Hat's off, sir! Brilliant idea.

Just an update.

Finally got around to buying a pair of Pentax DCF CS 10x42 from Microglobe. Their shop is around the corner from my office so I annoyed the guy by trying lots of pairs of binoculars out at lunchtime (they were very helpful though and someone nipped out to the warehouse to grab some of the ones that they didn't have in the shop).

These were easily the best I tried (in the sub £300 range). Beat the Nikon Monarchs in every area except maybe image brightness where they were the same.

I wasn't intending to buy Pentax - just happened that they were the best for the money.

I stand corrected!

Are you talking about the non-Macro version?

If so, I can't add much.

If it is the macro version then these seem hard to come by and don't seem to come up for sale very often.

Used both the 18-55 and 50-200 kit lenses (non-weather resistant versions) in constant steady rain in South America with no ill effects. The 18-55 took the worst punishment being out for a few hours in those the conditions. The 50-200 probably got less wet in the rainforest but it was being pointed upwards into the rain a lot of the time.

I was happy taking the risk with these lenses as I checked the secondhand prices before I left and figured that if they did fail in the rain I could pick up replacements cheaply.

Thanks everyone. We are members of the WWT and Barnes is our local place so that is a good call.

They will be general purpose - occasionally birds but usually wildlife on holiday.

I'm thinking that a pair of 10x40s (ish) seem like a good base with a nice wide viewing angle. The wife wears glasses sometimes so they need to be comfortable for her.

Cheers for the recommendations too.

Cheers Alan

Fairly compact and easily carried are a must. A tripod mount probably isn't a deal-breaker although we would be likely to have a tripod or monopod with us (for the camera) so could be useful.

We were given a cheap pair of Bushnells and these have heavy purple fringing (terrible if you are looking for birds in trees) hence why we are after a higher quality pair.

I think my main question is around the magnification. Our current (cheap pair) are 16x magnification but most internet advice suggests 8-10x as a maximum as handholding above that would be difficult. That doesn't seem like very high magnification to me and I don't seem to have too many problems with the 16x binoculars.

Hi all

My wife and I are looking at treating ourselves to a decent pair of binoculars for our anniversary.

Having had a look at what's available there is clearly a baffling array. Just wondering if anyone here is able to offer some advice or knows of a good, helpful forum (like this one) for binoculars.

Cheers

Went earlier this year - fantastic place.

Had the camera on me most of the time and didn't feel worried. It's bustling(sp?) but friendly. Having said that I would make sure your insurance covers you.

Mine is me after not shaving for a couple of days. Apologies for sticking my tongue out.