Thread: Looking for Binoculars

Originally Posted by honeask

Since I got to retire I have had the pleasure of sitting on my back patio with my morning coffee to watch all the birds visiting. We have one pair of binoculars but sometimes we have to share. :eek: We are getting into camping more and want to get a second pair. The pair we have are a little large and I think they are kinda heavy. If you have a pair you really like, can you pass it on and maybe where you got them. We are gonna make a Padre trip before long and I was looking at the Birding place near there. Gotta have two pair by then, know what I mean? Also, making a trip to a Collings guitar gathering in Wimberley in November, does anyone know of any good birding in the area? Thanks in advance and isn't this website the best!

Sandy

For a wedding present (1998), Justin bought me a pair of Swift 10x42 Ultra Lite binoculars. Absolutely love them. They're not the lightest around, but they're definitely lighter than many, and they're excellent not only for birding and wildlife viewing but also night sky viewing (wonderful low light gathering capabilities... better than my old Bushnell's).

Justin bought my pair at a now-defunct "Wild Birds Unlimited" store here in San Antonio (they're a chain store, so you may have one near you) but you can also find them at various stores online -- sometimes Amazon.com has them (I checked quickly and it looks like right now they do not) and you might check B&H Photo (bhphotovideo.com) or CameraWorld.com (formerly Camera World of Oregon, now owned and operated by Ritz Camera.) We've bought high end equipment from all three and have had no issues.

Hope this helps!

I have two pair right now. My favorite are my Celestron Pro 8x40s. Although the design is a few years old, they're still quite good for general use and have a nearly 8 degree TFOV. For mostly nighttime use, I also have some Orion 10x70 Little Giants, although at 10x (and even though they're lightweight for their size) they're a bit difficult to hold steadily without a tripod. The 8x40s work great both day and night.

A few things I recommend staying away from, regardless of brand: "quick focus" designs, zoom binocs and "ruby" coatings. Quick focus binocs will often creep out of focus when your eyes press against them, and they're generally more difficult to accurately focus. Zoom designs are almost universally inferior to prime binoculars. Ruby coatings do nothing for image quality - Look for true multi coated optics instead. Image stabilized binocs are nice, but $$$.

If you're trying a pair in person (instead of mail-ordering), point them at the sky or a bright wall, then hold them at arm's length and look at the exit pupil (the circle of light in the eyepieces). You want to see a circular exit pupil, not a circle with four darker straight edges to it. That indicates the porro prisms are undersized.

Depending on what you want to pay, there are a number of choices brand-wise : Fujinon, Oberwerk, Nikon, Pentax, Steiner, Swarovski, Mayuchi, Celestron, Orion, Leica, Meade, etc., etc. Personally, I've not been really impressed with Bushnell and other department store brands, but there are lots of brands from which to choose.