[Mnbird] Compact Binocular Advice Please

[avsaxman]

Here's an easy thing to try. Use Amazon to find binoculars in the $250 range. 8x42. Order two or three of them and try them out now, then return them for free with no reason via Amazon Prime's return policy. I did that and ended up with two new binoculars, one set for my wife and one set for myself. We now have an Athlon Optics Midas and a Vortex Diamondback HD and they both are super sharp and super clear and very accurate for color, and pleasingly lightweight.I also ordered some other binoculars at the same time. I tested them all out against each other in the backyard where there are plenty of trees and Deep Shadows. I kept my own personal scorecard for how much I liked each different feature, then returned the ones that I didn't like and had my wife compare the two remaining ones that I liked, and that I thought she would like. She loved the one I thought she would, because it was noticeably lighter and fit her smaller hands better than the one that I liked.Things I compared included ergonomics, touch, brightness, color trueness, field of view, eye relief because we both wear glasses, clarity in shadows, quality of carrying strap, quality of lens covers, and more. At the end of the day I had two sets of binoculars that I felt were Superior to my excellent Optics from back in 1990, the Bausch & Lomb Birder Elite 8x42s.  Those set me back over $700 in 1990. The ones that I replaced them with in 2022 were $250 a piece or less.I compared them to a couple different brands of nikons and a Canon and Swarovski. I actually preferred them for various reasons over the more popular big name brand binoculars. A big reason is that they either matched, or outperformed, those big names while having significantly lower price.Both came with lifetime warranties.Definitely shop around and get some recommendations, but also take advantage of the ability to order several different binoculars through Amazon Prime try them, compare them, return any that you don't like for free. It worked very well for us.Rick Schroeder In The Little Red HouseIn The Saginaw WoodSent via the Samsung Galaxy S23 5G, an AT&T 5G smartphone
-------- Original message --------From: Miller Johnson via Mnbird <mnbird at lists.mnbird.net> Date: 3/5/24  1:20 PM  (GMT-06:00) To: MOU <mou-net at lists.umn.edu>, MNBird <mnbird at lists.mnbird.net> Subject: [Mnbird] Compact Binocular Advice Please Dear birders,I'm doing a bus tour in Italy next month that will not be for birding, but I will have some free time most days. I normally carry my Swarovski 8.5x42 bins when I travel, but I think they'll just be too heavy for the amount of use I expect to get out of them on this trip.Do you have recommendations for smaller and lighter-weighted binoculars for travel? I use my "big" binoculars most days but, as I age, I'll probably have more use for a lighter pair long-term anyway. Budget is in the $1000 range, but willing to go up if it'll make a big difference.Thanks for any guidance you can provide. Emailing me directly will help keep the clutter off these list-serves, especially as we're going to be getting a lot of traffic as spring seems to have sprung!Molly Jo MillerDakota Co _______________________________________________Mnbird mailing listMnbird at lists.mnbird.nethttp://mail.lists.mnbird.net/mailman/listinfo/mnbird_lists.mnbird.net
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