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Cheer for the recommendation.
Re high-end binoculars. I was once walking up Snowdon and found a pair of Leica binoculars. Amazing magnification, crisp as anything, ridiculously high end. Never looked through anything like them. Spent 20 minutes looking through them amazed at the quality. Felt so bad that someone had lost them that I couldn’t bring myself to take them. Hung them up on a fence post and left them. Looking back they were probably worth £2-3k.
Tonts-
Many years ago I had a bit of cash to by new binoculars. I went into a shop and looked through lots of pairs and asked to try the then newly released Leica Ultravid. I was astonished at the difference. I simply couldn’t waste money on inferior binoculars having tried them. So eventually I bought a pair and have had them ever since.
A while back I bought an even better pair, the Leica Noctivid, but they were outrageously expensive and I ended up selling them and getting my by now extremely battered Ultravids refurbished. It cost me £500 for a full rebuild but they used the latest glass, which is a considerable upgrade. Given that it’s my most used possession it’s been good value.
adroit
A bit late to reply but look for Pentax Papillo 6.5 x 21.
https://www.aceoptics.co.uk/pentax-papilio-ii-6-5x21.html
I’ve seen them for just over £100. I have a couple of pairs I use with youngsters and they’re amazing value.
The real bonus is their extraordinary close focus. About 18”.
The only drawback is a rather narrow field of view, but that’s only really noticeable if you’ve had the luxury of the wide field of high end binoculars.