I'm looking to get a pair of binoculars to use on my daily dog-walk as I see plenty of wildlife when I'm out and about. I have cheap pair of 20x50's that I bought in a chemists in Athens in 1982 for about £15 and weigh about 4kg! and I have a 6x30 monocular that I bought in a Spanish market about 5 years ago. I'd prefer something lightweight and not too bulky in between those ranges. Something that will fit in my 'manbag'.
I think I should be looking in the 8/10x30ish range and I'm looking to spend around the £2-250 mark. I know that'll only get me an entry level set so not expecting Zeiss or similar! Any wildlife watchers on here that can give an insight of what to get or what to avoid?
Is it worth looking at secondhand ones?
If you're going to carry them walking on rough ground, small and light is what you need. If it's in daylight and you are old, you don't need large objectives. If £250 is your limit you can't afford high quality roof-prisms.
8x30 would be very suitable. You could get an 8x20 or a 6x20 that will be even smaller and adequate in good light.
A cloth carry-pouch will be adequate to keep them reasonably clean.
Second hand bins have often been dropped and are out of collimation, beyond economic repair. You may not notice it with a quick glance. Very old bins, even from a major maker, are likely to have defects. Old bins in perfect condition at a low price are usually too big and powerful, which is why they were put in a cupboard and never used.
I think you will be buying a Chinese made, plastic-bodied roof prism. Fully coated optics are essential. It may have the brand name of a well-known Japanese company that designed them. RSPB have good value products they'e got on a bulk contract.
With bins, you very much get what you pay for. If you look at the shape of a Zeiss pattern ZCF bin (for a century the most popular) it is easier to make a good bin than the now-popular roof prism, so you can get better quality per £, but they are bigger and out of fashion. You will see the low priced junior bins by RSPB have a sort of reverse-zeiss shape to make them narrower but simple technology, as they are designed for low price.
Do not make the mistake of thinking that a more powerful bin is better
