admin:I'm curious to hear about the web sites that others use for learning about binoculars.
There are two sites that I found in my search for reliable evaluations of birding glass.
Better View Desired does comparisons of spotting scopes and binos, emphasizing a "no holds barred, no-nonsense, practical
comparative testing" approach to birding optics. These guys know glass and are all avid birders.
All About Birds is the website of the Cornell University Lab of Ornithology and they have an excellent gear review section. These folks are serious amateur birders and professional researchers. The latter literally get paid to look at birds through optical glass. They also take a methodical, scientific approach to evaluating binos and scopes.
The best retailers can be an excellent source of information. If you find one who understands the concept of "repeat business", you've struck gold. Still, a retailer has an interest in your buying what he sells--not that there's anything wrong with that. There is a lot of mid-priced glass out there that is as good as, if not better than, some of the high end stuff of a few years ago. Innovations in manufacturing procceses (like using Chinese slave labor) has brought prices down on useable optics. Most of the internet retailers post "reviews" of the products they sell. As it turns out, those reviews are merely the manufacturers advertising copy.
Consumer reviews (as found on epinions, Amazon, etc...) are IMO essentially worthless. Some people have wildly optimistic expectations for a budget priced binocular, or have a bad experience with customer service, and will trash a decent product. Others will spend big on the best German glass and feel that anything less is unmitigated junk. I might be satisfied with Japanese optics that offer 95% of the quality of the Teutonic Big Three, at half the price. So might you. BTW, a big part of the premium Americans and Canadians pay for the best European glass is the beating we take on the exchange rate. Products by Leica, Swaro, and Zeiss are a better deal if you pay in Euros.
S'anyway, that's what I did on my summer vacation.
PS:
Cloudy Nights has a lot of useful reviews but they are almost entirely concerned with astronomy and astrophotography. Still you can learn about products that birders generally overlook.
