Thanks to all for your help & suggestions. In the end I didn't buy Pentax, I bought some Viking Vistron 8x42s, which are a decent quality entry-level pair: http://www.vikingoptical.co.uk/viking/bins.htm#vistron
They have all I need, are well made, and are quite a bit cheaper than the Pentax equivalents. No doubt the Ps are better, but I tried these in the shop and was quite satisfied - small, bright, easy to focus, no colour-fringing or aberration that I could see. The reviews also seem to be pretty good. Of course, since I bought them the birds have all fled. -- Bob > > You've pretty much hit it on the head. The combination of close > focus/magnification/(objective diameter/exit > diameter)/price/weight and > other features like waterproofing that works for you is > something that > only you can decide. Quite often, good dealers will have > open days for > you to experience different models. Might be worth trying to > find one > of those before committing. > -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
