Is it a bird? Is it a 'plane?..... no, it's......
Jan 22 '01 (Updated Jun 14 '02)
The Bottom Line Whether you are into birds, sports or safaris, binoculars can give you a lifetime of enjoyment and open up new worlds for you.
So, you've decided that you want to buy a pair of binoculars. As a professional watchmaker I use my eyes every day to look at tiny watch parts through loupes, usually 4x to 25X magnification. What's important to me may not be important to you and vice versa, but I can hopefully point you in the right direction and help you make the correct decision. The perfect pair of binoculars would bring the viewed object up close without your eyes feeling as if there's a ton of glass between it and them. Such a pair doesn't exist. I don't want my eyes to feel as if they are correcting the distortions and aberrations introduced by them. This quickly leads to fatigue and sometimes, even worse, a severe headache. As with all things in life, the law of diminishing returns sets in very quickly. A $300 pair of binoculars will be a whole lot better than a $150 pair, but a $600 pair will be better than the former by a smaller margin. After about $800 the gains are only incremental, but if you intend to use them a lot, then those small gains will be VERY important to you. Unless you only intend to use them indoors or for opera etc, I highly recommend getting a weather or waterproof pair, otherwise you'll be reluctant to take them everywhere with you for fear of getting them wet. There are two main things that you have to decide before you go shopping. First, how much do you want to spend, and that is also determined by how much you think you'll be using them. Secondly, what is the main purpose that you'll be using them for.
Exactly what do all of those specifications mean and just how important are they?
MAGNIFICATION: This number indicates how much closer an object will appear to be. An object that is 100 yards away will appear to be only 10 yards in front of you when viewed through a 10X pair of binoculars. More is better right? Well, yes and no. More magnification will allow you to see more detail, but keep in mind that tiny hand movements are magnified by the same amount. A 10X pair will bring the object 25% closer than an 8X pair, but your hand movements will also be magnified by the same amount. Unless you can hold them rock steady and don't intend to use them for extended periods, or you intend to use a tripod, I don't recommend getting magnification higher than 8X. Magnification less than that isn't sufficient for most outdoor applications. Of course, the shakes introduced by higher magnification can be easily taken care of with image stabilization at the expense of both more bulk and weight, and a much higher price.
OBJECTIVE LENS: This is the diameter of the lens at the front part of the binoculars. Like magnification, more is better, but only to a point. The larger the diameter of the objective, the higher the light gathering power. The downside being more bulk and weight. If you intend to only use them during the day, then it's unnecessary to get 40mm to 50mm (50mm is approximately two inches) objectives. If you intend to use them mainly at dusk or for stargazing, then larger objectives will gather a lot more light. The size of the picture reaching your eye is calculated by dividing the diameter of the objective by the magnification. A 10X by 50 binocular will project a 5mm image onto your eye. The larger the image, the brighter it will appear to be. A 32mm objective is more than acceptable for most day time use.
PORRO VERSUS ROOF PRISMS: The prisms are between the objective lens and the eyepiece (the lens that you hold in front of your eye). They serve the purpose of both reversing and uprighting the image and to lengthen the light path for correct focusing and alignment of the lenses. Without them the images would appear to be upsidedown and reversed, i.e. in mirror image. Porro prisms are a lot cheaper to make and align correctly, but make the binoculars a lot more bulky. Roof prisms are very expensive to make accurately and require more careful alignment too, but result in a much smaller package. Binoculars that comprise two parallel tubes are roof prism designs. I don't recommend getting an inexpensive pair of roof prisms because porro prisms for the same amount of money will deliver a much higher quality image.
FIELD OF VIEW(FOV): This number tells you how wide of a picture you can see at a given distance. For example if the FOV is 100, that means when you are 1000 yards from an object, your FOV will be 100 yards. A wide angle pair of binoculars will allow you to see much more than one delivering a narrower field of view. The actual FOV is determined by many factors, the main ones being magnification and the size of the objective lens. More magnification narrows your FOV and a larger objective increases it.
EYE RELIEF: This number is mainly a concern for those of you who wear corrective eyeglasses, as it determines how close you must hold your eyes to the eyepieces in order to see the whole image. If the number is too small, less than 12mm, you might not see the whole image with your eyeglasses on. Ideally it should be in the 14mm to 20mm
range.
LENS AND PRISM COATINGS: All the better quality binoculars have all the lenses and the roof prisms (called phase corrected when applied to roof prisms) multicoated to minimize light loss and reduce glare and internal reflections. These coatings are tailored to both the design and material of the glass used in the lenses.
Keep in mind that the above is not an exhaustive or thorough dissertation on every aspect of binocular design and use, but enough to help you get started in your search. Okay Gary, enough technical talk, what are your recommendations?
MY FAVORITES: Pocket binoculars, I really like the Zeiss Classic series, both the 8X 20 and the 10X 25. Not cheap, but both deliver very sharp and relatively (considering their tiny objectives) bright images. Midsize binoculars, I have to say that I haven't seen anything that can compete with the Leica 8X 32, including it's higher powered brother the 10X32. These are bright, sharp and don't feel like they are making my eyes work at all. For those that want the absolute best and are willing to pay for it. There is only one, and NOTHING else, in my opinion, comes close. The Swarovski EL 10X 42. Incredibly sharp, bright, with high magnification too and very light to boot, considering both it's magnification and the size of it's objectives. For about $400 less, the new Zeiss Victory binoculars will give you about 95% of what the Swarovski EL's offer. The Zeiss Classic series are splash proof and the others are waterproof and nitrogen purged i.e. they won't fog up. I haven't looked at many cheap binoculars, but of those that I have seen the Nikon Travelite series offers incredible value for the money. Want to find out more? Check out www.optics4birding.com
Updated June 2002
Just a short technology update, and a couple of warnings that I should have included in the original review.
Eco-friendly optical glass:
Yeah, I know, you’re shaking your head just like I was when I first read about it in one of the many manufacturers brochures that I have. So what exactly is it and how does it affect your binocular purchasing decision?
Until recently, the highest quality optical glass – made by Schott, a Zeiss subsidiary, in Europe and Nikon and Pentax, among others, in Japan – was made with special quality sand and various additives to increase it’s refractive index. Among the ingredients added to achieve both the highest transparency and high refractive index are heavy metals such as lead and arsenic. Both of these are highly toxic to work with and very difficult to dispose of in a way that doesn’t permanently destroy the environment. The toxicity of both metals increases substantially when heated due to the poisonous fumes that results from the smelting process.
Corning, the maker of Pyrex dishes and other specialized glass products (among other things) has an amazing R & D department. One of their inventions is the eco-friendly optical glass. Instead of adding the above mentioned heavy metals to achieve the desired optical requirements, they add titanium. The result is optical glass that has many advantages over the older type and these advantages are fully exploited by most high end binocular manufacturers today, including Zeiss, Swarovski and Nikon.
The main advantages of this eco-friendly optical glass are;
1) Much lighter in weight
2) Better for both the workers and the environment
3) A higher refractive index
4) Glass with a higher refractive index will be thinner for a given magnification. This results in both higher transparency and further savings in the weight department.
As an aside, for those of you who wear prescription glasses and don’t want the hassle of carrying two pairs around – regular and sunglasses – Corning’s Thin and Dark are made with this glass but have silver halides added to achieve the darkening effect.
As a matter of interest, fluorite, a type of rock crystal, has a very high refractive index and better optical qualities than any optical glass. Due to the fact that it’s basically a rock, it’s also very brittle. Hence it’s only used in very expensive telescopes, which one obviously doesn’t want to drop!!!
IMPORTANT WARNINGS FOR BINOCULAR USERS:
NEVER look at the sun with your binoculars. This will result in immediate and permanent blindness, a mistake one can only make once!!! Do not even try this on a cloudy day or when the sun is setting, as this can still result in major permanent damage to one’s eyesight.
Lastly, especially for you campers and outdoorsy types. NEVER leave your binoculars lying around. Always put them away or, at the very least, fit their lens caps on. Not doing so can result in one unintentionally starting a fire. Not a difficult thing to happen when the sun shines through the lenses at the right angle.
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Epinions.com ID:
watchdr_2000
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Member: Gary C.
Location: Los Angeles
Reviews written: 19
Trusted by: 38 members
About Me:
Dad - Both the best job and hobby a guy could ever ask for!
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