Binoculars for a driving Safari

[T1berious]

Good morning,

I'm pretty much there with the stuff I need (well, think I need...) for the photography side of a Safari in May.

I do remember reading a thread stating that two sets of binoculars are a relationship saver on safari.

Taken that to heart as its a once in a lifetime trip and the last thing I want is an avoidable "verbal scuffle"

Question is what type, 8 x 42 or 10 x 50? There's very little chance they'll be used later (unless I really get into wildlife photography)

Any advice based on your experiences would be greatly appreciated. Budget is around £500 all in.

Cheers,

T1b

[isaldiri]

T1berious said:

Good morning,

I'm pretty much there with the stuff I need (well, think I need...) for the photography side of a Safari in May.

I do remember reading a thread stating that two sets of binoculars are a relationship saver on safari.

Taken that to heart as its a once in a lifetime trip and the last thing I want is an avoidable "verbal scuffle"

Question is what type, 8 x 42 or 10 x 50? There's very little chance they'll be used later (unless I really get into wildlife photography)

Any advice based on your experiences would be greatly appreciated. Budget is around £500 all in.

Cheers,

T1b

I'd go for the 8s tbh. Easier to hand hold, wider field of view and mostly on something like this, you're looking at big stuff hopefully nearby rather than itty bitty birds far off in a tree. If you think you will be doing a lot of twilight type viewing then it might be worth considering a 8x50 class binocular as you get that much more light going through as it gets darker. Just for more or less a one off, I'd get the 8x42 though and it'll be much easier to sell off 2nd hand after than a 10x50.

[Bill]

FWIW I asked about compact bins last year. GetCarter's link was very useful and I'm very happy with the the Viking Badgers I got. They have other blogs with recommendations so I'd start there.

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

[Mr Pointy]

A pair each is a good idea but consider making one a pair of Canon image-stabilsed binoculars. They are a bit heavy & expensive but you may well find you get much better results & you end up keeping that pair.

https://www.digitalcameraworld.com/buying-guides/b...

The 8x20s are the most suitable for travel but the 12x36 might be an option. Take spare batteries.

[T1berious]

Cheers for the responses!

To be honest, I think the IS based stuff is beyond my budget. Especially for something that might, at best be bought out for a walk on hols later down the line.

These looked decent from a price / review perspective

8x25

So I'm guessing 10x25 equates to greater zoom? while 8x25 equals greater depth of field? (Yeah, complete binocular noob here! )

Cheers, T1b

[GetCarter]

Mr Pointy said:

A pair each is a good idea but consider making one a pair of Canon image-stabilsed binoculars.

They are stunningly good. But a bit heavy and expensive. If it were me, I'd absolutely go for I.S. as you'll be able to see stuff from a moving vehicle many, many times better than without I.S. Even still, unless you have a tripod, there is no comparison - I.S. win every time.

[M11rph]

I've spent plenty of time in the Bundu (worked as a guide) and on most safari's your guides will spot for you and then stop for you to observe. Mainly during daylight hours too, so I'd be looking for a compact 8x bino.

8x32 or 8x42, the former are usually much more compact.

Camerapricebuster as I linked on the other thread is always handy... https://www.camerapricebuster.co.uk/Binoculars

I'd look at these for starters.

Opticron Explorer WA ED-R 8x32 £139

Vortex Diamondback HD 8x32 £210

Nikon Monarch M7 8x30

Hawke are good value too.

With binos it is important to try them IMO. Beyond the obvious aspects like size and image quality, ergomonics are so important.
Do the eyecups adjust in a way that gives you a good view without effort? Spec wearer? then some just won't work for you etc.

[Alickadoo]

T1berious said:

Cheers for the responses!

To be honest, I think the IS based stuff is beyond my budget. Especially for something that might, at best be bought out for a walk on hols later down the line.

These looked decent from a price / review perspective

8x25

So I'm guessing 10x25 equates to greater zoom? while 8x25 equals greater depth of field? (Yeah, complete binocular noob here! )

Cheers, T1b

Which? recommends these as a reasonably priced buy.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0B3MJ57N2?tag=whichtr...

Or these

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00B73JP0K?tag=whichtr...

Edited by Alickadoo on Sunday 22 December 11:10

[T1berious]

M11rph said:

I've spent plenty of time in the Bundu (worked as a guide) and on most safari's your guides will spot for you and then stop for you to observe. Mainly during daylight hours too, so I'd be looking for a compact 8x bino.

8x32 or 8x42, the former are usually much more compact.

Camerapricebuster as I linked on the other thread is always handy... https://www.camerapricebuster.co.uk/Binoculars

I'd look at these for starters.

Opticron Explorer WA ED-R 8x32 £139

Vortex Diamondback HD 8x32 £210

Nikon Monarch M7 8x30

Hawke are good value too.

With binos it is important to try them IMO. Beyond the obvious aspects like size and image quality, ergomonics are so important.
Do the eyecups adjust in a way that gives you a good view without effort? Spec wearer? then some just won't work for you etc.

Cheers bud! Thanks for the Info!

[isaldiri]

T1berious said:

Cheers for the responses!

To be honest, I think the IS based stuff is beyond my budget. Especially for something that might, at best be bought out for a walk on hols later down the line.

These looked decent from a price / review perspective

8x25

So I'm guessing 10x25 equates to greater zoom? while 8x25 equals greater depth of field? (Yeah, complete binocular noob here! )

Cheers, T1b

Unless size is a real issue, I really wouldn't recommend a 10x25. Eye placement becomes a big issue as you have so much less exit pupil to work with. Picture quality also typically is going to be better with bigger lenses as it's arguably easier at the same price point to correct for aberrations.

The Nikon M7 mentioned above is imo a much better pick than a x25

[Tony1963]

When we went on our two safaris in 2004 and 2005, we were limited to 12kg each, total baggage, for the flights into and around the very large safari parks. Because of that, we bought Leica 10x25 binoculars because of their minimal weight.

For a bargain but perfectly good binoculars now, I’d look at a larger pair of Hawke or RSPB bins. More than good enough, and so well priced. I just can’t warrant the “cocaine for the eyes” Leicas etc!

As above, our 10x25 Leica bins can take a few seconds to position on the eyes properly, but they really are very good, and the light weight is a blessing when also carrying my camera gear.

Keep an eye out for used, flog em on after the safari if you find you don’t use them anymore.

[Simpo Two]

I got chatting to a birdwatcher once and he let me take a look though his Swarovski bins. Bloody hell, it was like standing six feet from the bird with a light on!

[isaldiri]

Simpo Two said:

I got chatting to a birdwatcher once and he let me take a look though his Swarovski bins. Bloody hell, it was like standing six feet from the bird with a light on!

Being perfectly honest, these days, unless you really are a specialist birdwatcher (and even if you were tbh), the quality of 'average' mid level binoculars is now very good such that you don't need 'alpha' bins. The likes of a swaro or Zeiss SF are superb optically but really, it's more of a 'nice to have' and really people buy them to fulfill their 'pride of ownership' thing to know that they own something made from Wetzlar or Tyrol.....

[T1berious]

Tony1963 said:

When we went on our two safaris in 2004 and 2005, we were limited to 12kg each, total baggage, for the flights into and around the very large safari parks. Because of that, we bought Leica 10x25 binoculars because of their minimal weight.

For a bargain but perfectly good binoculars now, I’d look at a larger pair of Hawke or RSPB bins. More than good enough, and so well priced. I just can’t warrant the “cocaine for the eyes” Leicas etc!

As above, our 10x25 Leica bins can take a few seconds to position on the eyes properly, but they really are very good, and the light weight is a blessing when also carrying my camera gear.

Keep an eye out for used, flog em on after the safari if you find you don’t use them anymore.

I need to double check the luggage weight restrictions, I remember 25Kg each being mentioned but the Mrs won't want to use anything too big or too heavy anyway. The Hawke 8x32's look a decent sweet spot.

[C n C]

We have several pairs of binoculars for watching birds in the garden, taking to sporting events etc.. and although not one of the usual recommended makes such as Canon, Nikon etc.. (of which we have a couple of pairs) if you're looking potentially at a pair of 8x42 binos, I'd strongly recommend looking at the Barr and Stroud Savanna 8x42

In case you're not aware, the 8x42 means the magnification is 8x (higher magnification lets you see stuff more close up, but they are harder to hold still), and the 42 bit is the size of the objective lens (the larger the lens, the more light it gathers, so the brighter the image, but also the heavier and larger they are).

These B&S ones aren't particularly expensive - RRP £150, and available at various places for closer to £110 - even Amazon for £125.

I'm fully aware that the British company Barr and Stroud used to make good quality optics, and that the name has been bought in recent times and that they are not the original manufacturers, but THE key thing with this particular model is the ridiculously wide field of view.

Most decent 8x42 binos will have a field of view generally around 7º, or around 126m at 1000m - this is the "size" of the image you can see from side to side at a distance of 1000m. Remember that the magnification of all 8x42 binos should be the same (8x), so the field of view being wide means that although stuff appears the same size, a wide field of view means you can see a lot more - less like looking down a narrow tube.

These Barr and Stroud ones have a field of view of 143m at 1000m, or 8.14º which gives a really wide open feel to the view when looking through them, and it's easier to spot stuff as you can basically see more. The lenses are pretty decent as well - not up to £1000+ top end binos, but very good for their price point (and I'm quite picky about image quality using almost exclusively "L" series lenses on my Canon full frame mirrorless and DSLR cameras).

They are by far my favourite binos, so much so that I lost them a few years back, looked in detail at what was available on the market as alternatives, but ended up getting the same model as a replacement, and couldn't be happier.

As has been mentioned above, stuff like Canon image stabilised binos ARE very good, and I certainly wouldn't mind a pair, but they are expensive. For anything under £500, you can't go far wrong with these B&S ones.

• Note - I don't have experience of other models from the same manufacturer, and this particular model seems to be unique with its much wider than normal field of view.

[NDA]

Mr Pointy said:

A pair each is a good idea but consider making one a pair of Canon image-stabilsed binoculars. They are a bit heavy & expensive but you may well find you get much better results & you end up keeping that pair.

https://www.digitalcameraworld.com/buying-guides/b...

The 8x20s are the most suitable for travel but the 12x36 might be an option. Take spare batteries.

I have a pair of these (the 12x36 from memory) and they're excellent. They are on the original batteries which must be some years old - so they don't seem to use much power.

The lenses are very good - crystal clear and pin sharp images. If I was spending days looking through binoculars, these would be my choice.

[Elderly]

C n C said:

I'm fully aware that the British company Barr and Stroud used to make good quality optics, and that the name has been bought in recent times and that they are not the original manufacturers, but THE key thing with this particular model is the ridiculously wide field of view.

Most decent 8x42 binos will have a field of view generally around 7º, or around 126m at 1000m - this is the "size" of the image you can see from side to side at a distance of 1000m. Remember that the magnification of all 8x42 binos should be the same (8x), so the field of view being wide means that although stuff appears the same size, a wide field of view means you can see a lot more - less like looking down a narrow tube.

These Barr and Stroud ones have a field of view of 143m at 1000m, or 8.14º which gives a really wide open feel to the view when looking through them, and it's easier to spot stuff as you can basically see more. The lenses are pretty decent as well - not up to £1000+ top end binos, but very good for their price point …...

I have an old pair of 10x42 Barr and Stroud from the time I’m told that they made binoculars for the Royal Navy.
On them it’s written that they have a field of view of 304 feet at 1000 yards ( I said they were old ).
They are much better than other binoculars we seem to have accumulated but not not up there with a pair of Swarovski that a serious birder friend of mine has.

[sgrimshaw]

Opticron IS are around that budget. LCE stock them.