As always, the binocular you choose, as far as
binocular features, should always be a good match for your intended binocular application. This is perhaps most true when it comes to binocular magnification.
Bill and I are eagerly anticipating our three-week road trip though my old stomping grounds – the great American West. That’s where I have spent most of my life, so just see those great wide-open spaces, again, will be like a homecoming for me. Now, that is a great excuse to buy another binocular if there ever was one. Don’t get me wrong; I have plenty of
binoculars, both 8x and 10x, but since much of our viewing will be done from the Toyota, it might be nice to have a binocular with just a touch more reach. That little extra magnification in a binocular can work against you, of course, if you don’t have some means to support the binocular for the sake of steadiness, but a vehicle doorframe solves that binocular challenge, nicely. I could even go deluxe and use a
car window mount.
One binocular, in particular, has tempted me from time to time and that is the excellent
Nikon Premier SE 12x50. Optics are superb, of course, and the extra size and bulk of that 50 mm objective will not be factors since these will be lying on the seat, rather than hanging around my neck. The Nikon Premier SE also has great eye relief - something not always present in a 12x binocular - so I can also use it with my glasses or
sunglasses. Then, too, I already have the tripod adapter, the
Nikon 7806, which is also used for my Nikon 10x70 Astroluxe.