davyboy

What do I look for here.....fancy some of these:

Nikon UK - Travelite V 12x25 CF

Is there better for the money?

£109 in john lewis, $95 at B&H New York.

The Chief

Not sure if this is the same

Nikon 12x25 Travelite V Compact Binoculars Nikon 12x25 in London UK

davyboy

Looks the same.........I just don't know what I am looking for.

I think the 12 is the magnification and the 25 the amount of light or something??

The Chief

The most important thing when you choose anything like this is the size of the objective lense as this gathers more light, the bigger the better not what a lot of people think is the magnification - this is determined by the eyepiece. You could have teh magnification at 200x and an objective lense of 30mm but it would be useless. better really getting a 10-20 zoom x 50 or preferebly a 60mm+ objective lens but obviously this affect its portability

i.e. a 10x50 would be 10 times mag x 50mm objective lense

The Chief

Bought my telescope from here, they are extremley helpful.

give 'em a call

Stockport Binocular and Telescope Centre - the UK's premier supplier of optical equipment in the North of England

Scoobychick

iTrader: (1)

Davy, these are a bit more than you want to spend but a fantastic pair of binos Canon 10x30 IS Image Stabiliser Binoculars £209 - microglobe.co.uk

I got a pair last year and the lens quality is excellent, as for the Image Stabilisation it is awesome, absolutely awesome, you press a button and everything stops wobbling They're fairly small and don't weigh too much either

davyboy

I like the look of them, but not the price! They are $329 in new york.

Brendan Hughes

12 is the mag and 25 is the diameter of the lens in mm.

There was some wisdom about keeping them to a certain ratio, forgot why, but these days no-one wants to walk around with a set of 8x50s, too heavy.

Hoppy

DB, google for more info on binos specs. There's tons of choice, but IMHO it boils down to this: if you want a pair of pocketable bins, then something like the Nikons you're looking at are probably as good as any. But you'll need bright light.

If you really want to see clearly, you need a big, bright objective lens - at least 30 and preferably 42 or 50. Magnification is far less important than you might think. If you wear specs, then the 'eye relief' distance is very important.

ScoobyChick has suggested the Canons with IS (Image Stabilisation). They are an excellent choice at that price. I've used them and wish I had a pair myself

Richard.

PS Edited to add, if pocketability is key, how about a monocular?

speedking

There is some good info here.

Consider the bit about the exit pupil. The 12x25mm will give an exit diameter of 2mm which is less than the iris diameter, and so is sub-optimal, even in daylight. At night they simply won't gather enough light, and in daylight say 12x35mm will be better.

You haven't stated your use, birdwatching, trainspotting, marine, etc. How portable you want them to be.

If you are outdoors, you might consider 'proper' waterproof to be worth the extra.

I have always favoured Bushnell as a value brand.

e.g. in your sort of price bracket these or these.

Leslie

Good advice. Much more magnification with binoculars would make it difficult to see the subject due to involuntary movement of the glasses too.

Les

Hoppy

That's why Canon's IS binos are so good.

Leslie

Just noticed your bit about image stabilisation, did not know they do this on Bino's. Very interesting, might be forced to have a look at those!

Les

davyboy

In the end I went for the 8x25 Travelite V.

I tried a few pairs in the shop and after talking to the sales guy, he said I should get the 8 x 25 to reduce shaking.

If you visit NY you have to go to this place.

Nikon | 8x25 Travelite V Binocular | 7508 | B&H Photo Video