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

What is the difference between a birder and a bird watcher? Both carry birding binoculars and both may even use a spotting scope or add a digital camera to their spotting scope and do some digiscoping. Okay, there is no official definition to distinguish between these two, but, in general, a "birder" actively seeks to identify birds, typically keeps lists of birds seen and identified and will usually travel beyond their local neighborhood to see and identify birds. Some birders, in fact will travel worldwide in order to see and identify new birds. In a very general sense, birders tend to be more focused on the technical and scientific aspects of birds and bird life. A "bird watcher" is a more general term and includes anyone who enjoys watching birds, be it from their kitchen window, or while visiting the lake, beach, park and so on. When we think of the term birdwatcher, then, we tend to think of the aesthetic aspects of birds - enjoying birds simply for their natural beauty and wildness. In truth, all birders are bird watchers and all bird watchers are birders, at least to some extent. I certainly am a healthy dose of each. Like most passionate birders, I keep many bird lists and get a thrill every time I see a rare bird, but like any bird watcher, I'll still take the time to admire a cardinal in my binocular, even after forty years and many, many thousands of cardinals. Seeing a cardinal never fails to make me smile. In other words, when it comes to enjoying birds, there is room for everyone and no need to split hairs over terms. The only requirement is an interest in birds.

I had a very long commute home on the bike, the other day, of about 15 miles after a side trip to see the doctor for some follow up work. Nice enough ride, when the weather cooperates, but this was not one of those times. With ten miles to go, the sky opened up and the rain fell in torrents. Not being a total imbecile, I took refuge under an overpass and waited for the storm to pass … and waited … and waited. So, there I was, sitting under an overpass with my bicycle, watching traffic roar by in suburban Chicago, listening to some ZZ Top on my ipod and wondering how the heck a small town girl like me who loved the outdoors ended up in the big city under an overpass in a rainstorm. At times like this, one's mind drifts back to better times. Couldn't help but wonder when I will be back on a prairie marsh with a spotting scope or prowling the sagebrush flats with my camera or binocular. How long will it be before I am on some big western river with a flyrod in my hand? How many more nights without a truly dark sky and the glow of the Milky Way for company? Will I ever get back to country where people wear cowboy hats for more than looks?

It is a mistake to wait on birding until you can afford an expensive, premium grade binocular. Why? Several reasons. Birding is a skill developed over years of experience, so get out there, now, and get that experience. What's more, you do not need to mortgage the house to get a binocular that will do a good job when it comes to simply identifying birds. Yes, hard core birders, myself included, typically have a love affair with expensive binoculars. Do we identify more birds because we carry very expensive binoculars? No, at least not directly. We carry such expensive binoculars because we are addicted to the image quality they provide; because they show the birds we love in even more glory than less expensive binoculars and, to some extent, because it is very difficult to go back to a lesser model when you've used the best. A premium birding binocular does make birding even more enjoyable and therefore makes it more likely that you will go birding - in that sense a premium binocular can make you a better birder. If it was just a matter of identifying birds, though, an honest answer is that we could identify as many birds, or at least very close to it, with a binocular at half or even less than half the price of today's premium birding binoculars. Then, too not all expert birders carry expensive binoculars. I've known some truly superb birders who carried some relatively inexpensive birding binoculars. To be sure, it is a mistake to judge a birder by the binocular they carry.

I've always been a fan of compact binoculars. No, an 8x20 compact binocular won't offer quite the performance on an 8x42 binocular, all else equal, but the difference, for me with my forty years of experience using a binocular, is not enough to justify carrying the larger binocular. Maybe it's because I am a gal,but I just like things a bit on the petite side when traveling. Besides, we all know that compact binoculars are much cuter than big binoculars, right? My Swarovski Crystal sure is. Besides, we gals have enough to carry, as it is. The last time my cell phone rang, for instance, my boyfriend had a fit of laughter as he watched me try to fish the darn thing out of the jungle of stuff in my purse. I still don't see how guys get along without a purse. On the other hand, I don't wear a multi-tool strapped to my waist twenty four hours a day like some people.

Funny how something as simple as a tripod can cause so much confusion and generate so many questions, but tripods do just that. So, if you are thinking of adding a tripod to a binocular or spotting scope, here is some help. Astronomy binoculars are a special case, so I wrote an article for this in How to Choose Astronomy Binocular Tripods. For spotting scopes and digital point and shoot cameras and the typical DSLR camera, I wrote Tripod Guide - Choosing the best Tripod Okay, that should answer most of the basic questions on tripods for binoculars, spotting scopes and most digital cameras. Hope it helps.

I just had some surgery to repair an injury incurred while mountain biking. Last year, I was doing some gnarly single-track back in the Forest preserve on a little used trail, getting swatted by low hanging brush as I went. It could have been somewhere on the Appalachian Trail or the Rockies, dense as it was. Heading down a hill at a good clip, my earring in my right ear snagged on a limb and OUCH! The earring didn't pull all the way out, just almost. I ended up with a much elongated hole in my ear. Not good. Then, two weeks ago, it happened again and I ended up with a double ear lobe minus one earring. Not exactly the look I wanted to cultivate, so I headed to a plastic surgeon and the repair isn't cheap. The good news is that the bike and my Leica binocular are all right, even though we all took a spill. From now on, I will be taking my earrings out on the back trail or maybe wear clips. In fact, I strongly recommend to anyone who is back in the brush with a mountain bike to very cautious about anything that can snag and cause you a spill. That's why I got rid of those big bar ends on the handlebars of my mountain bikes, years ago. Guess I still need to trim the load. A girl can't think of everything. Sorry, no pics, since I didn't have a camera at the time and do you really want a pic of me, anyway?

As a user of binoculars for over forty years, especially birding binoculars, I have become sensitive to some features more than others. Number one sore spot with me is focusing. I cannot abide a binocular that focuses too slowly or a binocular that has rough or uneven focusing or a binocular that cannot be focused with one finger. I'm a birder and have no time to stumble or waste when a rare bird pops into view. Seconds count in the birding game. Yes, it is hard for me to be objective about an otherwise good binocular if the focusing is not up to par. Indeed, I have returned more than one binocular that did not live up to my fussy requirements for focusing.

Another sore spot for me with any binocular is edge of field sharpness. This is not really a matter of binocular performance as it is a case of me being spoiled by using premium binoculars for so long. Once you've used a binocular that is sharp nearly to the very edge of the field, you get a little fussy, I suppose. To be sure, I cannot make a case that I would identify fewer birds with a binocular with average edge sharpness, but, like I said, I am spoiled.

What do you get when you cross the Nikon 10x25 Prostaff compact binocular with an environmentally conscious marketing and engineering? You get the Nikon 10x25 Ecobin, which I just tested and really enjoyed. The Nikon Ecobin binocular is basically a Nikon Prostaff 10x25 in terms of optics and design and that is a good thing. Optics on the Nikon Prostaff binocular are as good as it gets for your compact binocular dollar. To turn the Nikon 10x25 Prostaff into a Nikon 10x25 Ecobin, you use lead and arsenic free Eco glass, instead of the standard optical glass used in the optics of the Prostaff, then cover the binocular with non-chloride rubber instead of the standard black rubber on the Prostaff and package it all in a %100 natural and fully biodegradable carrying case and strap made from wood pulp which replaces the standard black nylon case of the Prostaff. Well-done, Nikon.

I can't remember ever having a customer sending back a binocular with the complaint that the binocular was "too good". I suppose it can happen, but spending a bit more when buying a binocular can pay for itself. In fact, buying a premium binocular, like the Nikon EDG or the Swarovski EL or Steiner Peregrine XP can actually be the best value if you expect to use a binocular hard and expect years of good service. Premium binoculars are made for that very purpose; the best binoculars in the world stand the test of time. I've carried Leica binoculars, not to mention Swarovski binoculars and Zeiss binoculars and Nikon Premier binoculars for many, many years and have yet to be disappointed in terms of either performance or durability. Which is best? Swarovski, Leica, Zeiss or high end Nikons like the Nikon EDG? There is no best binocular when you get to this quality level. All premium binoculars are excellent. Personal preference really becomes the deciding factor.

In the world of binoculars, the porro prism binocular has lost ground to the roof prism binocular in all but a few specialty binoculars. One place the porro prism binocular has held undisputed reign has been with military binoculars, especially military binoculars that use a rangefinding reticle. That leadership is now being questioned by a couple of roof prism binocular upstarts. Leupold, for instance, makes a version of their Leupold Green Ring Olympic binocular in a military version with reticle called the Leupold Tactical 10x50 and at a very reasonable price for a serious military binocular. Steiner, long the biggest name in military binoculars has also come out with a new roof prism binocular in their Steiner Tactical Military R 10x42 and it may be the finest nilitary binocular on the market of any kind. Why bother with a roof prism in a military binocular when the porro prism design has served so well? It's most likely a matter of better size and handling. There is a huge difference in bulk and size between a porro 10x50, sich as the Steiner Military Marine 10x50 and their new Tactical R 10x42. I know which one I would rather carry. With all the gear our soldiers have to carry, anything that can be done to reduce the load helps. Roof prisms are also a much more practical choice for close focusing than the older IF focus used in the traditional porro. Close focusing? Sure, a lot of our people are scanning the ground in front of them for evidence of land mines and nothing beats a roof prism for close focus capability.

I commute on a bike 365 days a year, rain or snow or subzero cold. It is sometimes a challenge, to be sure, but it is always interesting, due in large part to all the wildlife I see that folks zooming by in cars almost never see. Going slow and quiet does have its advantages. That's why I usually carry a monocular or a compact binocular, too, since I can easily stop, anywhere along my commute and watch the wildlife. My route takes me though about a half mile of Forest Preserve dirt trail and always plenty of wildlife and birding to do on that section, of course, but what is more remarkable is that I see as much wildlife outside the Forest Preserve, early in the morning, out wandering in the suburbs, as I do inside the Forest Preserve. Last week was a case in point. I was a good mile from the Forest Preserve and right out on someone's front lawn, soaking up the early morning sun, was a Red Fox. I didn't have a camera, but I did take a closer look in my monocular. The fox seemed quite content, so I smiled and went on my way.

As much as I love the Fourth of July, it is not a prime time to grab the astronomy binocular and do some serious observing, though I was really tempted, this year. Saturday rains kept most folks indoors, but the sky cleared at night, so I grabbed my Nikon Astroluxe and stepped out on the patio. My plan was to do some lunar observing, but I had forgotten, for a moment, that it was the Fourth. I was quickly greeted, of course, by clouds of black powder smoke hanging low to the ground, all from fireworks still in progress. Now, had I been a hundred feet higher in the air, above all the clouds of smoke, I might have had a good night with the astronomy binocular. Oh, well, when it's time to celebrate, we celebrate. When it is time to do astronomy, we do astronomy. Hope everyone had a good Fourth.

The beginning of July for most people means, the Forth, naturally, but for birders like me, it can also mean I need to be on the alert for shorebirds, since we bird watchers actually begin to see some movement in this bird group during the mid-summer months. I will be carrying my birding binoculars after the Fourth and checking daily on some wet meadows and mudflats on my daily bike commute. Last year, I did reasonably well on shorebirds when you consider my limited access and range on a bicycle. On the weekends, I will also carry a spotting scope and tripod and spend more time bicycling to outlying areas in search of more shorebirds. As always, water conditions are critical to attracting shorebirds or, should I say, mud conditions. For scanning with a birding binocular, we want exposed mud flats and beaches. Too much water when birding for this group can be as bad as too little. Right now, I would love to see things dry out a bit.