I know this isn't precisely photography or video related, but I figured this might be the best sub forum to ask about optics, as I guess that some of the accomplished wildlife photographers here might have some good experience. If not, mods, please feel free to move if appropriate.
I am off to South Africa in a couple of weeks with my girlfriend, visiting her cousin and staying with them for a couple of weeks. We expect to spend most of the time mooching around on game drives, and probably a couple of days in Kruger national park. We've visited a couple of times before, and both times I've taken my DSLR + long lens with me, and I'll be doing so again. However, I am not the greatest photographer, and sometimes I feel I spend too much time trying to take nice photos (and failing) and not enough time just watching the wildlife. And while I can use the camera and lens as a monoscope, it's not particularly ideal when you just want to observe.
So with that in mind, I fancy buying myself a fairly decent pair of binoculars so I can spend more time just enjoying the view. But to be honest, I don't really have a clue:
- I don't think I need huge magnification - perhaps 8x-10x, but I'm guessing a decent field of view might be more useful when scanning for wildlife. But I don't really know a good starting point.
- I'm not bothered too much about ultra compactness. Obviously the smaller the better, but we won't be doing much hiking - most of the time we'll be inside a car or on the back of a safari vehicle, so as long as they're not the sort of thing you find mounted to the bridge of a WW2 destroyer, I'm not too bothered about size.
- I need glasses, but I have contact lenses and will be wearing those the majority of the time. But it would be handy to have binoculars I could use when wearing glasses too. Is this a big factor to consider, or are most sets accommodating to glasses wearers anyway?
- I don't want to spend mega money, as besides the occasional holiday, they will get used infrequently - but at the same time, I want fairly decent quality. I've set a budget in my head of £150-200. Is this a hopelessly impractical figure?
I don't really know where to start, so rather than saying "Spec me..." I was just wondering if anyone had any suggestions based on the above (very rough) requirements - what sort of manufacturers to look for, where to buy, should I be upping the budget at all? That sort of thing, so I can cast around a bit with some more knowledge.
I am off to South Africa in a couple of weeks with my girlfriend, visiting her cousin and staying with them for a couple of weeks. We expect to spend most of the time mooching around on game drives, and probably a couple of days in Kruger national park. We've visited a couple of times before, and both times I've taken my DSLR + long lens with me, and I'll be doing so again. However, I am not the greatest photographer, and sometimes I feel I spend too much time trying to take nice photos (and failing) and not enough time just watching the wildlife. And while I can use the camera and lens as a monoscope, it's not particularly ideal when you just want to observe.
So with that in mind, I fancy buying myself a fairly decent pair of binoculars so I can spend more time just enjoying the view. But to be honest, I don't really have a clue:
- I don't think I need huge magnification - perhaps 8x-10x, but I'm guessing a decent field of view might be more useful when scanning for wildlife. But I don't really know a good starting point.
- I'm not bothered too much about ultra compactness. Obviously the smaller the better, but we won't be doing much hiking - most of the time we'll be inside a car or on the back of a safari vehicle, so as long as they're not the sort of thing you find mounted to the bridge of a WW2 destroyer, I'm not too bothered about size.
- I need glasses, but I have contact lenses and will be wearing those the majority of the time. But it would be handy to have binoculars I could use when wearing glasses too. Is this a big factor to consider, or are most sets accommodating to glasses wearers anyway?
- I don't want to spend mega money, as besides the occasional holiday, they will get used infrequently - but at the same time, I want fairly decent quality. I've set a budget in my head of £150-200. Is this a hopelessly impractical figure?
I don't really know where to start, so rather than saying "Spec me..." I was just wondering if anyone had any suggestions based on the above (very rough) requirements - what sort of manufacturers to look for, where to buy, should I be upping the budget at all? That sort of thing, so I can cast around a bit with some more knowledge.
