binoculars advice requested
 

Morning all,

Looking to buy some binos for my father - he's off for a couple of months in South America, so they need to be fairly small and light, to be used for general wildlife viewing and sightseeing (Amazon, Costa Rica, Galapagos, etc).

Anyone have any experience of any / any advice they can share - looking to spend $100-150 or thereabouts. Have found some Nikon Travelite 8x25s at a good price... I understand that Nikon should have pretty good lenses so they're my fallback if no-one's going to shout for anything else.

Thanks

Stewie

I own the Nikon Travelites and have been very pleased with them. You may want to also look at the Pentax Papilio which can be used for distance viewing, but also can focus at 18" to look at butterflies and insects. They're in your price range.

Here's a review site for binoculars that might help.

man
 

man, i'd love to be able to recommend a 100-150$ pair. If you can scrape together any more cash, it REALLY pays to get good binoculors like leica, or better nikon and canon.

I bought the most amazing set of 400$ leicas for my dad, compact great for bird watching but excellent quality. You cannot believe the differance.

Leica sets the standard. You may also want to check out Carl Zeiss. I got a pair of 8 x 20 compacts from Natchez Shooter Supplies for under $150.

Pentax has some incredibly tough, waterproof 8x32, but they are fairly bulky and heavy.

Agreed. There is a huge difference between the Zeiss/Leica/Pentax class and the cheaper varieties. I have a lower-end Zeiss pair, and they are very good.

THE website for quality optics reviews...

http://www.betterviewdesired.com/

I have always prefer Nikon. Their optics are crisp and clear.

I own a Nikon 10 x 25. Atop my head, I don't recall the model name.