Date: Tue, 9 Jan 2001 21:25:30 -0800 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: "Daniel F. McDonald" Subject: Re: RFI: need info on economical binoculars MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi Marshall-------- We have two pair of Swift 8 x 42 Ultralites and are very pleased with them after having spent 8 years with discount store specials. We also have 1 pair of Swift Ultralite 10 x 42 which are OK most of the time, but do not have as close a focusing ability as the 8 x 42. Overall, I prefer the 8 x 42 for those occasional encounters with close birds as well as for butterflies & dragonflies. We purchased the Swifts by mail order for $190 to $215. Georgia McDonald Towson, Balt. Co, MD dangeo@erols.com Marshall Iliff wrote: > Hi everyone, > > I find myself in a small dilemma and am hoping some MDOspreyers out there can > help me. I have a friend who is a budding birder and is looking to buy his > first binoculars and is hoping for something in the $200 range. I'm not much > of a "gear" person and usually gloss over the product reviews in Birding and > other magazines. Unfortunately, while I can give a long and tiring sermon on > the comparative merits of Zeiss vs. Bausch & Lomb vs. Swarovski, these are > all well out of his price range. > > Does anyone out there have any advice on binoculars in the $200 price range? > A quick look at the ABA Sales Catalogue revealed the Pentax PCF binoculars > were in that range, as were Bushnell' "Birder" and "Natureview" binoculars. I > used Bushnells back in my early days of birding and would hope that there is > something better out there. Anyone using these binoculars? Any other advice? > > I'd also be interested in any opinions on spotting scopes in the $400 or less > range. > Please reply to me offline and thanks in advance for any responses. > > Best, > > Marshall Iliff > > Ocean City, MD > miliff@aol.com > > ======================================================================= > To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com > with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey > ======================================================================= ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================