Binoculars - Best for cruising?

[lalalang]

I just saw that Amazon has a pair of Vanguard Endeavor ED 8 x 42 for sale for $210, today only.

 

 

Thank you for mentioning this! I went ahead and ordered them, and now I see that the price went back up to $329 on Amazon. Weird. All-in with shipping and the rebate, I will have spent $165. :D

 

I will probably never use them again, so I'll just list them on Ebay after my Alaskan cruise to re-coup my cost.

[TanTien]

Thank you for mentioning this! I went ahead and ordered them, and now I see that the price went back up to $329 on Amazon. Weird. All-in with shipping and the rebate, I will have spent $165. :D

 

I will probably never use them again, so I'll just list them on Ebay after my Alaskan cruise to re-coup my cost.

 

What?? Are you not going back to AK or any other place that binoculars won't be needed? We are on our 4th time this year and still have much more to see, including whales, eagles, seals, otters and birds. So hold onto them for your next time around! ;)

[lalalang]

What?? Are you not going back to AK or any other place that binoculars won't be needed? We are on our 4th time this year and still have much more to see, including whales, eagles, seals, otters and birds. So hold onto them for your next time around! ;)

 

LOL, that's what my husband said. We do have other binoculars that seem to suit me just fine for football games. That's about the only time I use them. Not sure if we'll ever get back to AK. But yeah, maybe I'll hang on to them.

[donaldsc]

Two points. If you want more than 10x, they have to be image stabilized and thus expensive and heavy. Also, the OP said that he wears glasses and nobody has mentioned eye relief.

 

Don

[TanTien]

Bump. Here it was. As threads get longer, the early details get lost.

Look for a good amount of eye relief for glasses: you will find this listed for nearly every pair of binoculars as a millimeter number. Try for something above 16 mm (17-18 would be better) to accommodate your glasses.

 

Here's a guide that speaks to birding, but could just as well speak to your needs as well. http://www.birdwatchersdigest.com/bwdsite/explore/optics/optics-buyers-guide.php

[Firehunter]

I was bummed when I bought the Bushnells that I missed out on a earlier rebate, but the price was still nice on them. One of the reasons I bought them was for the 410' field of view at 1000 yards (listed on Bushnells website and Amazon's) but when I received them the box said it only had 365' at 1000 yards. I'm curious what your box said for yours. I have to wait until Monday when Bushnell customer service opens to ask them about it.

 

Update: Call to Bushnell confirmed error on websites and box. Binoculars actually have FOV of 368' marked on them.

[TanTien]

Two points. If you want more than 10x, they have to be image stabilized and thus expensive and heavy. Also, the OP said that he wears glasses and nobody has mentioned eye relief.

 

Don

 

Don is correct. I would recommend these however that manage to keep their total weight to about 25 ounces, even with batteries. Yeah they are funky looking and bulky, but your eyes will love you for them. Plus, they are not that expensive for what you get.

 

They are NOT waterproof but they are towards the less expensive of these kind: ($650) vs. the waterproof models at $1,400-$1,600. So yes, you need to be ready to spend some decent money.

 

Regarding eye relief for glasses, please check out my earlier thread on this.

[MrJulius]

I have used a pair of Canon IS image stabilizer 10x30 binos on many cruises. They take two AA batteries and a push of the button really steadies the image. They are small and lightweight. I have had them zeroed in on targets for several minutes with very little movement.

 

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