I'm looking for some very compact binoculars for lightweight travel i.e. 
backpacking hill walking that sort of thing, I realise that these type of 
binoculars are unstable for series birding but I already have a couple of 
pairs for that.

In the past I have had 8x21cheepy ones Tesco Praktica and presently a pair 
named Blackfoot which I got form some shop selling them off at £5.99, wish I 
had bought more.  I would say they have all been of about the same quality, 
Tesco right eye peace fell out when the threaded ring broke inside, Praktica 
one of the hinge pins went and the same appears to be happening with 
Blackfoot pair at least it's very slack.

Any help or advice would be great,

MP

On Thu, 15 Jan 2009 13:49:49 -0000, "MP"  wrote:

>I'm looking for some very compact binoculars for lightweight travel i.e. 
>backpacking hill walking that sort of thing, I realise that these type of 
>binoculars are unstable for series birding but I already have a couple of 
>pairs for that.
>
>In the past I have had 8x21cheepy ones Tesco Praktica and presently a pair 
>named Blackfoot which I got form some shop selling them off at £5.99, wish I 
>had bought more.  I would say they have all been of about the same quality, 
>Tesco right eye peace fell out when the threaded ring broke inside, Praktica 
>one of the hinge pins went and the same appears to be happening with 
>Blackfoot pair at least it's very slack.
>
>Any help or advice would be great,
>
>MP


Leica 8X20 are excellent. Possibly outside of your intended price
range though.

Alf King

Message-ID: <gknete$jvt$1@news.albasani.net> from MP contained the
following:

>In the past I have had 8x21cheepy ones Tesco Praktica and presently a pair 
>named Blackfoot which I got form some shop selling them off at £5.99, wish I 
>had bought more.  I would say they have all been of about the same quality, 
>Tesco right eye peace fell out when the threaded ring broke inside, Praktica 
>one of the hinge pins went and the same appears to be happening with 
>Blackfoot pair at least it's very slack.
>
>Any help or advice would be great,

Pentax Jupiter MCFII  About £25 and well worth it.
-- 
Geoff Berrow (put thecat out to email)
It's only Usenet, no one dies.
My opinions, not the committee's, mine.
Simple RFDs http://www.ckdog.co.uk/rfdmaker/

MP wrote:
>> I'm looking for some very compact binoculars for lightweight travel
>> i.e. backpacking hill walking that sort of thing, I realise that
>> these type of binoculars are unstable for series birding but I
>> already have a couple of pairs for that.
>>
>> In the past I have had 8x21cheepy ones Tesco Praktica and presently
>> a pair named Blackfoot which I got form some shop selling them off
>> at £5.99, wish I had bought more.  I would say they have all been of
>> about the same quality, Tesco right eye peace fell out when the
>> threaded ring broke inside, Praktica one of the hinge pins went and
>> the same appears to be happening with Blackfoot pair at least it's
>> very slack.
>>
>> Any help or advice would be great,
>>
>> MP

I bought a pair of 8X24 Bushnell Powerview from Maplins for the same reason, 
and I find them excellent.  Despite having aquired a fair selection of 
binoculars over the years, I find I use these all the time, mainly because 
of lightness and size. I think they cost about £30.

Regards

Pat Macguire

In message <gknete$jvt$1@news.albasani.net>, MP  
writes
>I'm looking for some very compact binoculars for lightweight travel 
>i.e. backpacking hill walking that sort of thing, I realise that these 
>type of binoculars are unstable for series birding but I already have a 
>couple of pairs for that.
>
>In the past I have had 8x21cheepy ones Tesco Praktica and presently a 
>pair named Blackfoot which I got form some shop selling them off at 
>£5.99, wish I had bought more.  I would say they have all been of about 
>the same quality, Tesco right eye peace fell out when the threaded ring 
>broke inside, Praktica one of the hinge pins went and the same appears 
>to be happening with Blackfoot pair at least it's very slack.
>
>Any help or advice would be great,
>
>MP
>
There are various options - at various prices. I would go to a decent 
retailer, explain exactly what you're seeking, try them all then decide 
based upon your various criteria.
-- 
Turnstone

On 15 Jan, 13:49, "MP"  wrote:
> I'm looking for some very compact binoculars for lightweight travel i.e.
> backpacking hill walking that sort of thing, I realise that these type of
> binoculars are unstable for series birding but I already have a couple of
> pairs for that.
>
> In the past I have had 8x21cheepy ones Tesco Praktica and presently a pair
> named Blackfoot which I got form some shop selling them off at £5.99, wish I
> had bought more.  I would say they have all been of about the same quality,
> Tesco right eye peace fell out when the threaded ring broke inside, Praktica
> one of the hinge pins went and the same appears to be happening with
> Blackfoot pair at least it's very slack.
>
> Any help or advice would be great,
>
> MP

The Nikon range is worth a look - and don't listen to the binocular
police, lightweight binoculars are fine for bird watching. Nobody's
going to make me carry great heavy chunks of glass up a mountain.
I think these
http://www.warehouseexpress.com/product/default.aspx?sku=1007373
are the current version of what my wife and I have been using for the
last 3 years.
The best binoculars for any purpose are the ones you have with you -
if they're so heavy you leave them at home, they're useless.

Ever considered a lightweight telescope as an alternative?

-- 
John Hee
www.walkaboutintheuk.co.uk


"MP"  wrote in message 
news:gknete$jvt$1@news.albasani.net...
> I'm looking for some very compact binoculars for lightweight travel i.e. 
> backpacking hill walking that sort of thing, I realise that these type of 
> binoculars are unstable for series birding but I already have a couple of 
> pairs for that.
>
> In the past I have had 8x21cheepy ones Tesco Praktica and presently a pair 
> named Blackfoot which I got form some shop selling them off at £5.99, wish 
> I had bought more.  I would say they have all been of about the same 
> quality, Tesco right eye peace fell out when the threaded ring broke 
> inside, Praktica one of the hinge pins went and the same appears to be 
> happening with Blackfoot pair at least it's very slack.
>
> Any help or advice would be great,
>
> MP
>

> "MP"  wrote in message
> news:gknete$jvt$1@news.albasani.net...
>> I'm looking for some very compact binoculars for lightweight travel i.e. 
>> backpacking hill walking that sort of thing, I realise that these type of 
>> binoculars are unstable for series birding but I already have a couple of 
>> pairs for that.
>>
>> In the past I have had 8x21cheepy ones Tesco Praktica and presently a 
>> pair named Blackfoot which I got form some shop selling them off at 
>> £5.99, wish I had bought more.  I would say they have all been of about 
>> the same quality, Tesco right eye peace fell out when the threaded ring 
>> broke inside, Praktica one of the hinge pins went and the same appears to 
>> be happening with Blackfoot pair at least it's very slack.
>>
>> Any help or advice would be great,
>>
>> MP
>>
>
"John Hee"  wrote in message 
news:D2Mbl.2462$iX1.270@newsfe24.ams2...
> Ever considered a lightweight telescope as an alternative?

Must say I hadn't always used binoculars I find I can get onto moving birds 
very quickly with binoculars, not sure how I would fair with a telescope.
MP

Alf King wrote:
> On Thu, 15 Jan 2009 13:49:49 -0000, "MP"  wrote:
>
>> I'm looking for some very compact binoculars for lightweight travel
>> i.e. backpacking hill walking that sort of thing, I realise that
>> these type of binoculars are unstable for series birding but I
>> already have a couple of pairs for that.
>>
>> In the past I have had 8x21cheepy ones Tesco Praktica and presently
>> a pair named Blackfoot which I got form some shop selling them off
>> at £5.99, wish I had bought more.  I would say they have all been of
>> about the same quality, Tesco right eye peace fell out when the
>> threaded ring broke inside, Praktica one of the hinge pins went and
>> the same appears to be happening with Blackfoot pair at least it's
>> very slack.
>>
>> Any help or advice would be great,
>>
>> MP
>
>
> Leica 8X20 are excellent. Possibly outside of your intended price
> range though.

Or the similarly priced alternatives from Nikon, Swarovski,  etc..

I have the Nikon circa £300 8x20's.  I originally went shopping for a circa 
£100 pocket pair, but could see the difference in image quality through the 
more expensive models (I did my shopping at a specialist who was visiting a 
local bird reserve, so could try out lots of different pairs).  I was 
feeling fairly rich at the time, so I bought them.   Not regretted it one 
bit.


Like most high technology, the price goes up ten-fold but the improvement is 
small.  Its up to the users whether its worth the extra.   A £20 
non-breathable waterproof poncho keeps the rain out and weighs very little, 
yet lots of people will spend £300 on breathable specialist waterproofs.



- Nigel


-- 
Nigel Cliffe,
Webmaster at http://www.2mm.org.uk/

Following up to MP 

> I'm looking for some very compact binoculars for lightweight travel

I think its worth going a bit up market into the name brands, bins are a
thing that you notice the difference, even between my Karl Zeiss and (IIRC)
my wifes Opticrons.

OT
Anyone got any advice on infra red for badger watching?
-- 
Mike  "http://www.fellwalk.co.uk"
remove boots to email or use website

"Alf King"  wrote in message 
news:icpum4poq02a2fmujf8449b4rvp9qutige@4ax.com...
>
>
> On Thu, 15 Jan 2009 13:49:49 -0000, "MP"  wrote:
>
>>I'm looking for some very compact binoculars for lightweight travel i.e.
>>backpacking hill walking that sort of thing, I realise that these type of
>>binoculars are unstable for series birding but I already have a couple of
>>pairs for that.
>>
>>In the past I have had 8x21cheepy ones Tesco Praktica and presently a pair
>>named Blackfoot which I got form some shop selling them off at £5.99, wish 
>>I
>>had bought more.  I would say they have all been of about the same 
>>quality,
>>Tesco right eye peace fell out when the threaded ring broke inside, 
>>Praktica
>>one of the hinge pins went and the same appears to be happening with
>>Blackfoot pair at least it's very slack.
>>
>>Any help or advice would be great,
>>
>>MP
>
>
> Leica 8X20 are excellent. Possibly outside of your intended price
> range though.

I would agree. I bought a pair of Leica compact 8x20s, and they weren't 
cheap - about USD450 back in 1997! But they are so much clearer than 
anything else I have tried, and excellent in low light.