices.

[NHAero]

excellent products at great prices

http://gp-optics.com

Have 3 pairs of adult bald eagles perching on a tree maybe 150-200 yds away from my house overlooking their hunting grounds. Looking for a bang for the buck binoculars that will allow my family a good view from the deck. Thanks!

[nighthawk]

What’s your budget? You can spend $50 or $3000....

I’d suggest Nikon Monarch 5 in 10x42.

That’s around $300.

Leica, Zeiss and Swarovski are nice... but closer to $2-3K

[Mike V]

I have Bushnell Legend HD's and love them. I compared them to others in the store and couldn't pass them up for the money. Amazon has them for a great price.

Check out the online reviews?

http://bushnell.com/tactical/binoculars/legend-ultra-hd/10-x-36-mm

[Tickdoc]

Nikon, leopold, minox, lots of good brands.

Check out bass pro or cabela’s for closeout specials.

Last good pair I got were Steiner from Sierra trading post and there are usually good deals there as well.

[Luwabra]

Yeah I’d say in the 500$ MAX MAX type range. Our property abuts a 1000 acre marsh so we have Fox,deer,eagles, turkeys, coyotes, and waterfowl year round. I just need a decent set for when critters are out of the brush to show my kids ages 2,4,7 great suggestions so far thank you

[ftf]

Nikon makes the best bang for your buck binoculars in my opinion.

[eddief]

Well reviewed, $225ish. I'm in Costa Rica as we speak and my friend is using a pair. WANT.

[Luwabra]

Also what magnification?? 10x42?? Those vortex get good reviews as well and the price is perfect

[jamesdak]

Nikon makes the best bang for your buck binoculars in my opinion.

Yep, if not wanting to spend crazy money they get my vote. Plus they are awesome for the warranty. My son fell with mine when he was about 9 and actually broke the body of the binoculars. I figured out was out of luck and then several years later on a whim contacted Nikon about them. Free warranty replacement! :banana:

Second set going strong many years later.

[nighthawk]

I’d suggest 8x42 or 10x42. If more often in low light, I’d go 8x, more often looking at long distances, 10x.... but honestly... kids won’t notice... and you probably won’t notice the difference, either.

I use binoculars for work (wildlife biologist) and for play (birding)... I use 10x42 for both.

But I also have spotting scopes. :)

[Marc40a]

Bang for the buck: Nikon Monarch 3 8x42 with coupon for Jet.com for about $180. I recently bought those for my in-laws for backyard wildlife/birding.

8x42 because the wider field of view will be easier to hold steady, less shakey thus more user friendly. I mean, you’re going to have little kids using them, right?

I use the Monarch 5 series and they’re great. I’d love to try the 7 series some time.

I just saw my first eagle on my property last Wednesday - it was a low flyover.

[choke]

Leupold McKenzie....under $200.

[bikinchris]

Nikon binoculars or a good used spotting scope on a medium quality tripod.

Check out B&H used section.

Like bicycles, you will find $7,000 (new) to $40.00 prices.

[LGrider]

I did quite a bit of research on binoculars last week. I ended up ordering the Vortex Diamondback 8x42. They were recently updated and are among the lightest 8x42 binoculars and I found them for $150 new on ebay. Their warranty is also amazing. Here's some links with other recommendations.
https://www.bestbinocularsreviews.com/binocular-awards-2018.php
https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/the-best-binoculars/

[572cv]

I’m sitting here with my Atlas Intrepid ED 8x42 binoculars watching the birds. This is a very good value binocular.

[parris]

I've got some old B&L as well as 2 pairs of Nikon binoculars. They are all decent.

There's something you may want to consider with the age/size of the children is that their hands may be a bit small for some of the gear that you may be considering. The weight may also be something to consider.

When it comes time to purchase four companies that I've dealt with that have decent pricing and stock are B&H Photo, SWFA, Optics Planet, and Cabelas.

[Luwabra]

These recommendations are great and upon further discussion from my funhater aka household cfo/ wife.... we are going to compromise and limit the budget to 200$ ish I think I'll do a WTB here in the classifieds as there seems to be a number of people with decent midrange pairs of Bino's. maybe someone has a spare nice set or someone maybe wants to upgrade..

as always thanks PL for the recommendations.

[PeregrineA1]

Xen Ray. Normally I don't push, buy, endorse Chinese knock-offs....but, these are very good quality. I have Leica's and got Xen Ray for Robin and she loves them. Light, excellent optics, durable.

They are more than the $200. I think we got them for ~$450 on a special.

[Tickdoc]

They have really good specials form time to time.

Link for you:

https://www.opticsplanet.com/binoculars.html

[Ken Robb]

In San Diego, West Marine retail store has a nice display of 10-12 binoculars alongside a window where customers can make side-by-side comparisons of various binoculars they sell. I found the West Marine house brand to offer some good performers at reasonable prices.

I don't like models with magnification greater than 7x because I can't hold them steady unless I can brace my arms on a stationary object like a railing or a pole. I think 7x35 is a good all around spec. I have 7x50 that work better in dim light at the expense of being bigger and heavier. I also have some compact models by Minolta and Nikon. The Minoltas are 6x20 and fold small enough to fit in the breast pocket of my shirt.

If a user wears glasses he should consider "eye relief" which tells how close to the lens a user's eyeball has to be to view the whole image. This number isn't so important if the user doesn't mind removing his glaasses to use the binocular.

It would be nice if quality control was so good that all similar models would perform equally well but I have found some variance between "identical" brand-new binoculars.

If you want these specifically for birdwatching from a location like your deck you might like 10 power glasses mounted on a tripod for stability.

If you can find a retailer who will let you try different models you have a great probability of buying a binocular well-suited to your use.

[jmoore]

Go to OpticsPlanet website and search for binoculars and put in your price range. Buy any of the recommended items. They will all be fine and essentially equal in quality and performance.

Personally I like Leupold and Nikon optics. Vortex always gets good reviews, but I don't have any direct experience with them.

[ftf]

LL bean has 25% off for the rest of the day according to an email they sent me, you can get the Nikon Monarch 3 10x42 for about 180ish after that discount. Plus they have great service and return policy if you don't like them.

[ripvanrando]

I spent a ton of time making the decision to buy Bushnell elite 10x42 for me and the Bushnell Legend for my then little boy. I paid around $450 and $200 but no idea what today's prices are.

Sacrilegious but they were better than $2500 Swaros and only the top of the line Zeiss were significantly better. If you really want to see them, my 100x Zeiss spotting scope on a solid tripod is the way to go.....well out to a few miles.

Just checked.....$450.

https://www.opticsplanet.com/bushnell-elite-e2-10-x-42-mm-binocular-with-ed-glass.html

[Luwabra]

must have broken a rule my wtb ad got pulled on the bino's so if anyone has anything they are not using just let me know.. not trying to be toublesome

[Kirk007]

Leupold 8x42. Forget the model I have buy optics stack up against entry level Zweiss at half the price. I literally ordered 6 different binos to test before an African safari and for the 500 +/- price range these were my favorite. And made in Oregon with great rep for standing behind their product.

[jlwdm]

must have broken a rule my wtb ad got pulled on the bino's so if anyone has anything they are not using just let me know.. not trying to be toublesome

Bicycle related items only.

Jeff

[ripvanrando]

Leupold 8x42. Forget the model I have buy optics stack up against entry level Zweiss at half the price. I literally ordered 6 different binos to test before an African safari and for the 500 +/- price range these were my favorite. And made in Oregon with great rep for standing behind their product.

Best warranty service imaginable; however, I don't think they make any of their glass nor it is from the USA (Japanese outsourced to Phillipines). The mechanical aspects are great. The gold ringed products (high end) don't have the made in usa anymore but they are assembled here.