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

Building another highway to reduce traffic congestion is only a temporary fix, because, as research shows and most urban planners know, the traffic on the new highway quickly reaches capacity and you are soon back where you started. I have recently seen this principle at work in my birdwatching.

This winter, I have had up to forty Goldfinches in our yard at one time and they have kept me hopping to keep my single thistle feeder with its six perches filled. A glance through the binoculars, shows that there is an informal waiting line all day long to access one of these six perches. Clearly, I needed a new highway, er thistle feeder to handle my Goldfinch traffic jam. That meant a trip to the store for another thistle feeder, but to keep within our budget, I chose another six perch model, but twelve perches is better than six, right? Now have room for twelve Goldfinches to feed at one time. I reasoned that this should reduce crowding and make room for not only more Goldfinches, but, just as importantly, some of the other bird species that use our feeders. I certainly like Goldfinches, but I would also like to see other birds in my birding binoculars and, for that, I need to reduce some crowding at the feeders.

It’s not working. A recent check with my compact binoculars showed some thirty Goldfinches perched atop the roofs of several feeders waiting to access one of the twelve perches on the thistle feeders. All I have done is attract more Goldfinches instead of reducing crowding. I have created a Goldfinch monster.

How much magnification (first binocular number)? This is, perhaps, the most asked question by folks when they are ready to buy binoculars and it is also sometimes a much argued point by fans of one binocular magnification or the other. If we discount 12x binoculars on the basis that most people just can’t steady 12x enough to use that magnification, effectively, that leaves 7x, 8x or 10x as the most popular and common binocular magnification choices. Of these, which is the best magnification?

Some years, ago, I got tired of answering that question, so I set out, once and for all, to put it to the test. I took a boxful of binoculars of various magnifications and styles with approximately the same objective size, along with a spotting scope, to one of my favorite birdingwatching spots. The test subjects were several species of small grassland sparrows at a fair distance – not easy birds to identify since the features that distinguish one of these species of little brown birds from another are small and often indistinct, even at close range. The results of my binocular magnification test surprised me a bit, so I repeated the test several times, on different days.

And the winner is … Actually, there was not a single instance where a 7x binocular would fail to identify a bird and a 10x binocular would identify a bird. In other words, when a 7x failed to identify a bird, so would a 10x. 3x was just not enough to make a significant difference in the field, in terms of detail, but the lower magnifications were easier to steady and also use because of their wider fields of view. Without fail, if I couldn’t see enough detail for an identification in a 7x, I had to go straight to the spotting scope at 20x or more and bypass the 10x binocular, altogether. (Thereafter, I never left home without the spotting scope.)

So which magnification do I use? Actually, all of them. I own and use birding binoculars of 7x, 8x and 10x and I use them, interchangeably, as my mood dictates. I choose my binoculars based on features other than magnification. When I feel that any of these binoculars will not be enough to do the job, I also bring my spotting scope. Bottom line: pick a binocular magnification that is comfortable to you and think about adding a spotting scope when you need more detail. Don't lose a lot of sleep over the right magnification.

Are you carrying more binocular than you need? Probably. In their attempt to squeeze all the latest technical improvements into their binoculars, manufacturers often give us more than we sometimes need in the way of binocular features. For instance, how many of us actually need waterproof binoculars? You expect and need waterproof in marine binoculars and hunting binoculars, of course, but no one needs waterproof in astronomy binoculars - no one does astronomy in the rain. Yet, a good many astronomy binoculars are waterproof. In fact, the majority of binoculars on the market are waterproof, regardless of their intended application, so you are likely to get that binocular feature whether you need it or not.

It’s all about covering bases in the binocular market. The manufacturer doesn’t want you to overlook their binocular models for lack of one feature or another and the more features you can pack into a binocular, the less likely the binocular is to be excluded when it comes time for a customer to buy binoculars. I see this as a good thing, though. It means that your binocular is probably capable of doing more than you use it to do, right now. Your waterproof birding binoculars, for instance, may actually work, in a pinch, as marine binoculars and are probably a very good choice as hunting binoculars and so on. Besides, given the economies of manufacturing, it is actually cheaper to make a production run of binoculars that are all waterproof than it is to make a separate run for a waterproof model and a separate run for the same model of binocular without waterproofing. In other words, you wouldn’t necessarily save any money by getting your favorite binocular without waterproofing.

Like so many folks who write about binoculars, I have a tendency to dwell on binocular specifications and features and overall performance and, after all, that’s what most people want to know when it comes time to buy binoculars. What’s the best astronomy binocular? What’s the best birding binoculars? Binoculars are all about the technical details and specific binocular applications, right?

Those aspects are certainly important, yes, but there is another side to owning and using binoculars that is much more subjective. Simply put, it’s just a kick to look through binoculars and enjoy the view, even if you aren’t looking at anything in particular or even if you are looking at something you’ve seen a thousand times. Some things just look a lot better through binoculars. Birds are a good example. From any distance at all, without the aid of binoculars, birds just appear to be mostly little gray or brown objects. Pick up a binocular, though, and those same birds come alive with breathtaking color and detail. Same can be said for landscapes, plants and just about any subject you care to examine through binoculars. You can talk all you want about binoculars as tools, but the fact remains that binoculars are fun to use and you don't have to know much about binoculars or own expensive binoculars to appreciate that.

My winter vigil at the bird feeders continues. As with most folks who feed birds in the winter, I keep watch on the feeders, throughout daylight hours, in the hopes that I will catch a glimpse of a new bird species and maybe even a rare new bird species. Winter may not be the best time of the year to record large number of bird species on a birding list, but it is nonetheless a season of surprises. Some of the rarest birds I have seen were seen in winter.

No, I don’t sit for hours on end at the window with the birding binoculars - birdwatching is not the only thing in my life - but, yes, I do keep several compact binoculars around the house to check anytime I see something that looks unusual at the feeders. Fact is, most of the time I don’t even need binoculars to check the identities of the birds at the feeder, even though the birds are too distant from my window to see any detail without some optical aid. Why? If you watch birds long enough, you can become quite skilled at identification by using their silhouettes, their behavior, they way they fly and even their posture. Each species has a unique combination of these traits and thus an experienced birder can become quite good at identifying birds without even raising the binoculars. Best of all, birds at a feeder are one of the best opportunities to develop this “no binocular needed kind of identification”. Go find a bird feeder and give it a try, then score yourself by following up with the binoculars. You'll get plenty of chances to develop your skill at a bird feeder.

Saw an old friend, yesterday, on our drive back home from a visit in Milwaukee with my daughter and her new husband. We were somewhere just north of Oshkosh, turning west toward Steven’s Point when I spotted a bird I haven’t seen in years, namely a Rough-legged Hawk. Roughies were a common winter hawk on the open plains of Nebraska where I lived for many years, but this was my first sighting of a Rough-legged since moving to Wisconsin. We spotted the bird in an expanse of open fields with little cover - typical Rough-legged habitat. I suspect that you could see this bird wintering across much of southern Wisconsin farm country, but it is rare in the northern part of the state where we live, so I rate it as a lucky addition to my 2011 birdwatching list.

In either the binoculars or the spotting scope, a Rough-legged Hawk is a handsome bird and, unlike some raptors, it is rather easy to identify. In flight, the dark carpal (wrist) patches on the underside of the wings can be seen at quite a distance. It is also a rather tame hawk, so a good potential subject for digiscoping, assuming, of course, that you keep your distance and don't disturb the bird.

My first days as a serious binocular astronomer coincided with my first days as an astronomer, in general. I couldn’t afford to buy a telescope, but I did already have binoculars, though they were not considered to be astronomy binoculars, even in those days before giant astronomy binoculars existed. That old 10x40 Tasco binocular was more likely to be found under birding binoculars than astronomy binocular, but it did the job. It was enough binocular for me to learn most of the basics of using binoculars for astronomy.

I didn’t get so called serious astronomy binoculars for another twenty years. Sometime in the 80s, despite a very skimpy household budget, I somehow managed to save enough pennies to buy an 11x80. I’m glad I did. That binocular was a wonder. We were living in an apartment complex and the skies were less than ideal for astronomy, but that didn’t stop me. I spent many hours under the stars with that binocular.

I’ve since upgraded to better quality giant astronomy binoculars, my favorite being a Nikon 10x70 Astroluxe. I still spend many hours under the stars, though. That has never changed.

A glance at the binocular market reveals that there are, indeed, many players, even if you consider only the players at the source who actually manufacture the binoculars and place various company labels on their binoculars. Yes, at the low and mid-priced end of the binocular market, source optical companies often manufacture binoculars for several brands, even though specifications may be varied slightly to suit individual contracts. This is why so many binoculars in the high volume, low price point end of the binocular market look so similar. Wait! You mean some well known binocular companies don’t actually have a factory with their name on the door? Is this some kind of consumer rip-off? Not at all. It’s a common practice in the optics market. You typically have to go to the very top of the binocular market - Swarovski binoculars, for instance - to find companies that do their own in-house manufacturing. There are some exceptions, of course, but it works as a guideline.

I’ve always maintained that the company that stands behind the binocular is every bit as important as the binocular, itself, though. Contrary to what some might think, this is just important when you buy binoculars with a low price tag as it is when you buy binoculars with a high price tag. In fact, it may be even more important, given that less expensive binoculars have a higher failure rate given the lower level of quality and quality control exercised during manufacturing. You are therefore more likely to fall back on a warranty and need customer service with cheaper binoculars.

What about those binocular warranties? Just how good are they? Warranties on binoculars are really only as good as the willingness of the company that sells the binocular to take care of the customer, regardless of the fine print in the warranty. In other words, you should not take warranties too literally. The company and their reputation for customer service is actually more important. The good news, is that nearly all binocular companies I have worked with go out of their way to help customers often beyond the actual fine print.

Compact binoculars are always with me, simply because they are, well, compact. Its all about size, as to whether you decide to take something with you or leave it behind and even just a tiny bit more binocular size is sometimes enough to sway your decision as to when a binocular goes with you and when it does not. This “should I take the binocular or not take the binocular” dilemma is often not a rational, carefully weighed decision, either. Often, it’s an instantaneous, spur-of-the-moment, last second, on your way out the door kind of thing and any hesitation on your part typically means the binoculars get left behind. Ounces do count when it comes to binoculars, especially compact binoculars.

You could, of course, opt for the ultimate in portability with a monocular, but I much prefer binoculars. Binoculars, even the smallest micro compact binoculars, are easier to use, steady and get on target than monoculars. I have managed, on occasion, to do some serious birdwatching with compact binoculars, but not with monoculars and birdwatching is my personal benchmark as to usefulness. True, compact binoculars can’t compete with full size birding binoculars for performance, but they can handle nearly any birding chore. On the other hand, I have found monoculars to be the prefect choice for more casual, quick look and see applications, but for birding? No thanks. I’ll stay with binoculars.

Although I push myself (relentlessly, at times) to excel in things I enjoy, I am not a competitive person. When I compete, in other words, it is against myself and then I can be as ruthless and determined as the fiercest competitor. Put me in a group of people, however, and I’m the one that tries to make everyone get along, be happy and feel like part of the group. I try to actually reduce competition. It’s just the way I’m wired.

This has served me well in birdwatching, of all things. There was a time when I was a bird guide and leader of birding groups. Birders are no different than any other group of people in that you get all types of personalities. As a birding leader, then, it was my job to hold things, together and make sure that everyone was part of the group and that, of course, was sometimes a challenge. Invariably, I would get advanced birders and beginners in the same group. Kick in some personality clashes and it made for some interesting outings, to say the least. It was the super competitive types that gave me the most problems. They had to be the first to identify birds; they had to convince everyone they carried the best birding binoculars; they had to literally run ahead to the next spot on the trail to see birds before anyone else and, now and then, they would get impatient and rude with beginners in the group.

So I used my experience as a classroom teacher to smooth the bumps. I usually elected one of the most rambunctious experts in the group to carry the group tripod and spotting scope with instructions that everyone in the group was to be given an opportunity to see any bird spotted with a brief comment on field marks that made the identification possible. I then had my experts buddy up with a beginner or two with similar instructions to explain how they arrived at an identification and to share expertise in how to use binoculars and so on. Lastly, I spent a lot of time explaining things, myself and making sure everyone was having a good time, even if it meant staying up the night before to make a batch of cookies for the group.

Sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn’t, of course, but it was always interesting and, at least for me, always fun.

There was a day when binoculars that were user-friendly for eyeglass wearers (models advertised with long eye-relief) were not that common and, in fact, were more the exception than the rule. As an eyeglasses wearer, myself, those were bleak days when it was time to buy binoculars. Most often, I just accepted the much reduced field of view of the typical binocular in my price range and continued to wear my glasses when I used binoculars. Yes, I did try removing my glasses to enjoy a wider field of view with my binoculars, for a time, but discontinued that practice after losing and/or damaging several pairs of glasses by getting a little sloppy about where I placed my glasses in the meantime. All the while, I envied people who did not have to wear glasses - they could use any binocular their hearts desired. I even tried contacts, but they were so uncomfortable, I gave up on that solution. Help!

The folks that manufacture binoculars must have been listening. These days, the majority of binoculars on the market have eyepieces designed with enough eye relief to be useable with glasses. Just look for a binocular that advertises 15 mm or more of eye relief and you’re set. Contact lens design has also improved over the years and, now, I do wear contacts, at least some of the time. I win on both counts. I can use any binocular on the market, now, even those relatively few binocular models that are still short on eye relief.

Strangely, though, I much prefer to wear glasses when I use binoculars and, now that I own so many models with long eye relief, I rarely bother with contacts. You see, wearing glasses has actually improved my binocular performance, since I have learned to brace my binoculars against the lenses of my glasses for extra support and steadiness. Can’t do that, of course, when I wear contacts - hurts when I push the binocular eyecups against my eyes. I prefer the way I look when I wear contacts, but the birds have never complained about the way I look when I wear glasses.

I began my birdwatching career long before I bought my first birding binoculars. As a child, I used to sit for hours at my bedroom window and watch the birds in our suburban yard. I remember being especially fascinated by Blue Jays and Mourning Doves, probably because they were large and quite visible. It was hard to see the detail on the smaller brown birds, of course, without binoculars, but I did my best to make identifications. My constant companion was a copy from our family library of John J Audubon’s Birds of America (reprints, not the original, of course). No, it was not a true bird guide, as such, but it did get one youngster very interested in the birds around her. In those days (the 50s), the idea of a field guide that helped you to identify birds in the field was still somewhat newsworthy as a clever way to study and learn birds. The stereotype of a birder as a quaint little old man or woman was deeply entrenched in the public’s mind, but that didn't bother me. There were no binoculars marketed specifically as birding binoculars as you see, today, though some models, as always, were more popular with birders than others. It would be nay years, though, before I could afford to buy a binoculars of any kind.

Of course, birdwatching and birding have evolved a great deal over the years, but I still have fond memories of paging though those classic Audubon plates and wondering when and if I would ever be lucky enough to see all those birds. Happy to say that I have, at least most of them. In fact, I once contracted with a museum to help them update the names on some of those original plates for a public showing of a an original copy of the Audubon portfolio. In return, I was granted an opportunity to actually hold, in my eager hands, some those original Audubon plates (with proper precautions and safeguards, of course). That has been one of my greatest thrills in over forty years of birding and bird watching, but it was all the more precious for sentimental reasons.

From a marketing perspective, porro prism binoculars are not quite dead, but this older binocular design continues to lose ground in the binocular market as full featured roof prisms binoculars continue to chip away at that traditional stronghold of the porro prism marketing, namely the economy and budget binocular. Porro prism binoculars have always dominated this end of the binocular market because a porro prism binocular is cheaper to build than a comparable roof prism binocular, but that may be changing as binocular manufacturers continue to crank out ever larger numbers of roof prism binoculars every year which, in turn, helps to reduce the costs of making this popular binocular design.

No, I don’t think the porro prism binocular will ever disappear, completely. Why? It’s a matter of optical efficiency. Porro prism binoculars offer the most image brightness and resolution for your optical dollar and for some binocular applications where these are of paramount importance, such as astronomy, marine use and military applications, the porro prism binocular will always be with us. This is especially true for astronomy binoculars where roof prism advantages such as ease of focusing and handling are of little concern. Why pay for features you don’t really need? That’s why 9 out of 10 astronomy binoculars are porro prisms instead of roof prism binoculars.

On most center-focus binoculars, the focusing knob is located at the back of the binocular – the end where the eyepieces are located. This puts the index finger where it belongs when you pick up the binoculars, namely right over the focusing knob. There are a few compact binoculars, though, that have the focusing knob at the front of the binocular – the end where the objective lenses are located. I have two of these. One is a Swarovski 8x20 Pocket binocular and the other is a Nikon Premier LX 10x25. On these binoculars, I operate the focus knob with the my fourth finger or my pinkie, rather than my index finger. My other compact binoculars, though, have the conventional to the rear location for the focusing knob.

Which do I prefer? I do prefer a rear mounted focusing knob on a compact binocular, since I often swith back and forth between compact binoculars and my larger birding binoculars with their usual location of the focusing knob. Yes, it does seem a little awkward for a few moments when I pick up my Swarovski Pocket or my Nikon Premier LX, but only for a moment or two. The excellent optics on both of these compact binoculars soon makes me forget all about the location of the focusing knob.

I have had a miserable cold these last several days and I may be to blame for its severity, given that I decided to cross country ski for a few hours when the cold was in its initial stages. I know better than to indulge in that kind of exercise when a cold first makes its appearance, but, darn it all, the snow conditions were just too good to resist. Oh well, this outdoor gal has been an indoors gal for a few days and will probably continue to be an indoors gal for a few days more if this current state of misery is any indication. Time for Joanie's binocular cold remedy.

So, what does an outdoor gal do when forced to stay indoors? Does she quit birdwatching? Does she put the birding binoculars and astronomy binoculars in the closet while she recovers? I probably should, but, no, I don’t. Binoculars are part of my cold remedy. I sit in my kitchen with binoculars and watch the birds at my feeders while I drink plenty of liquids. I even drink plenty of liquids while I take my astronomy binoculars and peek at stars through my living room window, though the temptation to step outdoors for a few moments for a better look at these winter skies is hard to resist.

Okay, at least I am drinking plenty of liquids.

Feeding birds in area where you have never set up bird feeders, before, is bound to produce some birdwatching surprises. It is this element of surprise, of course, that adds to the fun of feeding birds. Even moving a feeder from one neighborhood to another in the same town can make a difference and moving your feeders some two hundred plus miles north, as I have done this year, is bound to produce some unexpected sights in the binoculars. For sure, I have not been disappointed.

As I sit here on this January morning in the north woods and peek at my bird feeders through my Nikon binoculars, I can see that the feeders are covered with American Goldfinches. Now, Goldfinches are nothing new for me, but having so many at the feeders in the depths of winter is. In the past, Goldfinches have been more of a warm weather birds at my feeders and I usually could put the thistle seed these birds so love away in the winter. Now I have a flock of thirty or more birds going through thistle seed at an incredible rate. Not that I mind, of course. Goldfinches, even in their drabber winter coats, are a fine sight in the birding binoculars.

About the pic: A little digiscoping fun, but how did I get them all to pose at the same time?

It’s always nice to discover a new birdwatching trail, especially when that bird watching trail is in your own neighborhood, so to speak. Our neighborhood, though, is actually a small secluded lake in northern Wisconsin surrounded mostly by forest instead of cabins and homes.

Recently, some of the neighbor gals told of some ski trails on the northeast corner of the lake, so, yesterday, I clicked into my cross country skis, grabbed the binoculars and the digital cameras to do some exploring. Temperature was four above with a slight wind. Ski conditions were fair, with only about an inch of fresh snow on a hard, crusty layer of ice-snow. Control was only just doable – it was as much ice skating as skiing - but I skied the half mile up the lake with no problems. When I spotted snowmobile tracks on the lake, I just followed them back into the forest. I had found one of the trails.

Going was slow, since the trail was a bit hilly in spots and the ice made things interesting, but it was lovely. I was surrounded by red and white pine and/or fir and spruce bogs. About a quarter mile in, I heard the approach of a snowmobile which politely slowed as it passed. We waved and I continued skiing. A few minutes, later, the snowmobile returned, stopped and I was soon chatting with one of my neighbors. He told me he kept the trails cleared, voluntarily, because a area folks liked to use the trails in the warm months of the year. I thanked him, gestured to the compact binoculars around my neck, and told him I would be one of those folks, come spring. (It should be a warbler hotspot.)

When the ice leaves the lake, I will simply exchange my skis for one of our canoes or kayaks to reach the trail. Now how many folks are lucky enough to canoe to a birding and bird watching hot spot? I am truly blessed.

Looking back on 2010, there were no big developments in the world of binoculars, though some advanced binocular features, such as flat field optics and HD lenses continue to filter down to lower price points. In other words, this has been a typical year in the binocular market and that is fine by me. I appreciate the fact that binoculars are relatively free of the “upgraditis” syndrome that plagues digital cameras and other digital products. It’s nice to know that you can still buy binoculars, today, and the binocular you choose will still be in the same playing field with new binoculars many years down the road. Only rarely does it make sense to wait for that new model to come out in the world of binoculars and, besides, prices are always going up, never going down. Binoculars are a good investment of your optics dollar.

I have several binoculars in the twenty year old category that are still going strong. They lack some of the refinements in lens coatings and niceties such as armoring and waterproofing, but they remain optically sound and I have no hesitation using them as birding binoculars or astronomy binoculars.

Binoculars in 2011? There is always space for one more binocular in my optics cabinet, of course.

When I was growing up and taking my first steps in birdwatching, I remember wearing out bird guides and wondering when I would see this species or that. I found the hawks to be especially thrilling. Could any bird be wilder than, say, a Cooper’s Hawk? I dreamed of the day I could explore the deep woods with a fine pair of birding binoculars around my neck so that I might catch of glimpse of this magnificent bird.

Now, some forty plus years later, I have seen Cooper’s Hawks thousands of times and, yes, it is still a thrill to spot one of these great birds in the binoculars or spotting scope. Ironically, though, most of the sightings have not been in the forests that are the Cooper’s traditional habitat. Most of my sighting have been in the suburbs where the Cooper’s and to a lesser extent, the Sharp-shinned, have established routes in suburban backyards that have bird feeders. Yes, bird feeders. These bird eating hawks come to feeders to catch birds that are eating the bird seed; they are not there to eat bird seed.

I know many folks that are aghast at the idea of hawks eating ‘their birds”, but I have never begrudged any predator (other than cats) from following their instincts around my feeder. A hawk, after all, can only be a hawk; it must eat, too.

Strange how tings work out. Here I am, living in the north woods, deep in the forest and have yet to see a single Cooper’s Hawk visit our feeders. Perhaps it is because bird feeders are few and far between simply because back yards are few and far between in our area. I have seen Bald eagles and Ospreys, here, but I would be amazed to see those birds visit a feeder.