BinocularsBlog – Advice on Digital, Waterproof, & Compact Binoculars for Bird Watching, Sports, Astronomy, Night Vision, & more!

One of the things I have noticed between two of my astronomy binoculars, both of equal quality, but different size, is the intensity of color on stars. In this regard, my Nikon 10X70 definitely outdoes the very similar, but smaller Nikon 7x50 Prostar. Star colors in the 10x70, by virtue of its larger objective, are definitely more intense. In fact, despite the smaller and more manageable size of the 7x50, I find myself grabbing the 10x70 more often. Guess I am as addicted to color in stars as I am in color on birds.

Looking for a tripod head that will support even a jumbo 25x100 binocular? If I had one of those beasts, I would go straight for the Bogen 229 Super Pro head, then add a basic leg set, such as the Bogen 055XDB. A tripod head this large will prevent that dreaded mount sag - when you center an object in the field of view, then lock the head, it will stay put, instead of dropping out of view as the tripod head flexes. Makes life much easier when using giant binoculars. A light tripod and a 25x100 binocular is a match guaranteed to frustrate. Lots of reasonably priced 25x100 binoculars, these days, but they are only a good buy if you spend the money on a proper tripod.

Last Friday night, I woke up about 1:00 in the morning, so peeked outside and saw the sky was clear. Couldn't help myself. I put on my robe and grabbed my astronomy binocular. Ophiuchus was perfectly placed for observing, so I thought I would try my hand at some globular clusters from my patio, light pollution and all. (Hey, I'm not about to walk over to the park in my bathrobe!) By very careful navigating and using all my best deep-sky techniques, I picked up M10 and even M12 in my Nikon 10x70, though both were a challenge, even for that fine binocular. M9, however, eluded me. Guess I will have to get dressed and head over to the park for that binocular object.

One of our employees tried an 8x compact binocular for a concert and found that 8x was just too much magnification from his seat. All he wanted to do was to take a peek, now and then, but still see as much of the show as possible in one glance. Problem in low magnification compact binoculars is selection - really very little in the way of a low magnification compact binocular, these days and he wanted something of good quality. I suggested a 5x monocular as a quick peek, wide-angle alternative and, for quality, nothing beats a Nikon 5x15HG monocular. Looks like another happy customer.

The warbler action has been very slow, the last couple of evenings, but I did pick up a couple of thrushes with the Zeiss 8x20. Got both a Veery and a Swainon's and, even in the low light of the forest under story on a cloudy day, the Veery's reddish brown was distinctive in the little compact binocular. That leaves several thrush species to go for my spring list, but that's part of the fun. With birding, there is always something else to see. My binocular and I will be ready.

Lots of reasons to put a binocular on a tripod and lots of reasons not to put a binocular on a tripod. One of the reasons to put a binocular on a tripod is one that I used to advantage, years ago, when I worked as an astronomy tour guide at a small, rural, amateur observatory built by our astronomy club. Putting the bino on a tripod meant you could share the view with visitors and thereby introduce them to the wonders of binocular astronomy. The tripod used was a custom built parallelogram and was a superb piece of machining. Wish I had access to that tripod. It would still come in handy for my personal observing.

I get a lot of questions on which binocular for which application, but relatively few on how to actually use a binocular to get an object in the field of view on the first try. Guess folks take this for granted, but there is a proper technique for finding an object with a binocular. This skill is especially critical in birding if you want to spot a bird before it flies away or hops to the next branch.

Joanie's rule number one to get on target, quickly, is to NOT move you head when you spot a bird and I mean not a twitch. Bring the binocular to your head, never nod your head to meet the binocular. Rule number two is to square your head in relation to the bird, so that the bird will be relatively close to the center of the field of view when you look through the bino. Most of us have one eye stronger than the other, so tend to angle our heads a bit, instead of looking at an object straight on. I cure this by pointing my nose at the bird, then bringing the binocular up over my nose. Rule number three is to practice. You will get better.

The sky cleared, the other night, around midnight. Since I couldn't seem to fall asleep, anyway, I grabbed my Nikon Astroluxe 10x70 and did some exploring. Ophiuchus was up high enough, at last, to do some observing, so I started, there. This constellation, of course, is known to binocular astronomers for its abundance of globular clusters, most of which are visible under a good sky with any average astronomy binocular. On the other hand, when you have only a mag 3 sky, on a good night, most of those stellar treasures are a real challenge, even in a giant binocular. There is, however, a rather nice open cluster for any binocular in IC4665. Even with severe light pollution, this is an easy object, as well as a nice object, in any astronomy binocular - well worth a midnight step outside to see.

Added an Eastern Bluebird and a Least Flycatcher to my spring list, last night. Okay, I was about as certain on the Flycatcher as I could be without hearing its song. Through my Zeiss compact binocular, the prominent eye ring and large head pretty much cinched it and I have seen this bird many times. As always, I will added an asterisk behind this one, as I do for all Flycatchers.

The Bluebird was just where you would expect a Bluebird to be - on a wire, next to an open field and it was truly dazzling in the binocular. This Seeing a Bluebird never fails to bring a smile to my face. My best year on bluebirds was in western Nebraska, where I got all three species - Eastern, Western and Mountain - all in one year. I won't get that done, here in Chicago, but my binocular is ever ready.

Watched a Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher last night, along the bike trail. Though not as spectacularly colorful as the Yellow Warbler I had seen minutes, earlier, the little Gnatcatcher was still quite handsome in the Zeiss 8x20 compact. Through the binocular, the distinctive white-edged tail and white eye ring were clearly visible, even in the tree cover. Since the temp was hovering at about 50 degrees, I'm not sure the little guy was finding many gnats or other insects, but I enjoyed watching. Seems like each evening is bring me more delights, so a birding binocular is my constant companion, these days.

Quite a contrast over the weekend, with Saturday, sunny and mild and Sunday, cold, very wet and very windy. Birding was pleasant on Saturday and, of course, almost non-existent on Sunday. Still, managed some Rose-breasted Grosbeaks and am beginning to see the usual summer birds along the bike trail in the form of Killdeer. These plovers always add a bit of music to my bike ride and even though they are abundant, I stop, now and then, to watch them in my binocular. They really are quite lovely if you take the time to look.

Used to be nothing you could do to stop external fogging (moisture condensation) on a binocular. Oh, sure, you can always get a waterproof binocular to prevent fogging on the inside of the binocular and you can even get binoculars with hydrophobic coatings, such as Bushnell's Rainguard, which helps the lens to shed water during rain. Is there anything, though, that can keep binoculars from fogging up in cold weather? Maybe. I just picked up some Nikon Fog Eliminator. I will be trying it on some binoculars, but also my eyeglasses when I ride my bike during cold weather (I ride, even in the snow.) I will report back.

I've fallen in love with observing binocular doubles (double stars, not couples with binoculars) since I moved to the Chicago area several years, ago. It's been something of a gradual thing, in that our severe light pollution has forced me to seek observing alternatives to my usual deep-sky binocular objects. Double stars fill the bill, nicely. I need objects that are both aesthetically pleasing and optically/technically challenging in an astronomy binocular. With roughly a hundred or so doubles available to a binocular observer, even under light polluted skies, I can pick and choose on both counts. All I need is a clear sky, a star map and my binocular.

What does every good astronomer do when waking up at 1:00 in the morning for no apparent reason? Why, sit out under the stars, if the sky is clear, and do some astronomy. That's what I did the other night. At that time of night form my patio, the head of Draco was in good position for observing, so I pointed the Nikon 10x70 binocular toward Nu Draconis (the star Kuma) and was treated to a fine binocular double. Though not colorful, Kuma is one of my favorite doubles in an astronomy binocular for its closely matched magnitudes and just enough separation to make it fun in a binocular. It's been described as a pair of eyes and I agree. Next time you are up at 1:00 in the morning, grab a binocular and take a look.

This time of year, birders suffer from a malady known as warbler neck. Since many species of warblers frequent the tops of trees, long hours of birding for these birds can literally lead to pains in the neck and back. At the end of a day birding for warblers, I usually lay on the floor to give my back and neck a rest, but another option for birders is a massage chair - definitely the luxury option. We carry the HumanTouch massage chairs on our website. I don't own one, but we have a wonderful Human Touch chair here at OpticsPlanet and our employees give it a real workout after long hours of working on a computer.

You know you're a binocular addict if you've seriously thought of having a premium binocular surgically attached to your head so you can always have it close by. You know you're a binocular addict if you always carry your binocular with you for fear it will get stolen or destroyed in a fire if you leave it at home. You know you're a binocular addict if you won't let someone with bad breath stand next to you for fear of damaging your binocular. You know you're a binocular addict when you cast your vote based on a candidates preference in a binocular. You know you're a binocular addict ...

This time of year, the temptation and habit of looking into the tree tops for warblers becomes such a habit for me that it can lead to problems when riding a bicycle. It takes extra effort to keep my eyes on the road and not in the trees when pedaling. For this reason, I have been forcing myself to walk the bike when I want to do some birding. It pays off, not only in terms of safety, but also in terms of birds.

Last night, for instance, I walked the bike through a favorite section of trail, pulled the Zeiss Victory 8x20 out of my biking jersey and quickly added a Tennessee Warbler to my '08 spring list. A little farther down the trail, I heard a Sora from a nearby marsh. Highlight of the evening commute, however, was a Blue-headed Vireo (when I was young, we called it a Solitary). Even in a compact binocular, the birds white specs were striking and the yellow wash along the side was lovely. Yes, a quality compact binocular can be a serious birding tool. So can a bicycle if you have enough sense to get off a walk it, now and then.