Binoculars or more TV Channels? Christmas conundrum...

The stress is killing me!

Anyone able to recommend a pair of binoculars?

Ideally, less than £150 and fits in a jacket pocket (basically, small enough that they don't get left at home because I can't be bothered to carry them).

Anything to look out for? And what is likely to be the difference between a fifty quid pair and a hundred and fifty quid pair?

For checking out birds/nature.

There must be twitchers and/or voyeurs on ILXOR ...

If you have a local Audubon Society, they'll certainly have some binocular geeks who can discuss this choice with you in depth and detail. Birders are the biggest consumers of binocs on earth.

Good plan. I need to think outside of ILXOR sometimes.

I have a pair of Vanguard 10x50s that I love, and a set of Steiner 8x30s that I <cough> obtained through work; both are over your budget but I love them both for different things. Amazon has a reseller offering some Steiner 8x30 German Army used binos that are very affordable though and would be worth it as long as you don't think a grat/ret would get in the way of your vision. I think they might be older than you would like, but as long as the objective lens hasn't been knocked at any point then they should still be good, I have a service guide somewhere, I think, if you're open to the idea of servicing them yourself.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/military-binoculars-Steiner-Bayreuth-army-/dp/B005W08TUQ/ref=sr_1_3?s=photo&ie=UTF8&qid=1422310857&sr=1-3&keywords=Steiner

i would like a mod to do something about the 9th post in this thread

does any kind person have any recommendations for a pair of binoculars? I'm going to the Shetland Islands next week and need a cheap-ish pair for a bit of bird/seal/whale watching and general rambling, ideally with the ability to focus each set of lenses individually.

Tax season worked very well in my favor this year so I splurged on a pair of Oberwerk 10x42mm. I haven't shopped for optics in decades and the competition at the $200-$300 level is fierce. I liked the Oberwerks because they're over-engineered - aluminum rings and focusing knobs instead of plastic. I feel like I could go to war with them and admittedly they would look pretty cool in a display cabinet for a museum of that war.

I thought I'd buy some cheap bins for garden bird watching - though in the two months since I bought bird feeders I've seen about three birds on them so maybe it's a needless indulgence - anyway the selection range is bewildering, from the top pair on digital camera world at about £900 to ones on amazon under £10 with loads of five star reviews (though some complaining about build quality which might be enough to put me off).