Any good Binoculars for under $100?

A few things I've learned the hard way.

Don't go cheap on:
Boots
Bullets
Binoculars

That said, there's no reason to buy the most expensive either unless you just want to. The Yosemite are quality glass under $100. Minox 6.5 IF are an excellent value under $200. From the $300 mark it's harder and harder to find poor bins.

Some of my friends have +$300 bino's at the range, I dont see $290.05 worth of difference from my set
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The range is not the place to test bins. Low light areas where shadows are abundant is a much better place to compare glass. Moving from one set to another immediately will identify that missing $290.
 
You might choose some for him & they might not suit HIS eyes
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This is true, for example if he has astigmatism and wears eyeglasses he'll need lots of eye relief (18mm or more) or it's like looking through a peephole.
What he will use them for and where is important as well. Low light needs large objective lenses.
 
Fish^

I tried them one after the other at the range, still couldn't see THAT much difference...

Each to their own.... I like cheap, others can suit themselves.... no probs ;)
 
Again my friend, the range is NOT the place to test bins. I carried cheapos for years until I was given the opportunity to field test some very nice ProMasters. I was stunned by what I was missing. My eye's have seen the light, my three year old son has my bargain bins. Dusk or Dawn glassing will reveal some very useful information.

Whether or not you care to take the dusk challenge doesn't make me the slightest difference. If yer happy that's all that matters, right?:)
 
Fish

Absolutely correct, my friend :D

When I win lotto.... I might buy an expensive pair ($29.95) :D

Nah, If I won Lotto, I would buy a set with infra-red, ultra green, night vision, green dot/red dot (any color dang dot I want!) super sonic, teflon coated.... hubble quality.... and I might even pay up to $70 :eek::D:D
 
zeiss classics were only 800$ at cabelas a while back...i love em. took a guy hunting and he whipped out a set of bushnells i think and said these cost me 150 bucks...we were looking at some elk at about 400yrds early and in the trees. after a few minutes he asked...are there any bulls in that herd...i handed him my zeiss'....he left his binos in the truck after that and said he was going to buy a pair of good glasses b4 the next hunting season.

you cant hunt or shoot what you cant see. buy good glass.

same goes for scopes...just last weekend...good friend and i went to sight in rifles...he has a leupold of some sort. i have all zeiss. we went out to 400 yrds and he said where the heck did the target go? he couldnt get a clear focus...looked through my conquests..."im buying a new scope for myself this christmas."
 
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

No kidding!:D

You know, the OP asked about <100 dollar binocs, I don't why anybody is talking about Zeiss or Svarovski.:p

Seriously, think outside the sporting goods box, the big astronomy outlets have some binocs with excellent optics at reasonable prices.
 
I got my dad some Nikon Action Zoom in something like 7-15X, adjustable. They work very well. I know increased zoom doesn't make up for clarity, but while not as clear at 15x it's still very serviceable. As I recall they were refurbished for $79. Also check out thesamplelist.com where they have Nikon Action 12x binos for $120. I also like the Leupold Yosemitie, which you can go check out at your nearest Academy for $100.
 
Good luck...

You are going to need it if you want to find good binocs for less than a $100. I would recommend looking for a good used pair if you really want to get decent optics for the price you are looking at swfa.com.
 
Optics are kind of an interesting point right now. I was briefling dabbling with the idea of getting into some amateur astronomy after going to one of the state science conferences. The telescope folks seem to have this exact same schism. Some swear up and down that anything less than $300 is a waste of time. Others (folks like astronomy professors at local universities) indicate that optics have come a long way and you can get "more than sufficient" quality for $100 or so.

Ironically, pretty much everybody recommends a good pair of binoculars to begin with (Good defined by them seems to be about $150 or so).

Probably like vhs vs dvd or regular cable vs HD - you don't really notice the difference until you look through the good stuff and then go back to the crap. Then again, if the cheap version gets you everything you need...
 
Lots and lots and lots

I have a pair of 20x50 that cost me less than $30.

The 7x50s and 10x50s are available at Wally World for well under $100.

That said, the gift cert idea is a good plan.
 
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