Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Excellent picture quality for the price. Easy to focus. The focusing lever sticks a bit at one end, so I am thinking whether it's too much trouble to exchange them, and whether it's just my copy's flaw or is common to all of them. This is the only reason for 4 and 5 stars, and I honestly feel bad for lowering the rating, because the optics (if not the mechanics) are outstanding. This was my first pair of binoculars: I got them for birding without doing too much research. They came up at the top when I searched "best binoculars for birding" and the price ($28.76) was easy to swallow even if they turned out to be a dud. I was so impressed with the picture quality (the seller uses "HD clarity" in the description and that seems spot on) that I became really curious if all binoculars are similar. I immediately bought a cheap pair of Vivitars with greater magnification and size (12x50 vs these being 7x35) and they turned out to be complete crap compared to these. Next, I borrowed a friendly birder's $1,000 Leupolds (something like these Leupold Mojave Roof Prism Binoculars, 10x50mm, Black I think) which he thinks are outstanding. I agree, his are nice binoculars, but the image clarity and color resolution of Bushnells, to my unsophisticated eye, is the same. And the depth of focus is greater in Bushnells, as is the ease of focusing thanks to the lever. The only department, in which $1,000 (I guess they can be had for "only" $500 if you look) Leupolds outshine the sub-$30 Bushnells is they allow for closer minimum focusing distance. Think about it and whether it is worth the price. Having played with the Leupolds and the Bushnells I honestly would not trade them -- in part because I would hate to drop, scratch or smudge such a precious piece of equipment. I would, however, consider a more expensive Bushnell model -- now that I am familiar with the brand -- if it delivered real improvements in magnification, focusing distance or another characteristic.