There is an old saying, frequently used to justify spending money. “You only get what you pay for.” is the saying, when it comes to an item like binoculars and telescopes – the cost difference beteen the cheapest and the dearest is huge and I wonder if they are that much better.
Here we have two pairs of binoculars both 10×50 and both found on Amazon, with one pair costing one hundred and twenty times more than the other. I’d like to know if the performace difference is as great, I suspect it is not – not that I would even consider a pair of binoculars at over £3,000.
Having a quick look at each of the Amazon reviews for these products is interesting, the cheap binoculars have over 200 reviews and an average score of 4.2. Whereas the expensive binoculars have no reviews, which in truth only indicates that no one has reviewed them on this site. However there are online reviews and huge price variations on other sites, with at least one site retailing these for £1,200 less than Amazon.
Still at over £1,800 they are still out of my price range, so I’m certainly unlikely to be getting my hands on a pair any time soon. For reference, just in case anyone is in the slightest interested. I carry a Bushnell 16×52 monocular in the car at all times, how would I rate it – in truth not great. Although the optics are clear, the magnificatin is closer to 8 and the object lens is about 35mm – but it does now come with a mini tripod and a smartphone holder (mine didn’t) all for the pricely sum of £7.99 so it sits in the car – just in case. And I should add that although the quality isn’t in the same league as many other monoculars or telescopes, the Bushnell cost me less than the average fish supper and that included next day delivery!