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

Yep, it’s that time of year. With summer and warm temperatures we also get mosquitoes, ticks and other pests. Break out the insect repellant and let’s head to the woods for a little birdwatching, hiking, biking and so on.

Not so fast. Some insect repellants and binoculars are not a good match. Repellants with DEET can and will gum up the finish on certain binoculars. DEET acts very much like a paint remover. In fact, I have even used it in a pinch to remove old paint on small items I was re-painting! Do you really want to touch those expensive birding binoculars, hunting binoculars or astronomy binoculars with paint remover on your fingers? Binoculars with the old style leatherette coverings are especially vulnerable to DEET, but don’t assume that your binocular is safe from the effects of DEET just because it is armored. Many chemical formulas are used in the materials that manufacturers utilize for armoring on binoculars and DEET will turn some of them into a tacky, sticky mess that won’t wash off. I know because it has happened to me.

Rather than take a chance, I simply opt for insect repellants without DEET when I am working with binoculars, spotting scopes, digital cameras and other optical equipment. True, repellants without DEET don’t seem to work quite as well, at least for me, but I’ll risk a few extra mosquito bites rather than ruin my good binoculars.

I had a fairly good spring birding season, all things considered. I saw plenty of new birds in the binoculars and spotting scope, many of them north woods specialties, and all of them birds new to my yard and home on the lake. (It’s been many years since I’ve actually seen a bird in my birding binoculars that I have never seen before.) My north woods bird list is growing all the time and it's a good one. No doubt about it, living in the north woods has been good for my birdwatching. Makes me feel right at home.

Every time I move to a new location, which has happened a lot in my life, I always start a new list of birds present. It’s more than just a list of birds seen in the birding binoculars, though; for me, the process of keeping a list of birds seen in an area is a much valued way to connect to a new area and make it feel like home. Shopping, restaurants, entertainment and social opportunities are as important to me as any gal, but my birding is at the top of the list when it comes to getting acquainted with a new area. Show me a lot of birds and places to see those birds with my birding binoculars and birding spotting scope and I am a happy gal. Deprive me of that and no amount of shopping will make me smile and that’s saying a lot because I am a confirmed shopaholic.

As I sat in the yard, looking through my astronomy binoculars, the other night, my mind drifted back to earlier days with binoculars and telescopes. That’s a lot of days, by the way, since I’ve been doing astronomy for over forty years.

I once was in a small astronomy club and one of the things we liked to do while looking through the binoculars or telescope eyepiece was add a little music to our observing. Music, the right music, did add to the mood, so we started to make music a regular part of every observing session and, to be fair, we took turns selecting the music. Typically, it would be classical, but with me being such an eclectic when it comes to music, I always managed to surprise my friends with things they had never heard. One of these musical genres, was, appropriately enough, ambient electronic space music. They loved it!

As I sat in my chair with the astronomy binoculars, the other night, though, I felt no need to add music to my observing. Fact is, there was no need to bring any music because I already had plenty of music around me. The frogs were serenading me and if you’ve never heard frog music in the north woods you don’t know what you are missing. Not to be outdone, a Barred Owl was calling somewhere back in the pines and somewhere in the distance, I could hear the yip of coyotes. Now all I have to do is arrange to have all these musicians play every time I am out with the binoculars. Ah, yes, the music of the north woods is an ever changing masterpiece.

How long should binoculars last? The quick and easy answer is that binoculars, even cheap binoculars, have the potential for lasting years, given reasonable use and care. Of course, there are so many qualifiers in such a statement that it is hard to know where to begin when we get down to specifics. Have to start somewhere, though. Therefore, as a general rule of thumb, I have always advised that when you buy binoculars, spend based on your frequency of use and also under what extremes you will be using your binoculars.

Some applications call for more durability than others, of course, but even within a given binocular application there will be differences on how we use binoculars. For instance, serious birding means a lot of binocular use and that justifies spending more. It’s not that serious birders tend to be out in rough weather as much as it is wear and tear on focusers and so on from constant binocular use. Casual birdwatching, on the other hand, means less use, so you can get by with less expensive birding binoculars.

Astronomy binoculars see less use than many binoculars, given the opportunities to use them are less frequent, but there are still times when spending more is justified. For instance, large giant and super giant astronomy binoculars are prone to misalignment due to all the weight in their optical and mechanical systems, so structural soundness is important. Going too cheap on large astronomy binoculars is asking for problems.

Of all the uses where binocular durability is paramount, hunting ranks near the top. Again, if you are hunting day in and day out over the length of a long season, going cheap on your hunting binoculars is a mistake. It’s not that you can’t replace a defective or faulty hunting binocular when it fails as much as it is needing that hunting binocular to be in proper working order when you need it most on a big hunt. Then, too, there are many types and styles of hunting. If you just need a binocular to take a peek, now and them, that is one thing. If you are glassing with your binoculars for hours a day to actually locate game, that is quite another.

Again, spend according to expected use.

Are your binoculars giving you eye fatigue and eye strain? If the answer is yes, it could be a problem with your binoculars, but it could also be a problem with how you adjust and are using your binoculars. Either way, binoculars and eye fatigue is a bad combination.

Your binoculars, of course, can be the source of that eye strain and fatigue. The culprit, here, is misalignment of the prisms inside the binocular housing. In order to achieve strain free viewing in a binocular, those prisms must be aligned to be looking at the same point out in front of the binoculars at a given distance. Close does not count, either; in roof prisms a prism that off a fraction of the width of a human hair can cause eye strain. The good news, here, is that most binoculars, by far, are correctly aligned right out of the box. Once in awhile, though, one slips through quality control that is not correctly aligned. This is much more likely to happen with cheap binoculars, since using minimal quality control is a way to keep prices down. It is also more common on large astronomy binoculars because the large barrels on these binoculars have a tendency to flex, allowing the prisms to work loose. The bad news, here, is that you can’t adjust and align prisms on your own (there are some exceptions, such as certain Oberwerk astronomy binoculars). Time to send the binoculars in for repair.

There are some things you can do, though, to eliminate some sources of eye strain. First, make sure that diopter adjustment is correct for your eyes and spend some time getting it right. Keep both eyes open when adjusting and if that is a problem, place your palm over one barrel as you make your adjustment. Squeezing one eye shut as you make the diopter adjustment will give you an incorrect adjustment because closing one eye produces eye strain and distortion that will not be there when you open both eyes, as you will do when using the binoculars, of course.

Speaking of squeezing, squeezing the eyes or squinting of any kind when using binoculars will also produce eye fatigue. Some of us do this subconsciously. I know I do. If you do it, too, make a point of opening those eyes wide and making them relax as you use your binoculars, almost as if you are about to go to sleep. You will be surprised at the difference. In other words, make the binoculars do the work, not your eyes. At the end of the day, your eyes will thank you.

Much of the attraction of using binoculars for astronomy is the challenge of trying to see objects that are actually better seen in telescopes - if you are after spectacular images, that is. Really not much to see in terms of detail, for instance, on a small, faint galaxies, even in the largest astronomy binoculars, but the fact that you can see these distant objects at all in binoculars is truly amazing. That’s a thrill in its own right.

Yes, of course, there are some objects in the night sky that are actually better seen in binoculars than in a telescope eyepiece, but those of us that love astronomy binoculars tend to constantly push the limits of what our binoculars can do. In other words, we binocular astronomers often are more interested in the hunt, itself, than the actual image. This can mislead, however, and create some unreasonable expectations for a beginner . So what objects, in terms of visual beauty, are best seen in astronomy binoculars?

When I want to be awed, visually, as I look through my astronomy binoculars, I turn to large open clusters, such as M6 and M7, the Double Cluster, the Hyades, the Beehive and many, many more. Binoculars are, indeed, the instrument of choice for large open clusters because binoculars offer wide fields of view that allow you to view these large objects in their entirety, plus using two eyes to view with binoculars creates a wonderful perspective. These are the objects that are ideal for binoculars and the objects best pursued by beginners. Save those small, faint fuzzies for later.

For a great source of objects for binoculars, check the Astronomical League and their Binocular Deep Sky Observing Club list. Note that the overwhelming majority of objects are, indeed, open clusters.

With all my outdoor interests, it is sometimes hard for me to decide what kind of equipment to carry when I head out the door. I want to take everything, just in case. Maybe that’s why I have always been partial to small and portable, whether it comes digital cameras, spotting scopes and, especially, binoculars. Small and compact is likely to be grabbed when I am off on an adventure, big and heavy is not.

Of all the optical equipment I own, compact binoculars see the most use, by far, spring, summer, fall and winter. Talk about convenience and portability! There is always room for compact binoculars, whether I am fishing, skiing, hiking, kayaking or when loaded down with a ton of camera equipment. With compact binoculars, I always have binoculars available, even when doing mundane tasks about the house and yard. They are habit forming, I warn you.

Mostly I use compact binoculars for birding and birdwatching, since I constantly search the trees, fields, lakes and so on for birds when outdoors. No, compacts don’t offer the performance of my larger birding binoculars, but, to be honest, I really don’t need that much performance, anymore. After forty plus years of experience identifying and spotting birds, I do just fine with smaller binoculars. Mostly I use my mid-size and full size binoculars more as a matter of enjoying the image quality rather than out of necessity.

It may seem a bit unlikely to talk about lawn chairs in conjunction with astronomy, but lawn chairs are useful for astronomy, especially when using astronomy binoculars. Yes, of course, you can mount astronomy binoculars on photo tripods or, even better yet, dedicated astronomy binocular tripods, via a parallelogram mount, but a lawn chair, if chosen carefully, makes a very useful and comfortable mount.

The biggest advantage of a lawn chair when using binoculars for an overhead view is a lawn chair’s ability to recline, assuming, of course, that you choose a reclining model. Standing and tipping binoculars up, overhead, as you observe makes for a less than steady mount and do it for more than half an hour or so and it becomes a literal pain in the neck. The solution is to roll out the reclining lawn chair, lay back, binoculars pointed overhead, and take all that stress of your back and neck. If you’ve chosen a lawn chair with arm rests, as you should, you can also brace your elbows on the arm rests for even more binocular support.

My favorite lawn chair for astronomy binoculars is a bit more deluxe than a chair you would buy in the check out lane at a department store. It is more in the category of lawn furniture or patio furniture. It is an upright chair that allows you to lean back, similar to a recliner or rocking chair, so you can get overhead views. Best of all, though, it can swivel 360 degrees, so no need to get up and move the chair when you want to look in a different area of the sky. It’s also a bit more fashionable than your average tripod, if I do say so, myself.

When the Nikon 10x42mm Premier SE first appeared, back in the late 90s, it rocked the birding and birdwatching community for its superb optics. Same for the smaller version, the Nikon 8x32mm Premier SE, which soon followed.

At that time, high end birding binoculars were almost universally roof prism binoculars, with porro prism binoculars found mostly at lower price points. There were a few exceptions, notably he Swift Audubon 8.5x44mm BWCF (wonderful binocular, still available), but few porro prism binoculars were carried by birders who could afford to pay whatever it took to get the very best in optics. If you had the money, you went right to the top and that invariably meant an expensive roof prism binocular.

Yes, it was hard for many owners of high end and very expensive roof prism binoculars to believe that a lowly porro prism binocular could be so splendidly sharp and, especially, so bright. I was one of these. I swear, the first Nikon Premier 8x32 SE I held in my hands was actually as bright or brighter than my very, very expensive European 8x50. One look and I became the proud owner of an 8x32 Premier SE just as fast as I could write out a check. My friend who was with me that day, opted for the larger 10x42 Premier SE.

I had hoped that the Nikon Premier SE would spark a comeback for premium porro prisms binoculars, but, alas, not to be. You can still buy the Premier SE if you are willing to wait a bit to get them, but if you are a fan of great birding optics, you won’t regret the wait.

Porro prism binoculars have steadily lost ground to the slimmer, more comfortable handling roof prism binoculars over the last twenty odd years, but that does not mean that the porro prism binocular is an inferior binocular design. Far from it. In fact, in some respects, the porro prism binocular is actually superior to a roof prism binocular.

Light transmission is one. Light transmission is inherently better in a porro prism binocular because the porro prism does not use a mirror in the prism as does a roof prism. That mirror in a roof prism scatters and reflects some light, resulting in some loss of light and contrast. Admittedly, this is very small in high end roof prism binoculars, but getting that kind of low light performance in a roof prism is expensive. Porro prism binoculars are more light efficient at only a fraction of the cost of a good roof prism. Why pay more when you need maximum image brightness?

Astronomy binoculars are a case in point. Ever wonder why most dedicated astronomy binoculars are still porro prism binoculars? That’s right, it’s a matter of light transmission and image brightness and, in astronomy, those are features of primary importance. Also, handling is a less critical feature on astronomy binoculars, so there is little need to make astronomy binoculars in a roof prism version. Nope, in astronomy binoculars, the porro prism design still reigns supreme and probably always will.

Despite high winds in our area the past few days, I have been seeing some warblers in the birding binoculars. Granted, it is not exactly easy to spot details on a warbler perched on a tree limb that is swinging back and forth wildly in the wind, but that’s birdwatching for you. You don’t always get those bluebird perfect days. Sometimes you gotta be tough.

Okay, how’s this for tough? Yesterday, right from the comfort of my kitchen window, I spotted more Black-throated Green Warblers and Yellow-rumped warblers, plus a single Yellow Warbler, a Pine Warbler and a Black-and-White Warbler. Not bad for never having left the house, if I do say so, myself. Yeah, and I even sipped my coffee and listened to music while spotting these birds.

Okay, now that the wind has relented from hurricane force, I will get a bit more ambitious and do some actual outdoor birding with the binoculars around my neck as I walk the trails. Has been nice, though, to do some birding to music. Also nice to walk over to my spotting scope, which I have setup on a tripod, looking out our deck window. This indoor birding is spoiling me. Maybe I'll just move out to the deck, tomorrow.

Can high end, premium binoculars get any better? If you’ve looked through the best in Swarovski binoculars, Zeiss binoculars, Leica binoculars, Nikon binoculars, Steiner binoculars and so on it is hard to imagine what could be done to make them any better, except, of course, reducing the prices. Ouch! The air at those elevated prices is truly hard to breathe. Of course, some of us who are passionate about birdwatching, hunting, astronomy and other applications where top performing binoculars are used must be willing to pay those premium binocular prices or the binocular manufacturers would not be make these high end binoculars.

Can these wonderful binoculars get any better, though, or are we at a point where future binoculars will only be repackaged versions of current premium binoculars? That is hard to predict, of course, but since I have my crystal ball out on the table, anyway, I’ll predict that, yes, technology still holds some surprises for us when it comes to making binoculars even better. I predict we will see ever more sophisticated lens glass and lens formulae applied to binoculars, though there must surely be a limit, optically, as to how much the human eye can distinguish and use. In fact, I think we are already very close to this optical threshold. Can binoculars get any better? Yes, though the improvements may only be slight, but one thing I can predict with nearly absolute certainty is that premium birding binoculars, hunting binoculars and astronomy binoculars will only get more expensive. Start saving your lunch money, now.

Not much happened over the weekend with the birdwatching and birding binoculars, what with the nasty cold, wind and rain that blew in last Friday. Earlier in the week, though, the birding action was pretty good. I spotted the Bald Eagles, again, cruising over our lake. In fact, I’ve seen them every day, now, through the binoculars, so I suspect our little lake is blessed with a breeding pair. Go, eagles, go.

What I have yet to see on the lake, in either the binoculars or the spotting scope, are Loons, but I have heard them calling on several evenings. I suspect they are using our lake for some feeding, but are using one of the many other lakes in the neighborhood for nesting. That’s okay with me if they just want to drop by, now and then, and entertain us with some loon music.

Our marauding bear has not made another appearance, so I am tempted to put out the bird feeders, again. I say tempted, but tempted is about all I’ll get at this point. I want to wait a good long while before I tempt the bear for a return visit, especially since I am out in the yard at nights with my astronomy binoculars and telescopes. Nothing against bears, but I’d just as soon not having them behind me when I'm looking through a telescope eyepiece.

When we think of birdwatching and birding, we often think of equipment used, such as birding binoculars, birding spotting scope and, if you are into some bird photography via digiscoping, also small digital cameras. There is a side of birding, however, that uses no binoculars, no spotting scopes or digital cameras and, in fact, no equipment at all, other than your ears.

You can identify and locate birds simply by listening. Birds are, after all, wonderfully vocal creatures and what would the world be without all that bird music? We humans are also vocal and musical, so it’s no wonder we love bird music.

For the birder and bird watcher, there is also a very practical side to bird calls and bird song. This morning, for instance, I heard my first House Wren of the season announce its arrival with its buzzing song. Haven’t seen him, yet, but he is there and, sooner or later, I’ll spot him in my Nikon Premier LX 10x25 or one of my other compact binoculars. I’ve also been hearing a Loon, down on the lake, in the early morning and late in the evenings. Then, there is the Purple Finch and the White-throated Sparrow and ….

Keep that bird music coming.

There are times when compact binoculars are the right choice and times when compact binoculars are not the right choice. Remember, with these small binoculars, you are sacrificing some performance and viewing comfort to get that wonderful convenience and portability.

I love compact binoculars and now use them for most of my binocular work. I’ve managed to compensate for the lack of performance in these small binoculars in several ways, mostly by my experience as a binocular user and my expertise in areas I put these binoculars to use, especially birdwatching. To put it simply, after forty plus years of identifying birds, I don’t need as much binocular performance as a less experienced birder, so I get along fine with compacts. A beginning birder, on the other hand, should use full size birding binoculars. Beginner’s need all the performance they can get. The last thing they need to do is work around the shortcomings of compact binoculars.

About the only area where I don’t use compact binoculars on a regular basis is astronomy. In astronomy, performance is typically the difference between seeing an object of interest and not seeing that object. Sure, experience helps, but those astronomy binoculars are large for a reason. Sometimes you just have to have large binoculars to get the job done.

How much should I pay for good binoculars? That is certainly right near the top when it comes to binocular questions, as it should be in this kind of economy. There are many, many ways to answer this question, though, because so much depends on how you define good, how you will use the binoculars and what you expect from binoculars. Then too, a lot of money to one person is pocket change to another. Still, it is possible to get a good start by looking at binocular price points.

If it is just a matter of optical performance and build quality, I’ve always considered the $300 price point in a roof prism binoculars to be the best value. Beyond $300 in binoculars, you begin to pay much more for ever smaller increases in performance and quality, but it is that $300 point that gets you the most for your money. This explains why there are so many binocular choices at this price point, whether we are talking birding binoculars, hunting binoculars, sports binoculars and so on. All those binoculars at the $300 price point is a good thing, too, because it means competition is stiff with binocular manufacturers constantly trying to outdo each other. For many years, now, the venerable Nikon Monarch 8x42 has been at the top in sales at this price point, but if you have a preference for another brand, not to worry. Most binocular manufacturers offer a model that will compete, nicely, with the Monarch.

You may not be getting all the performance your astronomy binoculars have to offer, even low power astronomy binoculars, if you are not using them with a tripod or at least some kind of a rest. It pains me to say that because one of the great advantages of keeping that magnification down to 11 x or below on your astronomy binoculars is steadiness and that typically means no tripods needed. No tripods means less hassle and more portability. It means freedom to roam, just you and your binoculars, without the hassle of an attached tripod. Indeed, this freedom of motion is one of the biggest reasons I love binocular astronomy.

The problem for me is that I am getting older and less and less able to steady my favorite 10x50 and 10x70 binoculars. Most nights I have to resort to a reclining lawn chair and bracing my elbows on the chair’s arms to get that needed steadiness. That works well for fairly small targets, such as globular clusters, but for super fine work, like splitting close double stars, I have no choice but to go with mounting the binoculars on a tripod. Once on the tripod, though, I am constantly amazed at how much more detail I can see in all my targets, not just double stars. If you plan to buy some 7x –10x astronomy binoculars, then, you might want to add an inexpensive tripod adapter, as needed. As binocular accessories go, it may prove quite useful.

Starting to see some warblers and that is a real boost to my spirits after pulling down my bird feeders last week because of bear problems. Yesterday, just casually walking around the property with my Nikon Premier LX 10x25 binoculars (my vote for best value in the premium compact binoculars category), I picked a Black-throated Green Warbler or two, a Wilson Warblers and, as always, plenty of Yellow-rumped Warblers. Yes, it’s warbler time and anyone who owns birding binoculars will tell you that it’s time to head to your favorite warbler woods and do some serious birdwatching.

These first two or three weeks of May, just before the leaves start to come out on the trees, are prime for warbler action in the binoculars. Once those leaves are on the trees, spotting these little birds high in the branches where they typically feed is going to be a lot more work, not to mention that migrating warblers move though an area in a rather narrow window of time. Most are long gone by June and you won’t see them, again, until fall, so grab those birding binoculars and head to the woods, right now!

I’m going through something of a birdwatching and bird feeder withdrawal, now that my bird feeders are down and the lawn has been raked and manicured to be free of any remaining bird seed. Having a bear camp out in your yard makes this a necessity, of course, but it still breaks my heart to see my birds still come to the feeder out of habit and look for food. I’ve been watching them, closely, through my binoculars and spotting scope this morning, hoping they will stay around the yard for the few weeks or possibly even months it will take to make sure the bear does not return. How many birders have to contend with bears at the bird feeders? Oh, yeah, this is a first for me.

I spent most of my life out on the prairie and, believe me, bears were not an issue when you were wearing birding binoculars around your neck or looking through a birding spotting scope at a prairie marsh. To be sure, there were other birding hazards on the prairie, but nothing that would actually shut down your bird watching or feeding birds for a long period of time. Bears, though, are part of the north woods, especially our area, according to the neighbors we visited, yesterday, but none of them seem too concerned. Bears are just part of the north woods. That makes them part of north woods bird watching and bird feeding, too, then.

Binoculars and bears, oh my! With my current bear problem, I’m not sure I am ready to venture forth and do any birdwatching, birding binoculars happily swinging from my neck as I explore the woods around the house. That darn bear shows no fear of us, whatsoever. On the other hand, he shows no inclination to attack, either, so I feel a little safe up on our deck, off the ground. For the time being, that’s where I will be doing all my work with binoculars. That also includes my astronomy binoculars. I'm not about to wander around the yard in the dark with a bear for company and that goes double for walking down the path to the dock, even if the view of the stars, there, is enough to knock your socks off. Hey, I love astronomy with binoculars, but I’m not about to become a martyr for it.

Let me say, up front, that I do not want this bear shot or harmed in any way. I have no right to live in the north woods and not expect to deal with bear issues, mosquitoes, ticks, black flies, deer flies and other possible hazards/nuisances. It wouldn’t be the same north woods without these things. They put the “wild” in the north woods every bit as much as the otters, deer, birds and other wildlife I so enjoy. Meanwhile, I’ll just have to be patient until this bear decides there is nothing for him to eat in our yard, especially me!

I’m fussier about some binocular features than others, same as any other binocular user. One of these is sharpness at the edge of a binocular field of view. Yes, I like a binocular that is sharp and distortion free right to the very edge of the field. That’s actually rare -few binoculars are sharp right to the very edge of the field - but some binoculars are definitely better than others in this respect. That’s why the first thing I check when buying binoculars is edge sharpness.

In truth, there is really no practical need for binoculars to be sharp right to the very edge of the field, because our eyes naturally and intuitively seek the center of the field when looking through binoculars and that’s the area of a binocular field of view that we actually use. Above average edge sharpness in a binocular can be slightly helpful for scanning purposes, but any binocular can be used for scanning because the difference between a binocular with average edge sharpness and a binocular with excellent edge sharpness is not all that much, percentage wise, anyway.

So why am I so fussy about this binocular feature? I just enjoy the view in a binocular with excellent edge sharpness more than a binocular with only average edge sharpness and I am willing to pay the price to get what I want, because, yes, you often do have to pay more to get a binocular with excellent edge sharpness and, as always, once you have used birding binoculars, astronomy binoculars, compact binoculars and so on that are tack sharp right to the edge of the field, you get spoiled.

That's me, spoiled.

It is an inescapable fact that, as we age, our ability to hold binoculars steady in the hand will fade a bit. This means that if you are in your senior years, as I am, you might want to think about that first binocular number, namely magnification, when it comes time to buy binoculars.

I have everything from 7x to 10x first numbers on my astronomy binoculars and my birding binoculars and, oh yeah, those 10x binoculars just don’t steady up like they used to do. I’m fine with 10x binoculars if I am sitting at the table and all comfortable, but out in the woods while birdwatching, it is another matter because I am standing and definitely less able to steady my binoculars. For the same reason, my astronomy binoculars find themselves on astronomy binocular tripods more and more.

All this explains why I tend to reach for my 7x and 8x binoculars more, these days. To be honest, even though the magnification is less, I see as much detail with these lower magnification binoculars simply because I can steady them better. That extra magnification you get with 10x binoculars isn’t worth much if you can’t use it, effectively.

Anyone who lives in a home with a view of a lake, mountains, cityscape or other scenery really should have either a spotting scope or a long range observation binocular on a tripod to enjoy the view and/or see some wildlife. At the very least, even ordinary binoculars should always be handy. What's the point of living in a home with a view if you can't take a closer look?

I, for one, prefer a spotting scope for its portability. A spotting scope on a tripod, even one of the larger spotting scopes on a tripod, is easier to move around than a large observation binocular on a tripod. Since I am mostly interested in birdwatching, this gives me the option of moving my spotting scope setup from one window to the next at a moment’s notice and a spotting scope also gives me the ability to quickly zoom in more magnification as needed. On the other hand, I can’t argue with someone who prefers the tremendous viewing pleasure you get by being able to use two eyes with a binocular. If I was more interested in scenery than birds or wildlife, I would certainly not hesitate to opt for one of those really large long range observation binoculars.