Lidl Binos

"a bird" you say, yea???

yes... a little birdie... why?
:lol:

she flew off on you then, yea?

"a bird" you say, yea???

yes... a little birdie... why?
:lol:

she flew off on you then, yea?

I'm not going down this road on a public forum!

:lol:


Seanie.

"a bird" you say, yea???

yes... a little birdie... why?
:lol:

she flew off on you then, yea?

I'm not going down this road on a public forum!

:lol:


Seanie.

was probabily after been out all night "looking at the stars"
who'd believe such an reason

sayin' nuthin'.....

From Terry:


Some people have been asking me about the binoculars featured in the next Lidl Special Offer, available from Monday 13 December.
These are 8-24 x 50 zoom, costing £19.99 in N.I., and according to the website €19.99 in ROI (not fair!).
I obviously haven't seen them yet, but I'm not sure that they would be good for astronomy. For a start, zoom binocs are generally not ideal for astronomy, as the extra zoom lens elements degrade the image by the extra internal reflections and scatterings. Secondly, it costs more to produce the zoom elements & mechanism, so if they are still keeping the price low, the quality must be suffering somewhere! (Although I must say that the quality of all their other optical items has always been quite good. I've had various good reports on their two bargain telescopes, recently featured.) Third, the zoom mechanism is one more part to go wrong, although they are of course covered by guarantee.
The glass type (I presume for the prisms) is quoted as BK7, which isn't quite as good as the usual BAK4 (but it's still acceptable). It says that the lenses are 'blue', which I presume is an anti-reflection coating, but it doesn't indicate if it's multi-coating, or broadband, or full multi-coating, etc, etc. You would need to read what's on the box to be sure.
But my most serious reservation is the small field of view, which is 78m at 1000m, or just about 4.5 degrees, at 8x. Most 8x binocs would have a FOV of about 8 degrees; my 10x50's have a 7 degree field. So 4.5 degrees is really quite small, giving the impression of 'looking down a tunnel'. And the FOV will decrease considerably with higher zoom magnification.
They do have a tripod socket at the front of the centre bar, but it doesn't say whether a tripod adaptor is included.
They look well enough made from the photo, but it's impossible to say until you actually see & hold & try them. A case, strap, & lens caps are included.
So my advice would be not to rush to buy them first thing on Monday - if I get a chance I'll check out a pair 'in the flesh', and report further if I think they're worth considering.
They might be OK for birdwatching, especially at the ROI price of €19, but you would need a tripod to use them at x15 or more.
Or at that price you might like to split them into two high-power finders for your telescopes! If the zoom elements are not actually integral with the eyepieces, you could dispense with them and probably get a larger FOV. But attempt that at your own risk!