Decent pair of Binocs?

[Peppermint]

Any recommendations? Don't know much about them myself, have used a pair before though. Looking for something with a nice zoom, good lenses etc. I live not too far from NZCH now, can see the planes take-off heading north (can't remember the RW#, oh well) can't quite make-out the livery on the tails of the 737s, but can on the Singapore and Emirates 777 that departs just before sunset (looks stunning from my place when they're climbing with the sun behind them).

Basically I want a decent pair of binocs, doesn't have to be top of the line or anything fancy. Wanting to spend as little as possible without getting a rubbish pair, maybe sub $80? $120 at the most? Wouldn't mind getting a good camera too, something a bit more serious than a regular digi-cam everyone seems to have, but again not too many features for an amateur. I've been told to look for a SLR camera around the $400 mark new for a nice 'beginner-friendly' one.

[Ian Warren]

I have a pair off HANIMEX-7X50 -124M at 1000 M , they are good but well over 30 years old , be interested to hear better type , this is the info required from our ATC guys , Matt , Craig and Nick and give recommendations .

PS: Peps , how is your place in Kaiapoi ? .. your still hanging in their or got out ?

[IslandBoy77]

QUOTE (Peppermint @ Oct 13 2010, 11:31 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Any recommendations? Don't know much about them myself, have used a pair before though. Looking for something with a nice zoom, good lenses etc. I live not too far from NZCH now, can see the planes take-off heading north (can't remember the RW#, oh well) can't quite make-out the livery on the tails of the 737s, but can on the Singapore and Emirates 777 that departs just before sunset (looks stunning from my place when they're climbing with the sun behind them).

Basically I want a decent pair of binocs, doesn't have to be top of the line or anything fancy. Wanting to spend as little as possible without getting a rubbish pair, maybe sub $80? $120 at the most? Wouldn't mind getting a good camera too, something a bit more serious than a regular digi-cam everyone seems to have, but again not too many features for an amateur. I've been told to look for a SLR camera around the $400 mark new for a nice 'beginner-friendly' one.

I can't speak to the binocs part of your question, but would agree with the price-point for a fair camera. Like CPUs and video cards, you will find people have their fav brands / models of cameras. I've been into photography at a medium amateur level for about 25 year's now, and have owned 3 film cameras and 3 digital ones. My film cams were Canon, Minolta 8000i then Olympus iS-100. For digis, I went Fuji, Kodak, Canon Powershot A720AS and now Fuji. I like the extra fire-power of the full SLRs like the Minolta 8000i, but hate the 'clutter' of the bigger form factor and extra lenses. The Fuji FinePix S2000HD I have now is a fair camera, but I don't think I will keep it long term. Things to like: pretty good 15x optical zoom, 10MP, fair wide angle, fair macro, ok menu system, fair autofocus, can record HD movies at 30mins a time, fairly compact given it's features, average to slightly above average images. Things not to like: no manual focus (I REALLY miss that from my film cameras - next digi WILL have it, on pain of death!), HD vid has trouble autofocusing and I can hear the 'grinding' of the AF on the soundtrack often - yuck!, macro could be better, startup is a little slow (2-3 seconds - that's alot if I'm trying to get something quickly!), colours can be a little off in certain circumstances, zoom not really enough in some situations (must try for 20x next time), some colour-shifting in images under certain circumstances (according to reviews, this is quite a common problem for 10MP / 15x zoom digis of 12-18 month's ago).

What you will find is that different brands of cameras bring out different colours in photos. I find the Fujis tend to bring out the greens and yellows. Other cams tend to bring out the blues and reds, and combos thereof. Since I shoot a lot of scenery pics, the green / yellow suits my subject matter and style. Most of the major brands of digi cams are good in their own way, and have their own foibles and problems. You might find these websites to be very handy:
http://www.dpreview.com/
http://www.photoreview.com.au/
http://dcresource.com/

Whatever cam you get, I'd strongly recommend spending 5-10 hours having a good read-up on it so you go into the experience fully aware of where it's at and how the reviewers found it's operation. Annoyingly for me, there was no mention about the AF problem on the HD video for my cam - but even if there had been, it may only have been through me using the cam & experiencing the annoyance regularly that would really have brought home the depth of that 'problem'.

Anyway, I hope that helps. A bit like with computers, a few extra bucks spent on a digi cam seldom disappoints.

[Peppermint]

QUOTE (Ian Warren @ Oct 14 2010, 12:28 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I have a pair off HANIMEX-7X50 -124M at 1000 M , they are good but well over 30 years old , be interested to hear better type , this is the info required from our ATC guys , Matt , Craig and Nick and give recommendations .

PS: Peps , how is your place in Kaiapoi ? .. your still hanging in their or got out ?

Ah we moved out of there about this time last year, living in Redwood now. Our old place was in a bad part of Kaiapoi, heard they've only just got the sewer stuff back working.

[Ian Warren]

You have Drain Damage and me Brain Damage , big part good friend left my work place , lived in Kaiapoi with young family , this guy was one hell off a great team leader , dout i will see him again but fingers crossed him and family fine .

[Fozzer]

Binocs?.......!

Standard "10 X 50" should do you fine, and wont cost the Earth....less than £100... ...!

Popular for Bird Watching.....

(Blondes or Brunettes).... ...!

Paul.... ...!

I squint through an old Toilet Roll cardboard tube...pretend its my Telescope... ...!

[Ian Warren]

QUOTE (Fozzer @ Oct 16 2010, 03:27 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Binocs?.......!
I squint through an old Toilet Roll cardboard tube...pretend its my Telescope... ...!

.. I did that but glued two together , little more modeling they really looked good ! Obviously my father thought i was in real trouble and brought me a pair of kids binocs , heck was was only 7-8 or maybe 9 then