Nikon Aculon T11 8-24X25 Binoculars

[Skymaster]

Does anyone have experience of using these zoom binoculars?

Amazon and Currys have them for under £100 at the moment.

Only 350gms, so less than a third of the weight of my current bins!

[davem]

If you can a) hold them steady and b) see and focus anything clearly above about 12x with such a small objective lens then you're doing very very well...

[slogen51]

These days it seems you just need a pair of spectacles to see your adsb screen or the back of your DSLR

[Skymaster]

If you can a) hold them steady and b) see and focus anything clearly above about 12x with such a small objective lens then you're doing very very well...

Well, that's one of the things I've been wondering about.

I came across the Nikon Aculon A211 10-22x50 Zoom Binoculars this morning, and although much heavier, at 962gms, is quite well rated, and around the same price.

They seem like the better option, although I would have liked something a bit lighter.

[Skymaster]

As a follow up, I decided to buy the Nikon Aculon A211 10-22x50 Zoom Binoculars from Amazon.

Initially, I found them to be quite good, but did notice that the field of view at only 3.8°was noticeably less that the 5.5°at 12x of my old Hilkinson 7-12x40 zoom bins.

After having tried the Nikons for a few days, I wasn't entirely happy with the spotting performance for distant aircraft, due to the smaller field of view. However, once spotted, the zoom was pretty good, to confirm ID.

At 962gms, they did feel lighter, but not enough to make much difference. The Hilkinsons, although smaller in size, weigh in at 1098gms.

So for the time being, I shall stick with the Hilkinsons, and the Nikons will be going back to Amazon.