Lidl Rocktrail Binoculars

[Mark_T]

The recently promoted Rocktrail, 30x60 Binoculars priced at £ 14.99 are, at first glance a cheap and powerful set of binoculars.

However the pair I purchased have been a major disappointment. The most serious flaw is that the two scope tubes are not aligned and the higher the magnification, the worse the error. At maximum magnification there is about a 1/4 frame vertical error between the two images. This renders them useless as binoculars at max magnification.

Light transmission is also poor and they would be unusable in low light conditions. Structurally they are reasonably well made and feel comfortable. The zoom function works and retains focus but the right-eye correction is minimal. There is no documentation supporting the "5 year warranty."

I may try to adjust them one day if I can be bothered.

Anyone buying one of these should test it at full magnification before making a purchase.

I would recommend paying more for a better product.

Performance 3/10
Features 7/10
Ease of use 8/10
Build Quality 8/10
Value for money 3/10

[mondo]

Columnated binos are no use what so ever.. take em back and get ya cash back mate..Thanks for the heads up as I was going to buy a pair

[mark22c]

a while ago they were doing fixed power 10x50's for £14.99 that for the money where not bad but zoom binoculars are at any price a waste of money.
you get very narrow field of view, hazy image, poor optical alignment giving double image and or head aches, very dim image at any where near full power and fall apart plastic build quality.
i've bought and used or at least sampled 100's of binoculars(i collect binoculars... well just the good ones)
if you want good quality build, optics and realistic power for a hand held use with a sharp clear bright image go on the bay and pick up a pair of old "made in USSR" (not the new russian federation ones) bnu5 8x30's for around £25 or cheaper.
i've never ever found a good pair of zoom binoculars.

[MikB]

i've never ever found a good pair of zoom binoculars.

Absolutely right. You always pay for the zoom feature by the loss of some important property, optical and/or mechanical. Usually field of view, resolution, image brightness and mechanical reliability. Not really much else to sacrifice is there? Oh, yes, I forgot - they're usually heavier too.

Regards,
MikB

[sitsinhedges]

What do you expect for £15 when a top quality pair cost near to a grand

[mark22c]

i got pretty close performance wise to the best swaro's for £360 if you dont have that budget the are a few good oldies to look out for that'll blow the cheap modern stuff away.
saying that a lot of the old stuff was pretty naff as well but a few i've found can be had for under £30 maybe £10 if your lucky.
found a pair of old 70's jb7 made nikkor 8x30's for £15 and they were pretty much top quality in there day and still hold there own against modern stuff costing £100's the only thing that lets them down are the old anti reflective coatings... not that you'd really notice.
a few old top quality late 70's with multi coated optics carl zeiss bins can be had for around the £100 mark, superb quality, just takes a little research to find the best ones.
those ussr made 8x30's are good as well and can be found for under £25, i know you need to spend a few hundred pounds to better them with new stuff.

i wouldnt touch modern cheap stuff these days, just looking through them makes me wince with disgust.

hand held 10x is about the max thats usable any ways most prefer 8x.

when folk peer through my 8x42's i always get asked how powerful they are when i ask em to guess they say stuff like 30x or 50x as every thing is so clear and sharp. as one friend said "better than my eyes!" when i tell em just 8x there like No!!!! get away!!! how much were they.... i mumble...... ah hem... nearly £400.

but i show em my ussr made 8x30's and almost every time i'll sell them to them for £25. get a good pair that are still aligned and they last you a life time, i found a few duff pairs but on the whole i'de recommend them every time for those on a tight budget.

[gordon]

a while ago they were doing fixed power 10x50's for £14.99 that for the money where not bad but zoom binoculars are at any price a waste of money.
you get very narrow field of view, hazy image, poor optical alignment giving double image and or head aches, very dim image at any where near full power and fall apart plastic build quality.
i've bought and used or at least sampled 100's of binoculars(i collect binoculars... well just the good ones)
if you want good quality build, optics and realistic power for a hand held use with a sharp clear bright image go on the bay and pick up a pair of old "made in USSR" (not the new russian federation ones) bnu5 8x30's for around £25 or cheaper.
i've never ever found a good pair of zoom binoculars.

Iv`e just bought a set of these off the bay, really good quality, and come with a set of night filters, not tried them in the field yet but first impressions are good.

[deano]

a while ago they were doing fixed power 10x50's for £14.99 that for the money where not bad but zoom binoculars are at any price a waste of money.
you get very narrow field of view, hazy image, poor optical alignment giving double image and or head aches, very dim image at any where near full power and fall apart plastic build quality.
i've bought and used or at least sampled 100's of binoculars(i collect binoculars... well just the good ones)
if you want good quality build, optics and realistic power for a hand held use with a sharp clear bright image go on the bay and pick up a pair of old "made in USSR" (not the new russian federation ones) bnu5 8x30's for around £25 or cheaper.
i've never ever found a good pair of zoom binoculars.

+1, have to agree! i also refuse to have a zoom feature on any of my scopes, as i feel the image quality from a fixed mag is far superior