I was just wondering if ya'll know of a good set of Binoculars for under $200.
My wife and I were looking for sharks at the oceanfront last evening and I noticed the ones we had SUCK! I don't really need a high $$$$$ set, just one that works. I always get good feedback from ya'll and i'll post this over at the optics also.

Hey Jules. I bought a pair of Nikon 12x50 binoculars a few months ago and they work great. It is there "Action" model. This model certainly isn't there compact version but I think you will like them. We took them to Alaska on vacation with us and really enjoyed using them. I bought them over the internet and paid $119 for them. They were selling them in one of our local sporting goods store for over $200.

All I did was do a search for them on "My Simon" and found them for the $119 price. Below is one of the sites that has them for that price.

Nikon Binoculars

Jules, I just got a set of Baush & Lamb "Legacy" 8x40's. Suppose to be Waterproof, Shockproof has coated lenes, all that good stuff. They are really clear and gather lots of light. For the money I think there hard to beat! They were something like $149.95

Bob

Jules
I'd been wanting a good pair of binoculars for years and recently bought the Pentax DCF WP for about $300 off of ebay. You can get the DCF HR model (not weatherproof) for around $200. Optics are excellent. You have to play around with the pull out eyecups a bit to get a full field of view with glasses but that's my only minor complaint.
Greg

Jules,
I used to won a set of 8x32 Nikon Monarch ATB's. They worked really good for me. Only reason I got rid of them is that I moved up to a set of 8x30 Swarvoski's.

I would recommend Pentax, especially if you wear glasses. They seem to have the best eye relief. I bought a pair of 12x50 and they are very nice. That would be my vote for binocs. I would probably steer you to the weather proof models if you want them for hunting, but I think that range use would be just fine with the regular model.

Jules,

I have a pair of Leupold Wind River 10X42s. For the money (a little over you $200 limit), they are the nicest binoculars that I could find. I'm sure somebody will have something bad to say about them, but anyone that has actually handled them is impressed. Whatever you do, don't call Leupold and ask about buying a case if you happen to pick up a used pair somewhere. They're very sensitive about that. Might even hang up on you.

If you think you might want new ones, take a look here:

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/standard-item.jhtml?id=0006547711292a&navAction=push&navCount=2&indexId=&podId=0006547&catalogCode=QN&parentId=&parentType=&rid=

You can probably find a better price, but the Cabelas sight give you a pretty good look at them. If your not convinced, go to a sporting goods store and handle a pair of them. You will not be disappointed!