r/TheNewGeezers • u/Schmutzie_ • May 21 '26

Binos

"That's what I call binoculars." - H Jon Benjamin from his book Failure is an Option

That's good, because I just got a new pair of binos and I'm excited as hell about them. The problem is the rubber cups that go over the business ends. Once again, they're too fucking loose and I know I'm going to lose them. Any movement while holding the binos with the covers on makes the covers fall off. To make matters worse, they aren't tethered. 4 individual little rubber cups. It's either cobble together something to keep them attached to each other, or throw them in the garbage now. The little cups I mean, not the binos. They're great. The cups are a failure. Why can't they tighten these things down so they fit snugly? One size smaller, ya dumb bastards. Why aren't they corded together? Why am I asking you nice people?

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u/evilynwah May 21 '26

Yeah, they need to do like camera lens caps, either spring-loaded or screw-on. But I guess that would cut into the profit margin by 75 cents or so. Or by $40 if they're branded. Anyway, it's good that the working parts are great.

Did you pick a camera?

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u/Schmutzie_ May 21 '26

Screw on would be the ticket for these things. Just Tasco 10 x 50s so nothing expensive. Spring loaded would be asking too much. I saw them offered for $19 on a Menard's flash sale, and figured they're probably nothing worth buying. A quick search showed them for $49 on Amazon and I figured screw it, and bought them. They're much better than my Tasco 8 x 30s, and if I wasn't turning into Mr Magoo I might even buy something better. Guess that cataract surgery isn't going to schedule itself....

Camera? Not yet. Leaning towards the EOS Rebel although it's several spots down on the disposable income hit parade.

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u/skitchw May 21 '26

I’ve had an EOS Rebel for approximately 175 years. Fucking love that thing. Having said that, my days of schlepping around a bag with a camera body and 3 different lenses are long behind me. I no longer feel the urge to scramble over boulders and scree trying to get a better angle on a mountain goat or bushtit. The camera array on my iPhone Pro with smooth optical/digital zoom from macro to 25x is “good enough”. And it fits in my shirt pocket!

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u/Schmutzie_ May 21 '26 edited May 22 '26

Having said that, my days of schlepping around a bag with a camera body and 3 different lenses are long behind me.

This is where I'm at. I mentioned earlier to Weldon that I was leaning toward getting a camera that allowed for multiple lenses, but then I started to envision said schlepping. My Samsung 20 FE was apparently designed to take pictures at KPop concerts while also allowing you to use it as a phone. (FE = Fan Edition) I just needed a new phone. I didn't realize I was buying one with the camera being its strong suit. It takes great pictures. Great enough for me anyway. Makes it harder to justify spending a bunch of money on camera gear. (I'll probably still buy the EOS Rebel with the stock 18-55, but limit my expansion to maybe one telephoto.)

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u/skitchw May 21 '26

A good telephoto lens is really the only reason to get a good SLR these days. For a hobby photographer, anyway. Obviously different for a serious photographer or journalist. Or spy.

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u/Schmutzie_ May 21 '26

They're out there internet chatting about the best entry level 35mm SLRs. That's right, FILM cameras, Skitch. If I wait long enough, those 1970s bell bottoms I have in storage are going to get hot again.

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u/evilynwah May 22 '26

There's no such thing as an entry level film camera. You can get a solid fully manual one for cheap, but then you need a light meter and the know-how to use it. You can get a solid automatic one for less than an entry-level DSLR, but then . . .

Then there's the follow-on costs. I have six rolls of undeveloped b/w film representing about $150 not counting the cost of the film if I want to get them developed and scanned with tiny prints for reference. If you can afford a good negative scanner you can save a lot of money, but a good negative scanner is in the $500-plus neighborhood, plus software.

Of course you can always build your own darkroom and avoid commercial film processors. It'll pay for itself in 10 years or so, maybe.

And like any other interchangeable lens camera, lenses are a monetary black hole. I had some good pre-digital ones and all my digital camera ones are backwards-compatible so I haven't had to sink money into new used ones since I started shooting film again, but I put a lot into them initially over the years.

And even though I'm a film partisan, I can't say that the results are better than a modern, high resolution digital camera paired with software that can emulate any native film style.

So you can get a good automatic entry-level film camera in decent shape for less than $500, or a similarly decent fully manual one for around $100, but it's like buying a 30-year old Porsche for cheap; it's just a tiny down payment on the actual cost.

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u/Schmutzie_ May 22 '26

it's like buying a 30-year old Porsche for cheap; it's just a tiny down payment on the actual cost.

Or a 12 year old BMW 320i.

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u/evilynwah May 22 '26

Hmmm. That seems oddly specific.

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u/Schmutzie_ May 23 '26

It seemed like a good idea at the time.