Binoculars

[rwidman]

Originally Posted by Steady Hand

Very good points!

I look for a warranty and consider it valuable IF it is easy to use. The West Marine advantage (as I see it) is the number of their "local" stores across the USA, which makes it easier to get warranty satisfaction on their products.

Your example is a good one, and to me, that warranty coverage has value.

West Marine warranty story:

I bought a West Marine inflator for my dinghy. I tried it out a couple times, then set out on a long cruise. The first time I used it, it failed (broken internal parts). One of our stops was within walking distance of a West Marine store. I took it there, asked for the manager and explained my story and the fact that my receipt was at home not on the boat.

He looked up my purchase using my West Marine card, handed me a replacement and apologized for the problem.

[Orion Jim]

Nikon Oceanpro 7X50's for me. Tried all the similar priced options and found them best in my opinion. I've used Nikon Monarch's for hunting and have been satisfied for 20 years. In my opinion you've got to spend $2,000.00 plus to get improved optics.

[rwidman]

I read some of the reviews posted and some I found on my own. The problem is, most of these are written by companies selling binoculars. So, if the company is selling several different brands and they make a larger profit on one of these brands, we can expect the reviews to be slanted towards that brand. And of course none are including West Marine binoculars in their reviews because they don't sell them.

I'm just going to go down to WM and try theirs. If they solve my problem I'll ask when they go on sale next. For my needs, the $270 pair that goes on sale for $200 should do just fine.

[rwidman]

Well, after a bit of research, it seems West Marine sells over a dozen different styles of 7X50 binoculars, anywhere from $89 to over $600. Some models are available with or without a compass, some not.

I went to one store and they had a couple. I went to a different, bigger store and they had more but the anti theft straps were tied around the focusing mechanism making them hard to try.

They and a couple models where you focus individually for each eye and then everything from 60 yards to the horizon is in focus. These seemed to work for me, what are people's thoughts on this?

At ant rate, none were on sale and the employees didn't know when the next sale would be so I left empty handed. I won't need them for a while anyway and I do have working binoculars, just not good ones.

[redsky49]

The individual focus glasses are great if:
You are the sole user
You have no requirements for a close focus - such as the spreader tips on a sailboat

Center focus becomes very familiar and one focuses quickly and without much thought after a bit of use. If you are a bird watcher these would be the better choice.

Either works for me. My suspicion is that the individual focus may be less prone to water ingress, and some what more reliable over the long haul due to the absence of the linked focusing mechanism.

Just my opinion

[rwidman]

Originally Posted by redsky49

The individual focus glasses are great if:
You are the sole user
You have no requirements for a close focus - such as the spreader tips on a sailboat

Center focus becomes very familiar and one focuses quickly and without much thought after a bit of use. If you are a bird watcher these would be the better choice.

Either works for me. My suspicion is that the individual focus may be less prone to water ingress, and some what more reliable over the long haul due to the absence of the linked focusing mechanism.

Just my opinion

I don't need close focus but I would need to take my wife along and see how she did with them.

But - since we are both wearing glasses would it be any different?

[El Pinguino]

Originally Posted by rwidman

Well, after a bit of research, it seems West Marine sells over a dozen different styles of 7X50 binoculars, anywhere from $89 to over $600. Some models are available with or without a compass, some not.

I went to one store and they had a couple. I went to a different, bigger store and they had more but the anti theft straps were tied around the focusing mechanism making them hard to try.

They and a couple models where you focus individually for each eye and then everything from 60 yards to the horizon is in focus. These seemed to work for me, what are people's thoughts on this?

At ant rate, none were on sale and the employees didn't know when the next sale would be so I left empty handed. I won't need them for a while anyway and I do have working binoculars, just not good ones.

I have individual focus on my Fujinons that I use on the boat.
Ashore I have Nikon 8x40s which are centre focus.... they need a bit of work focusing but are excellent for close in work.... birds n stuff. They would also be good for checking rigging and stuff aloft I guess.
Afloat generally you don't need to look at things closer than 60 yards and being able to just lift the glasses and look at distant objects is very handy... you don't want to be mucking around with focus at 02dark in a lumpy sea.

I reckon that the bins that WM sell between $200/$300 are probably reasonable quality, below that I would avoid.....

[travellerw]

Just an FYI..

The Fujinons I posted earlier have individual focus, a compass and they FLOAT. As a side effect of floating, they are fairly light weight and easy to use for extended periods. One user said something about them having low light passing.. BOGUS, they read that information from an Amazon review and not from the company. Although I can't find the light passing spec, those Binocs are bright and clear.

Buy those Binocs and you will be happy.

[El Pinguino]

Originally Posted by travellerw

Just an FYI..

The Fujinons I posted earlier have individual focus, a compass and they FLOAT. As a side effect of floating, they are fairly light weight and easy to use for extended periods. One user said something about them having low light passing.. BOGUS, they read that information from an Amazon review and not from the company. Although I can't find the light passing spec, those Binocs are bright and clear.

Buy those Binocs and you will be happy.

Fujinon 7x50 WPC-XL Mariner Binocular with Compass 7107751 B&H
Wow.... about $60 cheaper than the same bins at WM!!
My son buys a fair bit of kit from B&H... reckons they are good to deal with.

I don't think you can go wrong with any Fujinon kit.... whatever the pice

[ranger58sb]

Originally Posted by rwidman

They and a couple models where you focus individually for each eye and then everything from 60 yards to the horizon is in focus. These seemed to work for me, what are people's thoughts on this?

Originally Posted by rwidman

I don't need close focus but I would need to take my wife along and see how she did with them.

But - since we are both wearing glasses would it be any different?

Ours are in focus from about 20' to infinity.

Eyeglass wearers seem to always be able to see clearly through mine without adjusting focus. I assume that's because vision is already corrected.

(I rarely allow others to use mine, though; wifey has her own individual-focus binoc with compass, and we have my smaller center-focus hunting model on board for guests. Drive me crazy, but they're lighter for when in the mountains.)

-Chris

[travellerw]

Originally Posted by El Pinguino

Fujinon 7x50 WPC-XL Mariner Binocular with Compass 7107751 B&H
Wow.... about $60 cheaper than the same bins at WM!!
My son buys a fair bit of kit from B&H... reckons they are good to deal with.

I don't think you can go wrong with any Fujinon kit.... whatever the pice

I have only delt with one company better than B&H, and that is Amazon.. B&H has a solid website and awesome customer service..

[rwidman]

Originally Posted by El Pinguino

Fujinon 7x50 WPC-XL Mariner Binocular with Compass 7107751 B&H
Wow.... about $60 cheaper than the same bins at WM!!
My son buys a fair bit of kit from B&H... reckons they are good to deal with.

I don't think you can go wrong with any Fujinon kit.... whatever the pice

With the problems I posted earlier and my recent experience trying binoculars side by side at West Marine, I'm convinced that even though the price will be higher, I need to actually pick them up and use them for a few minutes before buying them. So, no Internet shopping for these.

I will wait for them to go on sale though.

[crazyoldboatguy]

Has anyone tried Bushnell binoculars model #137570? The claim to have a digital compass that will work as well in both hemispheres. I can't tell if their digital compass is back lit to work in low light. They also claim to have decent eye relief that will help us old farts use it with our glasses on.

The price is low and that worries me. I can't find another binoculars with a back lit digital compass until I reach the $2.6K level Steiner. And that ain't even image stabilized.

At some of the lower prices I may well buy a decent one up here in the north and then buy another when I get equatorial.

This was something I had not heard of before. Us high latitude Americans need to get out in the world more. The nice guy at West Marine hadn't heard of compass tilt as well.