I have had all sorts of binoc's...bushnell is the one I would recommend....having said that I have recently purchased a Monocular for birding specifically... I wish I had done this years ago. They allow you to focus in on the subject at hand quickly, they have a ready focus feature and they are lighter wt. than the binoc's. We love ours and they also come with an optional tripod threaded/mount if so desired.. I think we spent somewhere in the 100-120 range. On amazon prime of course. Wingspan is the name. My wife has had trouble focusing in on the critters with the binoc's but not an issue now with this one!

I have recently purchased a Monocular for birding specifically... I wish I had done this years ago. They allow you to focus in on the subject at hand quickly, they have a ready focus feature and they are lighter wt. than the binoc's.

Good points.

My wife has had trouble focusing in on the critters with the binoc's but not an issue now with this one!

A common problem with users who don't adjust the diopter side.

8X42 Vortex Diamondbacks are a good pair, and are great for price vs performance.  They have a great lifetime warranty.  8 power gives you a decent magnification that you can usually hold steady.  Higher magnifications tend to be hard to hold steady.  You should avoid zoom binoculars because they usually have inferior optics.  Spending more than your current target range has demenishing returns.  You wil see some improvement with $100 more, another $100 will will only show a slight additional improvement.  $2,000 Swarovski binoculars are a wonderful piece of optical engineering and offer unparalleled performance, but most people cannot see the $1750 difference.

I agree you should try out binoculars to see what works well for you.  If you have an Audibon Society store nearby it is a great place to try out various brands and they have a knowledgeable staff.  Sometimes sporting goods store employees lack expertise and will just try to make a sale.

I have been very happy with my Nikon Monarch 5 (8x42) that I got for an Alaskan Cruise a few years ago.  I mostly use them now for watching wildlife out the back window now.    For me, anything more than 8x becomes too difficult to hold steady enough.     As others have said, most important is to go try them out at either a store big enough (Cabelas or similar) or a store that would let you step outside so you can focus on something at a distance.     The difference in brightness and clarity can be drastic from brand to brand.

My cheaper 8x42 pair I carry around my neck are the Leupold wind river. For under $300 they work very well. I have Vortex razor for my 10x50. I really like those too.

I have a Minolta 10x50 offset and Nikon 10x40 inliner.  The 10x is great and stable, the Nikon are much better in clarity and detail.

Vortex makes a great product and make it in every price range. Their warranty is as good as any. I always suggest looking through as many as you can as everyones eyes are different.

My cheaper 8x42 pair I carry around my neck are the Leupold wind river. For under $300 they work very well. I have Vortex razor for my 10x50. I really like those too.

I use 10x50 Windrivers for hunting.  I love them.