With binoculars, like anything in life, you would expect there to be usually a reasonable correlation between price and quality. Note: I didn't say "you get what you pay for", I find that a most unreliable maxim.
"Waterproof, nitrogen filled". Anyone know anything about them? I'm sure they are not as good as some of the £100+ stuff but £19.99 inc del...? Okay, they're probably a bit on the heavy and bulky side to take walking, but for a pair of car binoculars or back-doorsteppers?
Look OK, but a bit heavy and bulky for walking perhaps. At this price, I'd say worth trying, for general use at least.
I used some 8 x 21s I got for a fiver, for several years - better than others costing more. But they must have got damaged somehow, as the alignment between each side went, so they are not so nice to use. But they did for a while. But you might find there's some drawback to your 10 x 42s such as this, but £20 is not too much to lose, if something is not quite right. I keep a cheap pair in the car, in case I forget my more expensive ones when working.
"…plus remember if you buy these binoculars from 7dayshop.com and you are not 101% delighted with your purchase, then please return them to us within 60 days in original condition for a full refund of the purchase price - we promise no quibbles at all !!!"
So it might be worth a punt. Have you done the google search for reviews that they suggest?
As an occasional buyer from 7dayshop, I've always been impressed by them. You can usually find 'big brand name' items that cost considerably less than you'd pay on the High Street. You can also find vast amounts of 'unknown brand' items that work just as well, if not better, but at a fraction of the price. I only once had to return an item, which was a rechargeable battery that packed in shortly after purchase, and I was sent a replacement without any questions asked within a few days. Their 'clearance' items are an absolute steal, and I never buy anything from 7dayshop without having a good browse through that section. It's a bit like the old Woolworths stores - you could go in there without wanting or needing anything, and come out with a bag full of stuff!
Someone on one of the bird watching forums posted the following a couple of days ago
"My 7dayshop 10x42 binoculars arrived this morning. I already own another pair of roof prism BAK4 10x42's which are in the £100 bracket and these cheap ones compare very well. The 7dayshop ones were as bright as my BAK4 ones. Not sure what the glass is in the cheap ones as it doesn't say anywhere. Internal reflections/ghosting are controlled very well when viewing at all angles to the sun. They are well built and couldn't fault the build quality. About the only niggle is that they weren't pin sharp like an expensive pair would be but that was only a minor niggle at this price of only £20. Seeing as they are waterproof and nitrogen filled I don't think you can really fault them for the money."
Binoculars selling for less than U.S. $300. are usually NOT worth the price.
Those binocs you pictured are roof prisim (straight barreled) and to make them without having color problems requires GOOD glass and MULIT COATING on EVERY glass surface inside and out.
Porro prism binocs (L-shaped or "dog-leg" barrels) are not as cool looking but do not affect true color transmission as do roof prism barrels. Thus they are cheaper to make because they do not require costly color-correcting coatings.
Plus good binoculars must absolutely have both barrels EXACTLY aligned or the viewer will get a fast headache. Cheap binocs are never exactly aligned.
ALL ELSE BEING EQUAL, decent porro prism binocs will be less expensive than decent roof prism binoculars.
HINT: Look on some birding optics websites for info and comparisons. i.e. Eagle Optics. Do not waste your money on the binocs you pictured.
As Paddy says, no-one would expect these to be as good as $300/£200 binoculars. And that's not the point. The question is, are they good value given the price? Okay, a keen birdwatcher can and will make regular use of better quality, and will be prepared to pay (a lot more) for it. But someone who has only a passing interest in birds (eg me) can't justify £200 on a whim just to look out from the back door at the hedgerow at the bottom of the garden. Or to take them in the car once or twice a year to a local reservoir/ nature reserve.
Thanks for the info Eric - though I won't be rushing out on Saturday to spend $300/£200! I have experience of poor alignment. I bought some cheap and cheerful (well, maybe nasty is a better word than cheerful) 10x25s from Ebay for £4. They are pretty horrid. The alignment is well out - you almost get double vision when you look through them. And the glass seems dirty inside, and it's like looking down a tunnel - the "Field of View" is very poor, they quote 96m at 1000m. I can hardly complain though for only £4. I paid rubbish money and I got a rubbish product.
But I've had a look on some other sites (eg birdforum.net) and the 7dayshop 10x42s seem well thought of - for the price. So I for one will give them a go. After all, if they're really rubbish there's always the no-questions refund mentioned by CP.
I have a pair of cheapie Chinese binos, 8x25s, and they do for me (paid about £30 around a decade ago). A pal has some £600 Leicas, and they do for him. We compared the two side by side, and came to the conclusion that the Leicas were much better, especially in terms of colour differentiation. Pal is a keen twitcher, I just want to make things bigger every then and now, and we also agreed that for what he wants the Leicas are very good value and for what I want they'd be an insane over-spend and mine represented amazingly good value.
I did toy with bigger and higher magnification, but 8 is enough and they're less prone to jitter and the smaller lenses are okay for the trivial uses I have while keeping weight and bulk down. Another option on the weight and bulk front is a monocular. I have a Heron one I was given as a present and it does the job of making far away stuff closer quite nicely, if not quite as well as the binos.
I bought some 10x42s for £9.99 a few years ago from 7dayshop.com a few years ago - they've been fine for what they are used for - a pair to keep in the conservatory for looking at wildlife outside and across the valley occasionally! As I said before, you get what you pay for, at £9.99 they are just fine!
As Paddy mentioned, I nearly always buy more from the site that intended - a visit to the site for some photo mount resulted in binos and a full size tripod!
I have a pair of compact Silva bins that cost all of £25 and they are fine for what I want them for - scouting the route ahead and looking at the odd bit of wildlife. They are waterproof, light and compact. Even though I'm a total kit tart, I can't justify spending £300 on a pair of binos as I only want something to make things look a bit bigger (story of my life...)
I've got a nice range of codpieces for sale...good condition, slightly soiled.
Youwould have quite a few soiled codpieces for sale wouldn’t you. Could I ask when was the last time you did a rock climb and what grade was it? Let me guess you don’t rock climb! Scramble then what grade? Oh you do really do that sort of thing! Hill walking then how many 3000ft hills have you climbed? Ok my grammar is crap but I can lead E2 6A, winter grade IV, climbed 462 3000fters and 578 other hills (who cares if you don’t believe me)
And bragging isn't impressive. Nor is counting for that matter! Do my 459 3100fters trump your 462 3000fters? Really, who cares? You'll be telling us how big your dick is next!
...But I've had a look on some other sites (eg birdforum.net) and the 7dayshop 10x42s seem well thought of - for the price. So I for one will give them a go. After all, if they're really rubbish there's always the no-questions refund mentioned by CP.
I'll report back
Took me a long time but here's the report. They are amazingly good for the money (£20)
I have had something of a binocular binge, and ended up with about 8 pairs(!)
The 7dayshop bins are however, not as good as my favourite bins, Pentax Papilio 6.5x21 (they also do an 8.5X21).
RRP over £100, though you can get them for less. I got them for Christmas and they are things of wonder. Whilst quite bulky for 6.5x21s (they fit in a jacket pocket but not a trouser or shirt pocket), compared to all my other purchases they give better sharpness, contrast, depth of field, and field of view. Better brightness than most. They have the least chromatic aberration too. Don't worry if you don't know what all these terms mean: The Papilio is a great little bin. You can probably buy better for £100 BUT we haven't yet considered the Papilio's raison d'etre: ultra close focus. Not very relevant for hillwalkers, but if you are interested in butterflies, other insects, or flowers these things are like a portable low-power microscope. Wonderful. Not waterproof like the 7dayshop bins though. Google "Pentax Papilio review" and you'll find many happy customers.
(Had to split this as it was apparently too long for a single post)
Nor are the 7dayshop bins quite as good as my 10x42 Audubon Vectors. £200 new, I got mine 2H from Ebay for £50. Better DofF than the 7dayshop bins, better coatings, less internal stray light. Remember the price though.
Conventional wisdom seems to be that for less than £100 you can get better views for your money with "porro" bins (old-fashioned looking, your grandad had a pair, bulky) than with the more modern-looking "roofs" (look like two tubes - see pic above and pic below). I could go into why but we'd be here all day.
To summarise, for the money, I reckon the 7dayshop 10x42s are unbeatable. A bit too big and heavy for walkers though. 7dayshop also do a 10x25 thing for a fiver,
and these are significantly better than the nasty 10x25 I bought from Ebay for £4.
One thing I've learned is that high magnification is not automatically a good thing. If you really want more info, I found the best place is the binocular sub-forum at birdforum.net. Most of them started off as birdwatchers but morphed into optics fanatics. These guys live, breath, eat binoculars.
Basically....it boils down to, you pays your money and takes your choice..?
Personally, I have collected a series of cheapo bins over the years (been given them, won them, inherited them...even, once, paying for them) and, for my use (a DoE Expedition supervisor, cheap is fine as all I want to do is make things bigger...and not be upset if they slide around the inside of a minibus, get dropped, stood on and otherwise abused.
Just bumped into this thread, my girlfriend got me the 7Day 10x42s for my birthday. Good value for money imho, they feel robust and well made. Optically they even compare favourably with a set of Minolta 10x25s I bought for £50 a few years ago, which also got good reviews. While I'd agree they are probably too heavy for the lightweight crowd for everybody else they're fine, I wouldn't worry about taking them on a walk. I doubt I'd even notice the extra weight.
Really, who cares? You'll be telling us how big your dick is next!
