Buying binoculars at Bempton Cliffs - and the new RSPB HDs reviewed! - Bempton Cliffs - Bempton Cliffs

13 Dec 2015

In the market for a decent pair of binoculars, but don't want to have to sell the kids to do so? Mark looks at the range of choice on offer and exclusively test drives the brand new RSPB HD range, available now at the Bempton Cliffs Visitors Centre

It used to be a lot simpler. You had the high-end brands pitched at the serious birder (or, at least, the birder who wanted to be taken seriously), at seriously eye-watering prices – but even if you had to remortgage the house, you knew you getting the very best from the three or four big names who'd settled at the top of the tree as exemplars in their field.

Then you had everything else, pitched at everyone else. Which - while there were certain brands and models which were significantly better than others – served to accentuate not just the gulf in price and status, but also in quality and workmanship. As a customer you effectively fell one of two target groups: in the high-end bracket, you were either rolling in it or so besotted with your pursuit that you'd sell the kids to get a pair of bins that did your avian subjects justice. At the other end, if you were neither of the above, you had to settle for whatever you could justify or afford, with a confusing and often disappointing variety of quality and choice.

These days, it's all change on the (mostly virtual) shop shelves, and it's all the better for it. There are effectively three 'classes' of binoculars on the market – let's call them entry level, mid-range and high-end - and they've all shown a substantial improvements in the last few years. Entry level binoculars can be surprisingly usable these days, with several manufacturers leading the way, but you get what you pay for in reliability and quality of both optics and workmanship – thus, if you use your bins often and get a lot of pleasure from them, limiting yourself to, say, a £150 or £200 pair can ultimately be false economy.

If you're in the market for a high-end model, then you're probably already aware that the same three or four traditionally lauded brands maintain their monopoly, and that for the best and latest models, you're looking at four figures before you can say 'diamonds are forever' . It's worth mentioning, however, that while there have indeed been recent improvements in this category, it's reached a point where there's so little to choose between them, it almost doesn't matter which of the top manufacturers you eventually decide to cross the palm of.

Which leaves us with the mid-range - the class which has shown the most marked upward surge in quality of late - and it's here where the all-new RSPB HD range comfortably nestles post-launch this month. It's an increasingly crowded, and therefore competitive, marketplace; good news for consumers, especially those who are serious about their birding and their enjoyment of nature, but who were previous excluded from the quality optics market. So, with plenty of choice and new models appearing all the time, how does the new RSPB range rack up?

I've been test-driving the 8x42 HDs, and comparing them against my trusty 8x42 Leica Trinovids, a high-end model that have served me well for some years. I should point out that at no point did I expect the RSPB HDs to match them, and nor should they be expected to with such a huge difference in price (the former a mere third of the latter) – but with a £500 tag, I was hoping for something that would exude the requisite quality on multiple levels.

They've been put to the test in various situations here in Filey over the last few days, including out on the wave-pummeled promontory of the Brigg and in the more genteel, sheltered environs of the Dams and East Lea (our local wetland reserves), as well as in various lights and conditions - and I'm happy to report they were very much up to the challenge in every department.

The 'feel' of your binoculars is one of the most important and often undervalued features, and this is an area where the RSPB HDs instantly score highly. Beyond their refreshingly no-frills, functional appearance, they sit very comfortably in your palms and are well-balanced overall. Better still, their textured TPU body armour makes them 'stick' very satisfyingly in your grip, a feature they have up on even some of the higher-end models.

The design and positioning of all other features are similarly traditional, with the focus wheel positioned at the top of the central bridge and the dioptre on the right-hand eye-piece. The former is easy to reach even for small hands, and turns smoothly but firmly (another sign of quality), while the latter is reassuringly difficult to move without making an effort to do so.

The eye-pieces have three settings – fully retracted for those who wear glasses, halfway, and fully extended – and the three settings click into place easily but firmly, a feature that is a welcome new addition to the RSPB range. As you'd expect from new HD binoculars, they're nitrogen-filled to prevent fogging and are fully waterproof, and come with a ten-year warranty (which is about par for the mid-range pair).

Optically, they're impressive, and there were several areas where they excelled. Most notably, image refraction was minimal, and was limited to a narrow area at the very outer reaches of the field of view (and thus are noticeably better than some of their contemporaries); light gathering was excellent, even in overcast and darker conditions, and image sharpness even gave the Leicas a run for their money.

On one important aspect they even beat their far more expensive cousins, and by some distance, too: their close-focusing range (i.e. the distance at which you can focus down on a subject close at hand) is great, substantially better than my Leicas, and indeed better than the two metres detailed on the accompanying specifications. If you want to make the most of a wider variety of wildlife when out and about with your binoculars, then this is a critical and often overlooked feature that, if you pick the right pair, will greatly improve your experience - for dragonflies, butterflies and other insects in particular.

So, if you're in the market for a serious pair of binoculars but don't want to pay astronomical prices, it's fair to say the new RSPB HDs are very much worth checking out - and there's a perfect opportunity to do so.... the visitor centre at Bempton Cliffs has an excellent selection of optics (including the new, just-arrived HDs), knowledgeable staff on hand to help and advise, and even dedicated optics Open Weekends where you can really test-drive your options. The next is just a few days away, on Saturday 19th and Sunday 20th December – why not drop by and see for yourself?

Mark James Pearson