I had an awesome time observing just outside Marysville on Saturday night, but later I discovered that I left my AOE 7x50 binos behind.
Went back to look for them the next day but some lucky sod must have grabbed them already.
So now I need a pair of binos presto (because I butchered my old pair for the EPs when I got the new one from AOE...)
I'm thinking of going for something with a wider FOV than a generic 7x50 has. And in recognition of my inevitably shrinking (with age) dark-adapted pupil diameter, I probably don't need 50mm of aperture at low mag, so I've been looking at around 7x35, 8x40 sizes. Ted's Camera have
8x40 Nikon Action Seven binos on special for $159, which sounds like a good buy. Bintel's price for these is $289!
So waddaya all think, am I onto a bargain (provided I don't lose this one too
) or is this just a cheap pair of binos in brand-name packaging?