Binoculars ,, what brand, make, model, recommendation ???
 

For my little old sailboat. Coastal cruising along the New England coast.
I took a look on ebay. Wow,, there were binoculars and there were
binoculars. Many brands, so many I gave up looking.

What do you experienced cruisers use?

Thanks,,

Binoculars ,, what brand, make, model, recommendation ???
 

In article ,
Mys Terry wrote:

On Wed, 07 Jun 2006 16:53:21 GMT, "Lester Evans"
wrote:

For my little old sailboat. Coastal cruising along the New England coast.
I took a look on ebay. Wow,, there were binoculars and there were
binoculars. Many brands, so many I gave up looking.

What do you experienced cruisers use?

Thanks,,



Fujinon makes 7x50 binocs with a rubberized skin, that are waterproof
and nitrogen filled for under $100. They also re-label essentially the
same ones for various retailers, such as Defender, and West Marine.
For reading numbers off of navaids and such, they are fine. I would
recommend not going any higher than 7 power, though. 7x50 is pretty
much the standard for what you will be doing with them.

I concur with one exception. I bought a pair of the Fujinon's after
their great write up in one of the Practicals. For most usage they work
great.

However, based solely on observation, if you are going to be doing a lot
of night cruising, I found the night (or rather dusk) vision not as good
as some of those really pricey kinds.

If you are doing that type of cruising, you might want to consider the
pricey brands or a night vision system as a supplement.

h

--
To respond, obviously drop the "nospan"?

Binoculars ,, what brand, make, model, recommendation ???
 

Harlan Lachman wrote:
In article ,
Mys Terry wrote:

On Wed, 07 Jun 2006 16:53:21 GMT, "Lester Evans"
wrote:

For my little old sailboat. Coastal cruising along the New England coast.
I took a look on ebay. Wow,, there were binoculars and there were
binoculars. Many brands, so many I gave up looking.

What do you experienced cruisers use?

Thanks,,


Fujinon makes 7x50 binocs with a rubberized skin, that are waterproof
and nitrogen filled for under $100. They also re-label essentially the
same ones for various retailers, such as Defender, and West Marine.
For reading numbers off of navaids and such, they are fine. I would
recommend not going any higher than 7 power, though. 7x50 is pretty
much the standard for what you will be doing with them.

I concur with one exception. I bought a pair of the Fujinon's after
their great write up in one of the Practicals. For most usage they work
great.

However, based solely on observation, if you are going to be doing a lot
of night cruising, I found the night (or rather dusk) vision not as good
as some of those really pricey kinds.

If you are doing that type of cruising, you might want to consider the
pricey brands or a night vision system as a supplement.

h


Can you share the model number and source of Fuji
waterproof, 7x50 binoculars under $100?

Thanks.

Chuck

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Binoculars ,, what brand, make, model, recommendation ???
 

i did the ebay thing, sticking to
the brands that have served me well...
nikon and pentax, i bought the best
ones i could afford at the time...spent
around 2-3 hundred...ended up w/a nice,
heavy, rubber coated nikon...crystal
clear optics, nice case, etc....i am sure
you can find off brands at 50% less...i
fig quality and brand name are important...
i did the same w/camera gear....


Lester Evans wrote:
For my little old sailboat. Coastal cruising along the New England coast.
I took a look on ebay. Wow,, there were binoculars and there were
binoculars. Many brands, so many I gave up looking.

What do you experienced cruisers use?

Thanks,,

Binoculars ,, what brand, make, model, recommendation ???
 

Mys Terry wrote:
On Wed, 07 Jun 2006 14:05:40 -0400, chuck wrote:

Harlan Lachman wrote:
In article ,
Mys Terry wrote:

On Wed, 07 Jun 2006 16:53:21 GMT, "Lester Evans"
wrote:

For my little old sailboat. Coastal cruising along the New England coast.
I took a look on ebay. Wow,, there were binoculars and there were
binoculars. Many brands, so many I gave up looking.

What do you experienced cruisers use?

Thanks,,


Fujinon makes 7x50 binocs with a rubberized skin, that are waterproof
and nitrogen filled for under $100. They also re-label essentially the
same ones for various retailers, such as Defender, and West Marine.
For reading numbers off of navaids and such, they are fine. I would
recommend not going any higher than 7 power, though. 7x50 is pretty
much the standard for what you will be doing with them.
I concur with one exception. I bought a pair of the Fujinon's after
their great write up in one of the Practicals. For most usage they work
great.

However, based solely on observation, if you are going to be doing a lot
of night cruising, I found the night (or rather dusk) vision not as good
as some of those really pricey kinds.

If you are doing that type of cruising, you might want to consider the
pricey brands or a night vision system as a supplement.

h

Can you share the model number and source of Fuji
waterproof, 7x50 binoculars under $100?

Thanks.

Chuck


Defender has them for about $75

http://www.defender.com


Thanks.

Seems I misunderstood and thought real Fujis could
be bought for under $100.

Technically, these are Fujis because they are made
by Fuji exclusively for Defender. It's anybody's
guess whether they are identical to Fuji's branded
binoculars. It's my guess they are not in the same
league as Fuji's least-expensive binoculars. Which
does not mean they should be avoided, maybe just
approached with tempered expectations.

Chuck

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Binoculars ,, what brand, make, model, recommendation ???
 

"Lester Evans" wrote in message
news:5wDhg.5163$LN1.5074@trndny01...
For my little old sailboat. Coastal cruising along the New England coast.
I took a look on ebay. Wow,, there were binoculars and there were
binoculars. Many brands, so many I gave up looking.

What do you experienced cruisers use?

Thanks,,


Well I'd recommend you get genuine marine binoculars that are sealed and dry
nitrogen filled otherwise you will eventually get moisture inside and
corrosion/fogging.
I believe in the past only bino's with individual focus eyepieces were
constructed this way but now several manufacturers including Fujinon and
Nikon offer center focus marine bino's. I think these are a bit more
convenient to use, especially if several people with widely different eyes
are going to be using the bino's.
I would also suggest getting them with built-in compass as this lets you
take bearings of distant objects.

I have the Fujinon Mariner binoculars with compass and these seem to be
fine. I paid $149US a couple of years ago. These have a polycarbonate body
and are much lighter (and cheaper) than the MIL spec Fujinons that have
alloy bodies. For daytime use I don't think the various claims about light
gathering, coatings, etc. are all that important. Some binoculars, Steiner
for example, have a larger compass which is easier to read and, I think,
more stable. Fujinon has a digital compass in one of their models.
Nikon also makes some nice marine bino's for around $250-300.
Do a search on eBay for "compass binoculars".

Binoculars ,, what brand, make, model, recommendation ???
 

Lester Evans wrote:
For my little old sailboat. Coastal cruising along the New England coast.
I took a look on ebay. Wow,, there were binoculars and there were
binoculars. Many brands, so many I gave up looking.

What do you experienced cruisers use?

Thanks,,


Hi:

I made my living as an "observer" on most kinds of vessels both
domestic and foriegn through the 80s. My job was to look for 8 + hours
a day. got to use just about every type of opticals around. Even had
soem of thoes $650 mil armored marine jobs hand polished by Carl Ziese
himself (joke) What do I use know?

I always buy two pairs of Bushnell 10x50 Insta Focus. Way cheep at
maybe 30 bucks last I got a pair. They resonable optics. The best thing
is that if I drop them overboard, get them ripped off its no big deal.
I usually get about 5-8 years service per pair. Might even get longer
life if I used their case.

Some folks say never get biger than 7x35 or 8x50 at the most.
Personally afer 1000s of hours staring through a pair i perfer 10x50. I
can just see so much more. Movement was never a problem for me.

Go cheep.
Go 10x50.
Get two.

Bino Bob

Binoculars ,, what brand, make, model, recommendation ???
 

Lester Evans wrote:
For my little old sailboat. Coastal cruising along the New England coast.
I took a look on ebay. Wow,, there were binoculars and there were
binoculars. Many brands, so many I gave up looking.

What do you experienced cruisers use?

I'll give a different point of view. The "common wisdom" is that
proper marine binoculars must be 7x50. Certainly, this seems to be
true for night sailing. However, for daytime use, you may find that
smaller binoculars are more useful. I notice that West has a 7x25
with all the basic marine features for only $70. Although only a
quarter of the light gathering, it has the same magnification and
field of view of its big brothers, but at 9.8 oz's, its less than a
third the weight.

For my own use, I carry a Canon 10x30 Image Stabilizing at the helm -
I like the magnification for spotting marks, etc. An older pair of
waterproof 7x50 are backup. But the lightweight 8x30 Nikon that stays
in my glove compartment probably gets used most of all. Its small
enough to be stuffed in a jacket pocket, so it tends to get taken
places when a 7x50 would be left behind.

Binoculars ,, what brand, make, model, recommendation ???
 

On Wed, 07 Jun 2006 14:46:00 -0400, chuck wrote:

Seems I misunderstood and thought real Fujis could
be bought for under $100.

Technically, these are Fujis because they are made
by Fuji exclusively for Defender. It's anybody's
guess whether they are identical to Fuji's branded
binoculars. It's my guess they are not in the same
league as Fuji's least-expensive binoculars. Which
does not mean they should be avoided, maybe just
approached with tempered expectations.


A reasonable approach. Personally, I feel that my 25 year old "real"
Fujinons are the best purchase I ever made, though I really couldn't
afford them at the time. I figured every boat needed one first class
piece of gear aboard and that's the one I chose. They have saved my
butt a number of times. Nowadays, most of my cruising time is on
deliveries. The one item that *always* comes along is the Fujinons.
Maybe it's just my security blanket, but when we're hitting an
unfamiliar inlet after dusk because we're running behind, they seem to
become *everyone's* security blanket.

IMHO, an excellent pair of binoculars is one area where anyone who
strays far from the marina can justify the cost. If you often have
guests, buy that $100 pair as well and let them have fun looking
around without risking the good stuff.

Anecdotal experience: On several recent deliveries, the boats had
well-used Steiners aboard. Without exception, the Steiners had
mechanical problems of various sorts that rendered them useless.
However, I have trouble believeg that this is typical. The ones I've
handled in stores seem optically as good as my Fujinons, and don't
feel that flimsy. Any comments?

__________________________________________________ __________
Glen "Wiley" Wilson usenet1 SPAMNIX at world wide wiley dot com
To reply, lose the capitals and do the obvious.

Take a look at cpRepeater, my NMEA data integrator, repeater, and
logger at http://www.worldwidewiley.com/

Binoculars ,, what brand, make, model, recommendation ???
 

Lester Evans wrote:
For my little old sailboat. Coastal cruising along the New England coast.
I took a look on ebay. Wow,, there were binoculars and there were
binoculars. Many brands, so many I gave up looking.

What do you experienced cruisers use?

Thanks,,

i had this same question, thanks for asking it!