What Equipment

[Eastside Urchin]

If any,do you have for birdwatching

 

 

 

 

I have a pair of opticron BGA Oasis binoculars,although these are a third of the price of the most expensive and best makes (ie leica & swarovski)i find that they are real value for money and the images you get are not too far off the top range.

 

My telescope is a swarovski ATS65(with a 20-60 x sw zoom lense),although i am waiting for this to be sent to me,should be the next week or so,so i will let you know what its like when it comes through

[Ian_W]

Where do you buy your gear from?

[Dagger03]

Given the at times large price variations in binos and scopes, can anyone recommend where to buy.

 

I got my most recent binoculars at a place over in Merton (but have forgotten exactly where).

 

There are a lot of binoculars / scopes on sale at for example Rainham Marshes - but would prefer to compare prices first.

 

InFocus also have field days - again, would prefer to compare prices.

 

My favourite binoculars were at Minsmere - Swarovski needless to say - but were well over £1000 and I have yet to find anywhere to get them at a lower price - (no I did not buy them due to some minor problems, ie no money)

[Dagger03]

Opticron DBA 10 x 42 - Lesley - these are excellent

Viking 8 x 42 - Jay - these are very good in woodlands

Zeiss Jena - 10 x 50 - me but the binoculars are over 30 years old and I cannot find a better pair to replace them with. These are not as good as the Opticron, but the difference is too marginal to make me want to replace them - and I cannot afford Swarovski.

Scope - Miranda - but need a new one, but prefer the straight bodied ones not the kinked bodied scopes that are all the rage at the moment. Each time I ask about a scope at a show day, the salesman tells me the one I want is out of stock but by chance he has a better one nearby (at a lot more money)

[Ian_W]

http://www.warehouseexpress.com has quite good prices.

[Eastside Urchin]

I got my opticron bins from warehouse express.

I like them and although they are only £339 they are for me better value than the swarovski bins although the sharpness among other things is slightly better in the swarovski,but the price of the opticron compensates that for me.

In focus days are good,i have some recent publications and when i have more time,maybe tonight or tommorrow i will post all the recent events.

The place in merton (can't remember the name) have field days at sevenoaks amongst other places.think this is the closest they come to our area but often there are good optic days locally at places like thorndon cp and rainham marsh

[Eastside Urchin]

Dagsy,Kay optical are in Morden,surrey,this is close to Merton and may be the place you are thinking of,they have the following field days where they usually have a good range of equipment to test out and are all in good birding places to get the maximum out of the field test.

 

6th Jan,3rd Feb,2nd Mar,6th Apr Sevenoaks wildfowl reserve(on the A25 between riverhead and sevenoaks bat and ball station)

 

20th Jan,17th Feb,16th Mar,20th Apr Bough Beech nature reserve

(4 miles south of the A25/A21 junction(access from B2042 or B2027,near Idle Hill,kent,info centre north of reservoir))

 

If you tell them in advance what you want to test they will make sure they have what you want to look at on the day.

Tel 0208 648 8822

www.kayoptical.co.uk and www.bigbinoculars.co.uk

email: info@kayoptical.co.uk

They also do used items which i know many people use if they can't afford the top brands,they are usually good condition as well.

[Eastside Urchin]

Also on the 23rd of December Infocus are having a field day at fishers green,lee valley CP,essex.

Could combine it with a day trying to find bitterns!

[Dagger03]

Yes, it was Kays I was trying to think of.

 

Quite like the idea of the 23rd Dec

[Eastside Urchin]

I am thinking off heading to fishers green that day as i may be looking for a pair of 10 x 42 bins

[Mr Happy]

No joke, that's a good place for carp fishing.

[Eastside Urchin]

certainly is.I used to fish the lea as a youngster,although i never caught much!

[Ian_Sanderson]

king george V park in ramsgate is a prime place

[Ian_Sanderson]

.

[Mr Happy]

I lioke the Lea for fishing. Somehow fishing on a special stocked lake is not quite the same as sitting on a riverbank and chilling out for the day. Roll on the summer!

[Eastside Urchin]

Agreed.i like sitting on a riverbank watching the birds,i also like messing about on rivers!