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

You can learn a lot about bird behavior by sitting at your kitchen table and watching birds at your birdfeeder though your binoculars. That's part of the fun of birdwatching. Overall, birds bring those same innate behaviors that allow them to survive in the wild to our bird feeders. For instance, if you are careful to note the technique each species of bird uses to collect food at the bird feeder, you will quickly see that quite a variety of feeding behaviors are used by the various species: some species prefer to feed on the ground, some prefer to feed mostly off the elevated feeders, some do a little of each and so on. Then, too, some birds, such as Chickadees dart in, quickly, grab one seed, and then fly off to a nearby tree to eat it; other birds, such as Cardinals, feed at a more leisurely pace. In other words, different species of birds have different “table manners”, so to speak. Watching them is all part of the fun.

Once in awhile, though, you will see some adaptive behavior at the feeder; birds sometimes tweak behavior to get that food from your feeder. A good example of this is the bird in these two pics, namely a Mourning Dove. Now, in the wild, you will go a very long time to catch a Mourning Dove feeding anywhere but on the ground and, that, indeed, is the typical way a Mourning Dove feeds at my bird feeders, as in the pic on the left. Recently, though, a group of Mourning Doves that have been wintering our neighborhood have started to perch right on one of my elevated bird feeders, as in the pic on the right, to access the black oil sunflower, even though there is plenty of seed for them on the ground below the feeder. I suspect this is possible due to the wide tray on this particular feeder, but had I not used this feeder, I might never suspect to see a Mourning Dove on a feeder. Birds are always full of surprises.

Both of these pics were taken by a method called digiscoping. It's a simple and easy way to record pics of birds doing the unexpected.

It’s funny how little has been actually written about how to use binoculars, either in articles about binoculars or the instruction manuals that come with binoculars. I’m referring, here, to advice on how to point a binocular and quickly capture the object you want to see in the field of view, not instructions on how to adjust a binocular. This binocular skill of getting on target and getting on target, fast, is very important for those who use birding binoculars, hunting binoculars, sport binoculars and so on. There is often no time to waste and many a frustrated beginner loses out on the action by failing to line up the binocular, quickly, on target.

The first thing you need to line up a binocular on target is a pointing device; the good news is that everyone comes pre-equipped with that pointing device, namely the nose. Your nose is a natural, instinctive pointer; it does not need any high tech help to point at a target; you use it this way, instinctively all the time. So, first step is to look at that target and then consciously point at it with your nose. Your nose makes a marvelous pointer and it doesn’t care if you are right-handed or left-handed.

Second step is to NOT move the face when your nose is pointing at a target and keep your eyes firmly on the object. ALWAYS bring the binocular UP to your eyes and the object will appear in the binocular. Only takes a little practice to become a habit. NEVER take your eyes off the target and drop or nod your face toward the binocular. This is a very common beginner’s mistake and one that is easily avoided, now that you know the secret of using a binocular. It’s that simple. Try it.

If you have ever sold binoculars, you know some of the questions folks like to ask about binoculars before they buy binoculars. Some of the binocular questions are very good in terms of common sense, but some are … well, not so good. I suspect the one question that most of us binocular salespeople hate the most is, “How far can I see?” We all have our own way of answering that binocular question and, despite the temptation to supply a smart and sarcastic answer, I have always done my patient best to explain that such a binocular question is incomplete and therefore cannot be answered and that it has nothing to do with thee type of binocular in question. It cannot be answered any more for birding binoculars than it can be answered for astronomy binoculars. Okay, that response is accurate and truthful, but I learned, long ago, to quickly add more in the way of an explanation to avoid an unhappy customer.

The question needs to be completed by adding what object you are trying to see, specifically the size of the object you want to see. Object size is the crux of the question. An ant climbing a tree will not be visible in a conventional binocular at a distance of much more than tens of yards; a very large ship on a lake or ocean may be visible for miles; a galaxy in outer space is visible for millions of trillions of miles. In this line of thought, it is best to think of binocular magnification as bringing objects that much closer than they really are. A ten power binocular, then, makes objects appear ten times closer than they really are. If you are trying to see an ant on a tree at a distance of 100 yards with your 10x binocular, it will appear to be at a distance of ten yards in the binocular? Can you see an ant at a distance of ten yards without a binocular? Of course, that depends on the size of the ant; ants come in many sizes …

If money was no object … Okay, for me and for most folks, money will always be an object or, more to the point, an obstacle when it comes to buying our dream car, our dream digital camera, our dream binocular and so on. So, really, if I won the lottery and had the money, what would I buy in an astronomical binocular, for instance?

For my dream astronomy binocular, I would opt for a giant binocular, mounted on an astronomy binocular tripod or even a larger giant binocular, mounted on a pedestal. With such a giant binocular, I could view wide expanses of the heavens in total comfort and get picture window like views of the universe. I’m not so much interested in magnification as I am in image brightness, because most of astronomy is about seeing faint objects and to see faint objects, you need those larger optical systems. Indeed, there have been as many comets discovered by amateur astronomers using giant binoculars as amateur astronomers using telescopes.

For my tripod-mounted astronomy binocular, I would have to choose a Kowa Highlander. This would still be portable enough to carry outside on my patio. At, 38x or 50x with the optional eyepieces, the views would be stunning in this premium giant binocular. If had the room for a permanent shed, though, I would have to go with a huge Fujinon 25x150 binocular telescope. Now that is one big binocular.

Okay, Bill, if you are reading this, just remember this is all a fantasy. I am not planning to sell the car and surprise you when you get home, one night.

Is there a binocular out there that is a Swiss Army knife of binoculars? Is there a binocular out there that not only gives the user a binocular, but also a laser rangefinder, a digital camera, image stabilization, night vision, GPS, thermal imaging, a radio, mp3 player and more? Where can you buy that cool binocular with all those different functions; the one you saw your movie hero using in the latest Hollywood adventure?

The answer is you cannot buy such a binocular, unless you can manage to get that Hollywood prop and that’s all it would be: a prop. There is no such thing as a binocular with all that technology, simply because you can only cram so much instrumentation inside a binocular housing and even if you could incorporate more, the price of such a do everything binocular would likely be prohibitive. Then, too, should you drop or damage such a multi-purpose binocular you risk losing all those instruments in one fell swoop. That's why the military avoids such an approach. The usual limit for a binocular that is more than just a binocular is a binocular with one added technology. Attempts to offer binoculars with more than one extra technology have not met with any commercial success.

Binoculars with one added technology, though, have been successful. Thus we have digital camera binoculars – a cheap digital camera mounted on a binocular, laser rangefinder binoculars, night vision binoculars, image stabilized binoculars and even thermal imaging binoculars. Now and then, you will see manufacturers even add a radio or mp3 player to a binocular, though these arte more gimmicks than serious tools.

I am very fortunate to have a forest across the street for a neighbor. Not that I have anything against the people kind of neighbors; it’s just nice to also have birds and other wildlife for neighbors. With my spotting scope setup in the living room, I can do some birdwatching and wildlife from my living room couch. With my birding binoculars, I can do some very serious bird watching through my kitchen window by monitoring my bird feeders. Yes, nothing quite like the convenience of birding, right from your own home.

Okay, not trying to rub it in if you are less fortunate, but the point I am trying to make is that a great deal of birding can be done, locally, right in your own neighborhood; birding does not always have to be an expedition to some distant birding hot spot. In fact, just about everyone has access to some birding within walking distance. Parks are great, of course, but there is also some great birding to be had in some less than likely and, sometimes, not so picturesque, locations, such as sewage ponds, landfills, cemeteries, vacant lots, flood control structures, around billboards, power line right of ways and so on. Birds don’t read signs and could care less how we label what they find as suitable habitats. In fact, if you check the reports of rare birds that occur in many areas, the good old sewage lagoon will often rank at the top in terms of locations. Of course, when your spouse or friends ask where you are going, I would suggest simply telling them that you are going birding. They might not understand your fascination with sewage ponds.

It’s a sign of the times, I suspect, what with calorie counting and everyone watching their weight, but binoculars have been getting lighter and lighter over the years. There was a time when a full size 8x42 binocular or 10x42 binocular averaged somewhere between 30 and 35 ounces in weight, with a few even pushing 40 oz. I remember telling customers back in the 90’s to be sure to get a binocular under 35 ounces if they expected to carry it all day, since even a few ounces of binocular weight can make a difference in comfort when a binocular hangs from your neck for a few hours

Those days, fortunately, are gone. Today’s 8x42 binocular or 10x42 binocular rarely tips the scale at more than 30 ounces and, even at 30 ounces, a 42mm binocular is at a serious competitive disadvantage; customers want a lighter binocular and the market has responded. Most 42mm binocular on the market now weigh less than 30 ounces, some much less. For example, the latest version of the Nikon Monarch 8x42 – the world’s best selling $300 class binocular – now weighs a very svelte 21.5 ounces. That’s even less than many 32mm size binoculars. That is some serious binocular weight reduction.

This binocular weight trend has been achieved by the use of polymers and lighter metal alloys, such as magnesium, for the binocular body. Aspheric lens designs also have helped, since it takes fewer lenses in an optical system to accomplish the same degree of optical correction. This weight reduction, however, has not come at the expense of durability – some of these new polymers can withstand cracking and crushing better than traditional metals used in binocular housings.

Are you carrying too much weight (binocular, that is)?

Maybe I’m suffering from a case of cabin fever, but my thoughts of late have been of lakes and canoeing, camping gear, spring birdwatching, bicycling and so on. Okay, that definitely ranks as a case of cabin fever, but, then, it is February and that is a traditional month for cabin fever.

For canoeing, I like a waterproof compact binocular. I have four compact binoculars. I also like a solid and optically good compact binocular, but one that does not cost an arm and a leg, just in case you dump the canoe. I do not have one of those; all my compact binoculars are premium compact binoculars and the thought of one of them on the bottom of a local lake or river does not give me a warm fuzzy. So, time to buy compact binocular for canoeing.

I’ve always liked reverse porro prism design compact binoculars, since you get the most optical bang for the buck with this binocular design; there are some excellent porro prism compact binoculars on the market at a very reasonable price. Lastly, I’ll take 8x, rather than 10x, for the sake of steadiness in a canoe. Some great choices in compact binos in a reverse porro prism design include the Nikon Prostaff 8x25, the Pentax UCF WP 8x25, the Vortex Vanquish 8x26 and so on. Those are all within my budget for a canoe and kayak binocular.

Time to go clean the snow off the canoe.

We’ve had three or four inches of snow, overnight, with much more to come. Okay, I wanted snow and I got it! Time to break out the skis and my digital cameras for some fun in the snow, but, first, there is work to be done.

If you feed birds, as I do, you know that an overnight snow means it’s time to clean out those bird feeders and make sure that everything is operational. First thing to check is that the feeders have not been clogged up with ice and snow. I am quite meticulous in this regard; I’ll bring in the feeders to thaw and clean them out if need be. A winter storm stresses the birds enough, as it is; the birds do not need extra work to feed during a storm. You should also clean snow off the top of the feeders. That extra weight can weaken the structure of some bird feeders and place undue stress on a pole or whatever you are using to support the bird feeder.

Once the feeders are full and working, I take one extra step by shoveling off a couple of patches of ground and lay out some seed for my ground feeding Juncos and Sparrows. Although these birds can and do use a feeder when necessary, they, too, need a little extra help in a heavy snow.

Last item is to head back to the kitchen, brew a fresh pot of coffee and dust off the birding binoculars or your birdwatching spotting scope. The birds will be busy and so will you.

There are some features found on today’s binoculars that we take for granted. Full multi-coating (for maximum image brightness), phase-correction (for better resolution on roof prism binoculars), waterproofing (for all weather use) and more were not common binocular features in past decades and, even when available, were very expensive options found only on premium grade binoculars. Yes, all of those standard features on current binoculars were once available only on the best binoculars, but all can now be found on binoculars well under $200.

As an eyeglass wearer, all my life, the one binocular feature I most appreciate as now easily found is long eye relief. This binocular feature allows you to keep you to wear your glasses when using a binocular and still see a full field of view. Back in the 70s, 80s and even well into the 90s, it was a real hassle to find a binocular with long eye relief. This was especially true on compact binoculars. Indeed, it has not been that long for even premium compact binoculars to have long eye relief. What a relief (okay, bad pun) it has been to be able to get a compact binocular, such as that Leica Ultravid BL 10x25 or that Nikon Premier LX 10x25 that now offers enough eye so I can keep those glasses on my face, where they belong, rather than taking them off every time I want to use my compact binocular. After all, the whole idea of a compact binocular is convenience.

Not sure if the groundhog saw its shadow, yesterday, but I have yet to see a groundhog in the neighborhood or I might have been watching for a groundhog. I suspect we do have groundhogs in this area of suburban Milwaukee, though, since we do have so much other wildlife practically at our door. It may just be a matter of doing a bit more exploring and watching on my part.

Groundhog or not, I still see still see a great deal of wildlife when I walk or ski the trail that starts a couple hundred feet from my door. Even if I discount what I see at my very active bird feeders and what I have added to my birding list, my local wildlife list is quite long. To be sure, I use my binoculars for more than just watching the bird feeders or birding. For instance, I have yet to go a day in the local forest preserve without seeing deer and they are typically so tame and so close as not to need a binocular. I have even taken some nice photos with my film camera, but simply haven’t bothered to do try with my digital cameras. I promise to do that very enjoyable task, shortly, and post some pics.

This morning, I am heading out on the skis, compliments of a two-inch snow we had, yesterday. Fresh snow also makes for good tracking and that, in turn, also provides opportunities for some pics and I will post some of those in a future blog. In the meantime, got to go wax my skis.

Today’s bird is the House Finch, one of the most regular visitors to my feeders. As photographic subjects go, they are not too fidgety. In fact, these two were quite cooperative, the other morning. Enjoy.

Some words with a single definition actually describe a wide range of products. When it comes to optics, “rangefinder” is such a word. The word, itself, is self-explanatory, but there are many types of optical instruments that have rangefinders.

In it’s simplest form, a rangefinder is an instrument that does one and only one thing – determine distance to a selected target. The modern handheld rangefinder is a laser rangefinder; it incorporates an invisible laser that hits the target, then sensors in the rangefinder pick up the reflections of the laser beam off the target and, finally, a computer chip in the rangefinder notes the time it takes to receive the reflection and does the math. You see the distance displayed on a screen in an instant. The laser rangefinder is also incorporated into many weapons systems, surveying equipment and other high tech instruments. However, this technology is also appearing in many sporting products, such as target and hunting riflescopes, such as the Nikon Laser IRT riflescope.

That’s a far cry from the old mechanical optical rangefinders. In this type of handheld rangefinder, you see two images superimposed on each other. You then merge the images into one single image and read the distance on a dial. These handheld optical rangefinders have all but disappeared, but that system still can be found in rangefinder cameras, such as the Leica M9 camera, which is one of the very few manually focusing cameras in production.

Lastly, there are rangefinder binoculars that get you a binocular and rangefinder in one package. However, you must exercise caution, here. Only binoculars advertised as laser rangefinder binoculars use a laser rangefinder and these typically start in price with the Leupold RXB-IV . Less expensive binoculars that advertise a rangefinder do not include a laser. Instead, you see a grid of lines when you look though the binocular. You then bracket the object you wish to see between two marks on the grid, do some calculations and determine a distance. However, the one caveat with this system is that you must know the height of the object in question to do that math. This is an old technology and, for most users, not very useful. It is still offered in many marine binoculars as much out of tradition than out of practicality.

In some respects, winter, up here in the north, is an “off” season for birders and birdwatchers in terms of numbers of different birds seen. Most of us are lucky to count thirty or forty species if we really work at it, but that does not mean it is time to put away the birding binoculars or stop watching the birds.

As a passionate and ardent bird watcher, I love winter. Even though the numbers and variety are not there, birds are more obvious and easier to spot with the lack of cover, but, especially, birds seem even more spectacular against the, sometimes, drab background of our winter landscape. Birds seem more colorful, somehow. Then, too, winter can hold a surprise or two, since birds sometimes travel a long way in search of food – you never know what bird might find its way into your neighborhood. Indeed, some of the truly rare birds I have seen, such as a Snowy Owl, made a visit during the winter.

Mostly, though, winter is time to feed the birds and just sit and watch them at the bird feeder. Winter is not the only time to feed birds, however, but it is the season for many of us time when we have more time to watch the birds at our feeder. When that weather warms up, we tend to be on the move, more, just like the birds. As always, birding takes many forms.

Oh, though I would add a little color to your winter with my pic of a cardinal at my feeder. He was watching me as I took his pic as much as I was watching him.