Bob W wrote: > thanks for replying. I am kind of veering towards the 10x50s, although > they are rather more than I really want to pay for fairly casual use. > This is because of the combination of magnification and brightness, > but then there is a reduced field of view. > > I'm given to understand that anything where the exit pupil diameter / > magnification is less than 5 is considered a bit too dim for birds. I > have previously used 8 x something-less-than-40, and thought it was > ok. I have a pair of 12x50 which have only a 5.5 degree fov, so > finding things is quite difficult, and they are rather dim for me. I > used some in Africa which were fantastically bright - Nikon, I think - > and I really appreciated the brightness. > > I think the big difference between birding binoculars and others, such > as hunting ones, is the close focus. Again, the pair I have do not > focus at all closely, are very slow to focus, and are basically > useless for looking at birds. They might be ok for looking at lions, > but they are in short supply round the Thames Estuary. I expect the > alligators eat them all.
You've pretty much hit it on the head. The combination of close focus/magnification/(objective diameter/exit diameter)/price/weight and other features like waterproofing that works for you is something that only you can decide. Quite often, good dealers will have open days for you to experience different models. Might be worth trying to find one of those before committing. Seasonal greetings to all. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
