Ah sorry..
really we don't have a lot more.. we made a decision to stick to around the $400 mark and we will stay to that! Since I don't know anything about binoculars (!) but I do know a bit about photography, what would be the difference between what devilry suggested (NIKON SPORTSTAR EX) and the Monarch series? e.g. is it similar to the 300mm f/2.8 vs 80-300 f/3.5~45.6 kind of thing or APO vs non APO?
mmm, alrite, maybe I will explain a little bit more.
- Classification: For bino, telescopes, they are usually written in figures such as 10x42, 10x25, 8x42 or 8x25.
- First Number Indication: the "first number" and the "x" means "10 times zoom" or "8 times zoom"
- Second Number Indication: the "second number" can be thought of as the "brightness" of the binoculars. Think of it as the aperture of a normal lens i.e. there are f/2.8, f/5.6. f/2.8 is definitely bigger in aperture & when u look thru the viewfinder of f/2.8, it is brighter than that of f/5.6. For binoculars, the bigger the number eg. "42", the brighter the binoculars will be. Some binoculars even go to "70". The brighter the binoculars, the image u see will be more shiok, clearer, but the lens elements will of course be bigger and the bino will be much heavier. Those binos which are brightness of "25" and below are the compact range, and easy to carry around. Those with brightness of "42" are the middle man/sit on the fence/most popular range i.e. suitable for ppl who want brighter image, but yet not too heavy as that of those in the "52" or "70" range.
- Weight: a typical "10x25" weighs around 500 grams, while a typical "10x42" weighs around 1kg. the difference in weight for "8x" and "10x" isn't much.
- Cost: the cost of a "8x" and "10x" and "12x" bino most of the time just a little difference. So u might think why not just chiong straight to "12x"? The reason the high "x" figure might not be ideal is because at higher focal length, ur handshake is super evident. Sometimes, u might even feel dizzy using the binos due to the handshake (some ppl after trekking some substantial distance find their body weak, and when they view their bino, they cant see properly because their hands keep shaking.) the shakiness of "8x" is the least, and "12x" is more, which is why again ppl usually settle for the "10x" as the middleground. Based on comparing what I see with the bino vs what I see in my camera through a crop camera + lens lens, "8x" is comparable to a 400mm lens, while 10x is abt 500mm, and 12x is abt 600mm.
- Image Stabilisation: in case u wondering, since lenses have image stabilization/vibration reduction, what abt binos? YES, there are binos with IS/VR from canon and Nikon!! But they are (a) expensive (about $2,000 range for the Nikon ones here
Nikon Singapore Pte Ltd ), and (b) I have played with the canon IS version for 5 mins, but I don't find the image quality anything to shout about to justify the price tag.
- Bino with Zoom: Yes, there are binos with zoom (look at the eagle view series on
Nikon Singapore Pte Ltd ). Good thing about them is of course u can zoom, but the bad things about these Nikon eagle view series are (a) they are build very poorly and filmsy - ask cathay photo for a test and u will know what I mean (b) the image quality isn't great - think of the image quality difference of zoom and prime lens (c) the image actually gets darker as you zoom - think of it as a non-fixed aperture lens (d) the zooming isn't smooth.
- Famous Brands: Swarovski is the legend/leader in the binos/scopes field. while leica and carl zeiss comes in close. Most professional birders use Swarovski, followed by Leica, then Carl Zeiss. Swarovski is the most expensive, Singapore stores are selling at around $3,000 to $4,000 for their 10x42 version. Leica and Carl Zeiss is cheaper by a couple hundreds. You can get it cheaper from Amazon.com. (
http://www.amazon.com/Swarovski-Opt...id=1360598063&sr=8-1&keywords=swarovski+10x42 ) A look at this Swarovski Bino on this amazon page will let u know what are the attributes of the best binoculars.
- Other Important Attributes: Get a bino from a reputable brand so that they are really waterproof and nitrogen filled when they claim to be. This ensures that the interior of the bino is sealed tight, so that humidity have difficulty destroying the interior lens elements through fungus. of course u still have to wipe/clean the exterior lens surface if dirty, and of course must be kept in dry cabi when not in use.
- Image Quality Differences Between High End And Low End Bino: One very obvious difference can be easily seen by pointing ur bino at high contrast and bright areas. The purple fringing of a low end bino will show up very badly. A trick when testing a bino is to purposely point at spot lights/light sources, and see how bad it's purple fringing is. The good binos are like the canon "L" lenses" - their colour fringing issues are almost 99% non-existent. Other obvious image quality trait of a low end bino is low contrast (things look pale), poor sharpness, poor build quality (it's like the "L" and "non-L" difference in build quality, you will feel it when u hold it).
- Think with all these info above, you should more or less be able to make out the differences between the Monarch and the Sportstar series based on the data listed in the brochure
That's about all I can think of at the moment, there are definitely still some more, but those above should be sufficient for most needs. For higher needs, just get a Swarovski/Leica/Carl Zeiss - no need think!
(Then again, these are just some simple guidelines for binos, spotting scopes is another field/knowledge arena by itself again!)