Need advice

[g-hog]

Guys I am hoping someone can help guide me a little bit. My mother wants to get my dad a pair of binoculars for Christmas. I want to get him a piar of Olympus mainly because I can get them at cost and get much more bang for the buck.

He will be using these mainly for sporting events, football, baseball games etc. And might carry them hunting sometimes he hunts pretty light. Here are a couple models I have looked at but know nothing about them other than the smaller objective the less light. If someone has any comments on which way would be best please chime in. I am really lost. I think he would like the zoom feature but most of them only have a 25mm objective. would this be acceptable?

Here is a link to a couple of them, you can view all at Olympus Binoculars

Here is a zoom model
Tracker 10-30x25

Or would something like these be better
Pathfinder EXPS 12X50

There is about a $50 difference in price on these two models. Thanks for any help or input

GHog

 

[wvhunter]

I just got a pair of Nikon Action 8x40 and really like them. Low light quality is excellant. They are full sized with a good field of view. Also thru the end of the year Nikon has a rebate of 35 bucks as well. They run about 120 bucks thru Cabela's before the rebate. I also got a Crooked Horn Outfitters "Bino-System" and it is outstanding for having your binos ready but not having the strape cutting at your neck. Granted the Action series isn't like looking thru Zeiss or some of the other high end bino's but they are 500+ bucks either.

 

[MrPike]

g-hog,
I'm far from an expert, but here's my two cents. Looks like a pretty big difference between the two models you listed, one is very small and compact (< 1 lb) and the other is large (2 lbs). The 12x50 would do a great job zooming on an image and keeping it bright, and would do much better under the low light conditions than the compact. If it wouldn't be used too much for hunting or watching fields, maybe that isn't too important.

I also use 8x40 for the compromise between size/weight and low light function. To me, that is a great in between size that can function well under any of the circumstances you mentioned. I had some trouble looking at the Olympus link you posted, so I couldn't see what all they had there. I'd bet they have an 8x40 and that might be a good bet for you, if they don't you can consider the Nikon like wvhunter uses. I have Pentax PCFIII's and I paid a good bit more than the Nikon's are. I would suggest you consider an 8x40 in whatever brand (Olympus or Nikon) makes most sense to you.

Good Luck!

 

[Hmebuildr]

G Hog try these out 10X30IS Canon http://www.canonbinocular.com/10x30is/index.html. These are great they have a image stabilizer in them that is incredible you can find them on ebay for around $300