RCR06 said:
Ha, some experience.....this guy. I'm not a prolific poster, but have been on the OB for along time. I read most of the binoculars threads and tried to address the common questions I see. Didn't think about the glasses question. My parents do wear glasses, but not sure on whether they would use them with binoculars or take them off. I believe both wear glasses for reading if that helps, which would make me think they most likely wouldn't be wearing glasses when using binoculars.
It looks to me that your parents just need a decent general-purpose binocular. I would recommend an 8x30 or 32 over an 8x42. Within the same product line, a 32mm will in most cases give you a wider field of view (FOV) and a longer eye relief (ER), while providing other obvious benefits such as less weight and smaller footprint. And less bulk is just more convenient, so is likely to get more use. A decent 32mm is fine for daytime use, even in inclement weather. The two binos I took to the Antarctic earlier this year was an 8x20 Leica Ultravid used to just stick in my jacket pocket for use when on the ground (a large amount of camera gear kept me from taking anything larger), and my 8x32 Swarovski SV's for general use on the ship. Even though the weather was dark and dreary and sometimes rainy/snowy, the 8x32 were perfect for this use, and I'm glad I didn't bother with any of my 42mm's. A lot of people tried my Swaros on that trip. Swaro should pay me a commission for all the binos that I probably sold.
The reasons why I would not recommend 10x in either 32mm or 42mm is that they are harder to hold steady, and have less FOV, and sometimes less eye relief. IMO, the advantage of more magnification is outweighed by these things. I also would not recommend a 25mm bino. Although there are a few in your price range that make decent travel binos, they aren't good enough to function as an all-round GP bino.
Not having to worry about eye relief opens up the number of potential choices. A lot of good binos in your price range do not have great amounts of ER, so hard to use while wearing eye/sunglasses. I would recommend investigating the 8x30 Nikon Prostaff P7, and the 8x32 Kowa SV II. I keep a more up-market version of the P7 in my wife's SUV, and I enjoy using it when unexpected viewing opportunities pop up. Lastly, if you do decide that you need something with a lot of ER, look at the Opticron 8x33 Savannah R PC Oasis (what a stupid name...), which lists a huge 20mm of ER. I can't tell you anything more about this one as I have not used it. Opticron isn't the most famous bino company in the US, but they are popular in Europe.
Another thing to suggest is if you are willing to go up in budget by about $50, you can get a Zeiss 8x32 Terra ED. These would be an excellent choice for an all-round GP bino, and IMO worth the extra cost.
If for some reason you decide that you want an 8x42, then consider the Nikon Prostaff P7, or the Athlon Midas. The Midas comes in the earlier gray body, or the newer G2 version that is black w/orange trim. The newer Midas G2 can be seen at the Eurooptic website, and up to a few days ago at least, the older grey body version could be seen at Amazon. I would imagine that the Kowa 8x42 SV II would also be just fine, but I haven't used that one. I do however like Kowa optics as a whole.
hth,
C
