On Thu, 18 Nov 1999 Turaco14 at aol.com wrote:

>
> I've come to realize that I need some new binoculars. So, for the
> Holiday's I am asking for a pair of Pentax 10x42 DCF WP binos. I was
> originally kinda hoping for the 10x42 Swarovski SLC Mk III's, but after
> having a talk with my parents we decided that because I am only fourteen, the
> binoculars I own now should not be the binoculars I have for the rest of my
> life. Are the Pentax's a good buy? Or is there a better pair for the price?
> Also, anyone know where I can find the Pentax's for the cheapest price?
>
Tyler--

your folks may be right... a substantial investment
might be more appropriate down the road..plus the fact
that with the increased numbers of people participating
in Watchable Wildlife the optics gang is putting more
effort into turning out good stuff..this could mean some
break throughs coming up in the not too distant future.
pariticularly at the low end.
meanwhile, there are some good optics out there for not
a lot of money.

Swift has updated their Audubon series and the glass is
pretty good. Their porro prism bins are about $219.00
from the mail order houses like Eagle Optics, etc..
I don't recall the size of the larger lens in the 10x
I think it's at least 42 and good color and brightness
makes for a pretty crisp image.. they're not as good
as the high end Zeiss, Swarovski, Leica, etc.. but
they give respectable performance in the field and they
are reasonably price...only down side is they're big
and a bit heavy.. my wildlife photographer friend Jim
Pruske is a real nitpicker when it comes to optics and
he liked his 8x porros so much he bought another pair in 10x.

I know Swift has come out with roof prism 10x rubberized
like the Zeiss for about $450.. I have not looked through
these, but the porros for half the money are so good I'd
really have to have my hat knocked into the creek by the
roofs before I'd pony up the additional bucks.. like a lot
of things about optics, twice the money rarely, and probably
more accurately, never, gets you twice the performance..


Tom