The traditional
opera glass binocular is almost always 3x, which, back in the days of small opera houses and venues, plenty of magnification. By today's standards for concerts and theatres, however, 3x in a
binocular is not nearly enough to provide a close up look at performers. A friend of mine recently used took an excellent
Zeiss Victory 8x20 compact binocular to the opera and fell in love with it. Optics were great, of course, but more importantly, from his position in the "nosebleed" section, the 8x magnification was perfect. About the only advantage a traditional
opera glass has going for it, these days, is looks and that, to be sure, is a matter of taste. I happen to think a premium
compact binocular from Zeiss, Swarovski, Leica or Nikon looks very good on me.