Getting ready to leave for a trip back east to the mountains of north central Pennsylvania for a family reunion and am struggling to decide which binocular to pack. As far as size of binocular, this one is a no-brainer - it will be one of my
compact binoculars. Given the trade-off between binocular size and binocular performance, I have no problem with a good compact binocular (and all mine are good). What few birding opportunities I have lost due to the slightly reduced performance of a compact binocular, I have more than offset with the many, many
birding opportunities that were possible because I brought one of my small binoculars along, just in case. After all, birds appear in some of the strangest places and at the strangest times. Oh, the stories I could tell.
Right now, I am leaning to my smallest compact bino, the little
Leica Ultravid 8x20BR. Hey, it's a
Leica and it is definitely as compact as it gets in an 8x20 binocular. On the other hand, when I just grab and go, purely on instinct, I typically reach for my
Nikon Premier LX 10x25 binocular. The Nikon Premier is not only in the same class as the
Leica Ultravid binocular series, as far as I'm concerned, it also "fits" me better than any compact I own. The
Nikon is definitely the most comfortable compact I have used after observing for a full day of birding. I end up with less eye fatigue with this one. The Nikon Premier LX L compact has even unseated my old standby, my
Leica Trinovid 8x20 compact binocular.
What's a girl to do? Decisions, decisions.