This afternoon I bit the bullet and finally got a pair of binoculars. Since I'm a novice user I figured I would go for a lower end and now that I'm home and have done a little research I'm pretty pleased with my purchase. I ended up with a pair of Nikon Action 8x40s. I paid $74 so at least that's not too far off Amazon's price. Larry at The Brownstone Birding Blog gave me some helpful advice on purchasing binoculars, but I regret to say I didn't have much of a chance to shop around. I went to Hunt's Photo after work thinking they'd have a great selection based on what I had seen on the website. Unfortunately they did not. I learned that the Harvard Square location I went to was actually a satellite store and they don't carry a full inventory. Just mostly point-and-shoot and SLR cameras. Oh, and just 2 pairs of binoculars! I had the option of driving to their main store in Melrose or checking out the Nikons. I knew they were a strong brand and honest...
Adventures in New England birdwatching.