Date: Wed, 10 Jan 2001 10:10:10 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Michael Bowen Subject: Inexpensive Optics Comments: cc: Marshall Iliff Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed I know Marshall Iliff suggested private messages to him on this subject, but since no one else followed that suggestion, neither will I! Actually I think it's a good subject for MDOsprey, as most of us get questions like this pretty often. Not everyone is crazy/keen/rich enough to spend $1300 on a pair of binoculars. I'm not rich enough, but I am crazy and keen. I see several references to "Swift Autobahns" in the earlier messages - unless there is a new binocular designed for high-speed birding along German roads, I suspect this should be "Swift Audubons." The lowest-in-the-line 8.5 x 44 sell for just over $200, but others in the line "Audubon" are much more expensive. Previous (quite a bit of time in the past) experience with Swift binoculars indicates to me that they are very good value for the money. I note also that Swift Ultralites, which I have no experience with, sell for around $200, even a 10x42, which probably would be great except in poor light. Birders World magazine is a good place to look for advertisements for less expensive optics from a variety of retailers. Mike D.H. Michael Bowen 8609 Ewing Drive Bethesda MD 20817 (Montgomery County) Tel.: (301)530-5764 dhmbowen@yahoo.com __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================