Best Binoculars for under $200 / £200

January 14, 2010 | Posted by Best Binocular Reviews

In my last post, I highlighted an offer where you can get $200 Off Swaroviski EL Binoculars, but what happens if you are on a tight budget and only have $200/£200 to spend on a pair of binoculars? What are the best cheap binoculars?

Cheap Binoculars

I don’t recommend getting the very cheapest binoculars: the quality of the optics and their construction is so poor that  in many cases they are almost unusable. By the very cheapest, I am taking about binoculars that cost less than $40/£30, so unless you only plan on using them once and then throwing them away, don’t get them.

Having said that there are some very good mid priced and cheap binoculars: by mid priced I mean binoculars between $130 – $300 and by cheap I mean binoculars under $130/£130. This is relatively speaking as many people may argue that this amount of money means that they are not cheap, but if you compare this price to the very best binoculars that cost almost $2000, they are a tenth of the price.

Value for Money

The difference in quality between a pair of binoculars at this price and the very best binoculars is far less than the difference in quality you get from the very cheapest binoculars to a good pair of mid priced or even cheap binoculars under $200 and in my opinion at this price range, you can get some really good value for money.  So what are the best cheap binoculars?

Best Full Size Binoculars under $200 / £200

Harder to find good full size binoculars in this price range, than compacts, but there are a few gems that I feel make excellent value for money:

Bushnell 10×42 NatureView Binoculars

Primarily designed for birding and wildlife viewing, but they also make fantastic general all purpose binoculars. They come with quality BaK-4 roof prisms, as well as Multi-coated optics. One of the features that really stands out on the Bushnell Nature View series are the fact that they are fully fog and waterproof and are encased in a rugged, non-slip rubber armor, that will not only absorb small shocks that are bound to occur in day to day use, but are really comfortable and well balanced, making them great for observing a subject for long periods of time. An added feature that shows Bushnell’s attention to detail is the fact that they can be adapted to fit onto a tripod, using the standard ¼-inch threading.

If you are looking for full size binoculars specifically for bird watching, you may also like to consider the Bushnell 8×42 NatureView Binoculars that whilst are slightly less powerful, they have  a wider field of view.

Olympus 10×42 Magellan Binoculars

These are designed for the extreme outdoor enthusiast and they use some of the finest quality components to produce an overall excellent quality binocular. They come with high index Bak-4 roof prisms, meaning that they are made from superior optical glass that produces clearer and sharper images. The quality of the optics in any pair of binoculars is a key indicator to it’s overall quality. Cheaper binoculars will use Bk-7 prisms which are adequate, but far inferior to Bak-4 prisms, which offer better light transmission and sharpness to the edges of the image.

The lenses on these are also fully multi-coated, the word “fully” is important here as many cheaper binoculars will advertise that their lenses are “Multi-Coated” which means that at least some surfaces (usually only the first and the last) have multiple layers of anti-reflection coatings. These are Fully Multi-Coated meaning that every air to glass surface has multiple layers of antireflection coatings that will assist in the transmission of light to make the image that you look at sharp and clear.

These Magellan’s have a recommended retail price of around $300, but in reality you can find them on most websites including Amazon for under $200, making them excellent value for money. As with the Bushnell’s above, these are also available with an 8x magnification that may suit you better if you are looking for birding binoculars: Read my review on the Olympus 8×42 Magellan Binoculars.

Best Compact Binoculars under $200 / £200

There are many compact binoculars in this price range, but which are the best that I have so far reviewed?

Steiner 10×26 Safari Pro Binoculars

Steiner in general offer some of the best value for money binoculars on the market and in my opinion these 10×26 Steiner Safari Pro binoculars from Steiner offer an incredible quality to value ratio and are for me the best in their class. If you are looking for a compact, tough good value pair of binoculars ideal to travel with, these should towards the very top, if not the top of your shopping list.

Whilst it is probably true to say that Safari Pro’s don’t use Steiner’s ultimate quality optics, you must remember that these are a fraction of the cost of top end binoculars and yet these still offer you a very impressive bright and sharp image. Steiner say that their optics also block haze and filter UV light, which protect your eyes making them comfortable to look through as well as to bring you sharp images.

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