Courtney, There are only a few name brand binoculars (and often only a model or two within each brand) advertised as waterproof. These include Leica BA, Swarovsky, Bausch and Lomb Elite (new model), Pentax DCF WP, and Celestron (can't remember which model). The Pentax and Celestron run about $400, the B&L about $800, and the Leica and Swarovsky about $900-$1000. I've heard complaints about the Celestrons leaking moisture, and about the B&L not focusing to infinity. The others enjoy excellent reputations and are top-notch binoculars for any purpose. I'm a birdwatcher and have used them all. I did a survey on the Birdchat mailing list and found 6 of 6 Leica users satisfied with theirs. Swarovsky and Bausch & Lomb had a handful of dissatisfied users. Swarovskys need too much focus wheel turning to get from infinity to near focus, and the older ones gave a decidedly yellow tint to your view. Leicas give a blueish tint. B&L image quality, build quality, and repair service got complaints. Zeiss, while not advertised as waterproof, seemed to have no complainers about leakage, and had slightly better customer satisfaction than Swarovsky or B&L. Pentaxes were too new for ratings. Celestrons had fogging problems and their optics aren't that good. Nikon Superior Es got good ratings but they aren't waterproof. Nikon's Venture? or Voyager? new waterproof models were too new for ratings, but I'm not impressed with Nikon's past record of supporting their binoculars. I own Leica BA and Pentax DCF WP 10X42s, plus B&L Custom 10X40s (non-waterproof). The B&Ls fogged on me in Costa Rica and I've focused on waterproofness since. I've paddled with my Leicas but not with my Pentax binocs. The Leicas have been dipped in pooled salt and fresh water in my spray skirt and have been subjected to their fair share of salt spray without problems. The center focusing wheel cracked on mine and they're currently being repaired. My B&Ls are back in the shop for the third time in two years (am I hard on binoculars?), thus my current Pentax ownership. For the record, the first time was for the fogging and prisms knocked out of alignment when I dropped them. Second time was for cracked prisms (another drop?). This time it's for B&L's crummy repair as the binocs came back collimated incorrectly. I could rant about several other poor B&L repair and service problems I've personally encountered. Oh yes, I'm satisfied with my Pentax binoculars so far. And I would avoid off-brand binoculars like West Marine and Brunton. They're not quality optics - at least not of the quality desired by birdwatchers. Darrell Lee Alameda, CA snorkler_at_juno.com --------------------------------------------------- On Wed, 19 Jul 2000 11:14:20 -0700 (PDT) Courtney <sudnlycord_at_excite.com> writes: > I'm interested in getting good quality water-proof/resistant > binoculars. I > don't need anything too fancy. I'm going to go to REI to try them > out but > would love to go there with some information. Can anyone help? I > can't find > the past thread on the Paddlewise archives. Thanks. > > Courtney > *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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