Lidl Rocktrail Binoculars

[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.

[MikB]

...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.

Yes, a pair of minty Zeiss Jenoptems in 8x30 or 10x50 are a good choice around that price. Make sure they have a 'DDR' mark and a 7-digit serial number - there were some Japanese versions made which some say are licence-built and others say are fakes, but all agree are of lesser quality.

Another golden oldie is the Swift Audubon of the 1970s and 80s - they're a bit heavy but you won't see a better, sharper, brighter and more faithfully-coloured image anywhere. 8.5x44s, they go for £50 - £100 on the Bay.

Regards,
MikB

[mark22c]

im refusing to buy a pair of jen 8x30's of the bay... still searching for a mint set from a boot sale or charity shop, i want to be able to say i got them for a tenner!!!

[MikB]

im refusing to buy a pair of jen 8x30's of the bay... still searching for a mint set from a boot sale or charity shop, i want to be able to say i got them for a tenner!!!

How long will you give it before you decide it might be more important to actually have them ?

Regards,
MikB

[junkyard dog]

Yes, a pair of minty Zeiss Jenoptems in 8x30 or 10x50 are a good choice around that price. Make sure they have a 'DDR' mark and a 7-digit serial number - there were some Japanese versions made which some say are licence-built and others say are fakes, but all agree are of lesser quality.



Regards,
MikB

I bought a pair of Zeiss Jenoptems 10*50 off the bay many years ago and had them serviced. They are by far the best value for money you will find anywhere if you get the real McCoy.
You really need to do your homework on this as a very high percentage of the ones on the bay are either out and out fakes or as you said built under licence. Either way they are inferior.
I found a German information document on how to spot the not right ones, it was 3 or 4 pages including pictures detailing everything from little things like the size of screw heads to the more obvious discrepancies. I'm sure I saved it somewhere but I'm buggered if I can find it.

[Unframed Dave]

I know it's easter guys, but that was resurrection after 3 days, not ten years.

Dave

[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