To find the best in the field, for what you want it for, price, quality, durability, expert opinion etc, you’ll need to talk to experts on ocular equipment. Those individual are in abundance on astronomy forums. Try cloudynights.com for one. I believe they have an enormous binocular forum with reviews of the various brands and types.
As a question and it’ll take you days to get through the information. It is also a good place to find those old German ocular devices.
Its been a while but for a conclusion I ended up getting “Baker Marine” 7x50 binos for $300. I love em (they’ve been through a hitch now to test em), just as good as any top end pair I’ve used. Baker Marine is in San Diego and they say their binoculars are unbranded surplus they get from a local mil-spec factory. I believe the story, the optics are sharp and construction is hefty but feels built to last. I thought the image was as good as a $700 pair of Fujis I tried side by side.
[QUOTE=yard_bird;156207]Hi folks,
I figured this would be a good place to get some thoughts on various binos. 7x50 is obviously the standard. I’ve used loads of different brands but only recently started paying attention to names (now that I finally have to buy my own). I remember the standard Bushnells as being so-so, West Marines were garbage. I’ve used Steiner’s “marine” model and had good build quality and optics. ~$200-$400 seems like the price range where you get decent quality but won’t be devastated if they’re dropped. (it happens…) Nikons and Fujinons seem like my alternatives right now, but I can’t remember if I’ve used them or not and don’t know how they stack up against the Steiners.
It would be great to hear which pairs you all have had the best experiences with. Thanks![/QUOTE]
Haven’t signed in for quite some time.
Baker Marine…Shelter Island Drive in San Diego… good glass for sure. That guy has had the contract with the old tuna fleet that was there and repaired glass for the US Navy.
He started building his own stuff and it is GOOD! I’ve used Fujinon’s in the past and Zeiss.
I never cared for Fujinon…it’s good glass but, they’re heavy. I liked my Zeiss but, they were old and I took them in to Baker to have them gone over… I walked out with my new Bakers for $300 and COULD NOT be happier!! They are light, easy to hold and the glass is, in my honest opinion, as good as the top end stuff. That was 12 years ago and my Bakers are right here on my chart table. I am a retired fisherman and have since gone to tugs. I have made over a million dollars with my Bakers…wish I would have saved it all!
Personally, I’m against 'em. They’re bloody un-Christian.