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

“Do I have to wear my glasses when I use binoculars?” Thanks to improvements in binocular design in terms of eye relief, that’s a question I hear less often these days, but it is still a good question.

If you are simply nearsighted or far sighted, the answer to the above question is no, you don’t have to wear your glasses when you look through binoculars, because you can simply use the binocular focuser to compensate for the correction needed. If you have astigmatism on the other hand, the answer is probably, yes, you should use your glasses with your binoculars because you cannot compensate for this optical deficiency by using the binocular focuser. As to how much image sharpness you lose, here, by not using your glasses just depends on how much astigmatism you have. In mild cases of astigmatism you probably won’t even notice the difference. I have a lot of astigmatism, though, so there IS a big difference.

I might add that there is some risk to your glasses by constantly taking them on and off when you use binoculars. It is all too easy to set your glasses down somewhere you shouldn’t. (I've even lost glasses doing this.) Then, too, for many binocular applications such as birdwatching and hunting, that extra time it takes to remove your glasses can be a real penalty when you need to get into action in a hurry with the binoculars and, of course, there is also the extra movement involved that can alert birds and game to your presence.

The good news is that the majority of binoculars on the market today, especially birding binoculars and hunting binoculars, have enough eye relief to use with eyeglasses, so there is really no reason to take your glasses off when using binoculars in the first place.

I am currently reading a mystery novel that is actually quite good, but, like so many mystery novels I’ve read, a bit lacking in technical accuracy about things optical, in this case, binoculars. Here we have adversaries unintentionally spotting each other on a regular basis due to the glare off their binoculars, which, of course, they are also using at ridculous distances to see detail that even a spotting scope could not see. Oh, well, the written media is no better than Hollywood when it comes to accuracy about optics.

But what about that dreaded glare? Is there something to that? No, not really. Glare from a glass surface results from reflected light, in other words, light that does not enter the lens. This lost light due to reflections is bad news in a binocular, but binocular technology has gone a long way to solving the problem by coating each lens surface with special chemical coatings - lens coatings - that greatly reduce reflection. In fact, today’s fully multi-coated binoculars capture and transmit an amazing amount of light that strikes the binoculars front lenses - typically above 90% - and delivers it to the eye.

There was day, though, when binocular lens coatings did not exist and binoculars typically lost half of the light that entered the binocular due to reflections. Even so, the historical records do not seem to support the idea that glare from binoculars was a serious problem.

Okay, so much for theory. If glare off of binoculars was a serious issue wouldn’t all military & tactical binoculars all be equipped with some sort of anti-glare device that prevent the user from being easily detected. After all, these are binoculars that are sometimes used in life and death situations. Same question for hunting binoculars. Wouldn’t hunters all want their binoculars equipped with something that would prevent glare off the binocular objectives from spooking the trophy of a lifetime?

So much for the technical stuff. I need to finish my book and get it back to the library.

Like so many Americans, I long for the days when products with the label, “Made in the USA” were commonplace. The harsh reality in 2011, though, is that darn little is still made in the U.S. in any product category of any kind and, when it comes to binoculars, well … zilch, nada, nothing. The closest we had, recently, was the excellent Leupold Gold Ring binoculars, but the Leupold could only claim “assembled in the U.S.A”, on these fine binoculars simply because they still had to rely on foreign made components to get the binoculars made. Now, sad to say, these fine binoculars are no longer listed on the Leupold website, so it appears these fine binoculars are going the way of the dinosaurs. That leaves us with some other fine Leupold binoculars, of course, but none with that USA pedigree.

Yes, I know all the economics of globalization and I’ve had an inside track on the way the industry has made binoculars, not to mention spotting scopes and telescopes, for years. Quite simply, we’ve reached a point where we really can’t make binoculars in the U.S because all the parts we need to make the binoculars have to come from overseas and, of course, even if we had the production capability right here in the US, it would be hard to make a competitive product because of labor costs. Yes, I know all that. Still, this is one gal who still takes pride in the few optical products she owns that do legitimately say, Made in the USA. Unfortunately, none of those are binoculars.

Someone once asked me how often waterproof binoculars leak or fog up, internally, even though binoculars advertised as waterproof by the manufacturer are guaranteed not to do that. It does happen, of course, even with the most expensive waterproof birding binoculars and hunting binoculars, but that’s what binocular warranties are all about. Still, no one wants a leaky binocular.

In my forty plus years of using binoculars of all kinds, waterproof and not waterproof, from compact binoculars all the way up to giant astronomy binoculars, I’ve only had one binocular that actually leaked and, yes, it was a waterproof model.

I was fly fishing in a large western river and my compact binoculars were around my neck as I slowly waded out to deeper water. I took one step too many, though, and the force of the current nearly toppled me. Fortunately, I regained my footing, but not before the water went over my waders and, unfortunately, also my binoculars. I suspect the binoculars would have survived the dunking without leaking had it not been for the force of the current, but it was not to be. One barrel of the binocular had instantly fogged and though it dried out and cleared in a few days, the binocular continued to fog up every time there was enough moisture in the air. This is typical for a binocular that has leaked, by the way - once a binocular leaks it will continue to leak until the seals are restored. Eventually, I returned the binocular to the manufacturer and was completely satisfied with the way they handled the problem.

Not bad for forty years of using many dozens of binoculars.

Yes, summer is one of the hardest times of the year to see birds in the binoculars, simply because plant life is in full foliage and that makes it tough to spot birds, let alone track their movements in birding binoculars as they move through the cover. Things are especially tough in summer when it comes to working forest birds, so my summer birdwatching for these species is as much by ear as it is visual - I rely a great deal on identifying birds by their calls. . That’s easier said than done, of course, if you are a bird watching beginner, so what can a beginner do to help get more summer birds in the binoculars?

My basic strategy for seeing more summer birds in the binoculars has been simply to move away from the heaviest cover and head for open country or water, where birds tend to be more visible. In our area, we have precious little in the way of prairies or other open country, so this means water areas are the best bet for seeing birds in the summer. These water areas can be anything from a small bog ponds to huge lakes, but the idea is the same, either way. If you choose to work larger bodies of water, you might also want to set up a spotting scope on a tripod for birds out on the lake that are beyond the reach of binoculars. Don’t forget to work the shorelines, though, whether using binoculars or spotting scopes, because that edge cover is ideal bird habitat and a great place to spot birds.

“If a little is good, more is even better” is an attitude that works for some things, but can actually be self-defeating for others. This is definitely the case for binoculars and magnification.

The main issue is steadiness – the higher the magnification, the less the steadiness, simply because out binoculars magnify not only the objects we wish to see, but also our body’s movements – breathing, shaking and so on. In other words, when you increase your binocular magnification, you also increase the effects of our body’s inability to keep things steady. This means that, at some point as we continue to increase binocular magnification, what we gain in extra detail form that magnification, we actually lose to unsteadiness. We then have to consider solutions such as putting the binoculars on tripods or going to image-stabilized binoculars if we still want that extra magnification. This steadiness problem is also why we recommend lower magnifications for marine binoculars, simply because steadiness is especially hard to achieve from the deck of a boat rocking in the waves.

So where is the breaking point on magnification for most folks? As a very general rule, anything over 10x for a first binocular number should be approached with caution, unless you plan to add additional support to the binoculars by way of bracing them or putting them on a tripod.

That’s the general rule and it has been repeated so often that it has almost become gospel. Keep in mind, though, that the specific way in which you actually plan to use your binoculars is going to be a big factor, here. That 12x or even 10x binocular that you can easily steady at the counter in a store or on a leisurely birdwatching stroll can be a nightmare to steady when you have just completed a long hike up the side of a mountain and your heart is pounding and you find yourself gasping for air. That’s why many hunters I know choose 7x or 8x hunting binoculars when hunting in the mountains, even though the added potential detail provided by a 10x or 12 hunting binocular could be quite useful for that kind of hunting. Binocular magnification only counts when you can use it, effectively, though. More is not always better when it comes to binocular magnification.

I am sometimes asked if there is any way to make binoculars do the job of spotting scopes, most often by using higher magnification binoculars and less often by using a binocular doubler, which are available for some specific models of binoculars. I can certainly understand wanting to do this. Yes, it would be wonderful to get it all in one instrument and/or get the added comfort of using two eyes to observe when using spotting scope type magnifications. I’d also be thrilled to leave the tripod at home and still be able to use 40x effectively.

Unfortunately, it’s not going to happen. Unless technology steps in with some radical new solution, there is no practical way to fully match the performance of spotting scopes with conventional binoculars. Yes, there are large and heavy long range observation binoculars that offer spotting scope magnifications, but the key words on these are large and heavy. They are designed to be used at fixed locations and totally inappropriate for field work, unless you have a pack horse to carry one for you.

Zoom binoculars are no solution, either, simply because optics are painfully poor, compared to fixed power binoculars, and reliability is consistently bad and you still need a tripod to use them at high magnifications, effectively. Doublers can be helpful when you need a touch more magnification, but binocular/doubler combos suffer the same headache when you try to use them without a tripod and you're back to using one eye, as per a spotting scope. Of course, you could add a tripod, but if you're going to pack a tripod, you might as well just get a spotting scope, anyway. Lastly, the doubler solution still only gets you into the low end of the spotting scope magnifications range.

Fixed power higher magnification binoculars mounted on tripods are still the best solution when you need more magnification that conventional binoculars, but still don’t want to go with a spotting scope, mostly because you want to maintain the comfort of using two eyes. They still can’t match spotting scopes for maximum magnification, but they are a pleasure to use if you mount them on a good tripod. Okay, yes, I know several big game hunters out west who swear by binoculars such as the Swarovski 15x56 WB SLC and they do use that 15x without tripods, but they solve the steadiness issue by using their high power binoculars from a sitting or prone position and, of course 15x is still a long, long way from the 60x provided by most spotting scopes.

Bottom line is that you can make binoculars overlap a bit in performance with spotting scopes, but you still can’t get ordinary binoculars to replace a spotting scope. Most of the time, when the binoculars don’t get you close enough, time to be thinking of a spotting scope.

Are astronomy binoculars different than ordinary binoculars? That can be answered in any number of ways, depending on how you define different.

First, any binocular can be used for astronomy. I’ve used birding binoculars, hunting binoculars, marine binoculars and even small compact binoculars to do astronomy. The idea, here, is that any binocular will show you more in the night sky than no binocular at all, so whether a binocular is labeled an astronomy binocular or not is somewhat irrelevant as far as whether you can use it for astronomy.

Second, the vast majority of binoculars that are labeled as astronomy binoculars are labeled that way by virtue of their larger objective lenses, which, optically, is a big benefit when doing astronomy because, in general, larger lenses in the front of the binocular translate into more objects seen in the night sky as well as more detail. These are the binoculars you want when you plan to use binoculars primarily for astronomy. Nevertheless, there is no reason you can't use such binoculars during the day. Many of these, for instance, make excellent long range observation binoculars with no optical penalty other than their overall inability to focus closer than conventional binoculars. Most of these large astronomy models are also too large to be practical for other daytime applications, but you can use them by day.

Lastly, there are a few rare astronomy binocular models that are designed, optically, for one and only one use – astronomy, of course. My Nikon 10x70 Astroluxe is one. In fact, the Nikon astronomy series of binoculars may be the only series of binoculars on the market that falls in this category. As I said, optics on my Astroluxe are optimized specifically for astronomy. As long as I have my Astroluxe focused for infinity – the focus point for all astronomy – there is little, if any, chromatic aberration or other optical flaws. If I try to use this binocular at any other focus point, though, which you will for many daytime applications, chromatic aberration is noticeable. This astronomy binocular was never intended to do anything other than astronomy, so who cares? Believe me, I don't, because my Astroluxe is a magnificently engineered specialty binocular for astronomy and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Our area of northern Wisconsin is only now recovering from an eight year drought. Things are looking better, this year, with the weekly heavy rains we have been having. I am relieved and grateful, of course, for the wet weather, but it has had its effects on my outdoor activities.

Fortunately, my birdwatching really hasn’t suffered with all the rain. I’ve been doing some limited bird feeding, so I do get to watch birds at the feeders with my compact binoculars and birding binoculars on a daily basis. Down on the dock on our lake, some Eastern Kingbirds have established a feeding territory over the lake. Nothing more relaxing on a lazy summer afternoon than watching these birds feed. Then there are the Wood Ducks out on the lake with their little ones which I can see from my kitchen through my spotting scope. No, it doesn’t look like they decided to utilize the nesting boxes we put up for them, earlier, this spring, but I am thrilled to see these birds, anyway. Our lake is really classic Wood Duck habitat and it wouldn't be the same without these colorful birds.

The fishing in our lake for Largemouth Bass and Northern Pike has been very good. Lots of bass in the 15-18” range, if you know how to fish the dense mats of lily pads, that is. No lazy fishing techniques, here. I’d post more fish pics if I could remember to bring one of the digital cameras along more often. More, later.

Sadly, my astronomy with the binoculars has been all but non-existent. This has not been a good spring and summer for using astronomy binoculars or telescopes, but I am ever patient. Besides, now that I am semi-retired and no need to get up and go to work in the morning, I can afford to grab the astronomy binoculars anytime of the night when the sky clears.

Okay, this is a blog on binoculars, not canoes and kayaks, but I do get asked to make some recommendations on binoculars for use in kayaks and canoes and, of course, I own and use canoes and kayaks, so here goes.

I like compact binoculars, rather than full size binoculars, in canoes and kayaks, simply to keep things manageable with all the other gear that I am likely to be carrying – fishing gear or digital cameras – and also because small binoculars don’t get in the way while I am paddling. On the other hand, you could make a good case for using larger binoculars that provide a larger exit pupil for the sake of making it easier to keep the binoculars correctly centered over your eyes, but most kayakers and canoeists I know keep binocular size on the smaller end of the scale for the same reasons I do. It also makes sense to keep magnification down at 7x or 8x in canoe and kayak binoculars for the sake of steadiness, especially if you are new to compact binoculars. On the other hand, I routinely use one of my 10x compact binoculars and have no problems, but, then, I use compact binoculars literally on a daily basis. Lastly, it goes without saying that whatever you choose in binoculars for canoes or kayaks, it should be waterproof.

Since steadiness is an issue in canoe or kayak binoculars, is there a difference between canoes and kayaks in this regard? Yes, kayaks tend to be more stable, in general, than conventional canoes with traditional seats because you sit lower to the water in a kayak - in fact you sit below the water line in a kayak. I have used solo canoes that also sit you on the bottom, but, in general, especially if you are a new to paddling, you’ll find that a recreational kayak will feel less “tippy” than a solo canoe. Notice that I said recreational kayak. These tend to be wider and more stable than touring or sea kayaks and for activities such as birdwatching or fishing, they do a good job. Lastly, I like the open cockpit style kayaks, such as the Pungo 120 in the pic. They give all kinds of room to store gear such as digital cameras, fishing rods, lunch and also make it easier to get at them than conventional dry hatches.

I am always a little shocked that some of my friends can recognize and identify most of our common birds but can’t identify anything other than geese or ducks when it comes to bird calls and bird songs. Okay, they are not into birdwatching like I am and they don’t walk around with binoculars all day the way I sometimes do, but it does surprise me when someone can see a common bird like a Robin for years and years and never connect it to the songs it sings. Or maybe it’s the musician in me that makes me especially curious as to who is singing such beautiful or unusual songs.

No, I don’t know all my bird songs and calls, but, yes, it takes something very unusual to stump me these days and, when I do hear something that I can’t identify, I do what I have done since my earliest days as birder – I grab the birding binoculars and try to spot the vocalist. Sometimes this can lead me on quite a chase, but I am persistent and darn good at spotting birds and using the binoculars. Okay, most people don't think binoculars when it comes to learning bird calls and many a birder would regard my technique as a bit old-fashioned and a little primitive compared to other methods, but it is still my preferred technique.

Oh sure, there are all kinds of bird call CDs on the market – I have a few – and, of course, you can go online to excellent birding websites such as the Cornell Lab and listen to the songs of just about any bird, but, be warned, birds can be very regional in their calls and songs. Some birds, such as the Northern Cardinal, have amazingly different calls from one region to the next; I know, because I have lived in a lot of different places that have had Cardinals in the neighborhood. CDs and other online resources are a big help, though, and a great place to start learning bird songs and calls.

As for me, I want to know exactly who is singing what song in my neighborhood and elimante the possibility of error due to regional variation , so I’ll continue to grab the binoculars and seek out the singer. Besides, there is nothing quite as thrilling as actually listening to a bird sing as you are watching it in the binoculars.

Summer is traditionally a slow season if you are a hardcore birder and you want to rack up big numbers on your birdwatching list every day. In fact, I know some birders who pretty much put the birding binoculars away until migration starts again in the fall. Why fight summer bugs, heat and dense foliage that makes it hard to spot birds in the birding binoculars, right? I don't agree, but each to their own, I guess. Summer is also a slower time of year at the birdfeeder than other seasons (though summer is still a good time to feed birds, contrary to some old ideas still floating around out there). All in all, then, summer is not the hottest time of year for birdwatching, despite the temperatures.

Summer birdwatching, for me, though, is something I very much enjoy. No, I don’t see the variety of birds that I see during fall or spring migration and birds are definitely harder to spot than in summer than in winter, but I do enjoy summer birding. My binoculars see only a little less use in summer compared to other seasons. One of the reasons I am fond of summer birding is no doubt the fact that I bought my first birding binoculars during the summer and put them to use, right away.

What I remember most about that first summer of birding was how the binoculars transformed what appeared to be mostly drab and unremarkable birds to the unaided eye into miraculously colored visions of beauty. The Indigo Bunting was a prime example. Before binoculars, I would see the male Indigo Bunting, but even when the lighting was just right, I could only detect a smattering of blue. In the shadows, no blue at all, just a dark bird. When I added my Tasco binoculars to the equation, though, I shouted, “Wow!” Oh, yeah, just seeing all those colors is more than enough reason to buy binoculars for birding in my book.

When people think of observing the moon in a serious or even casual way, they tend to automatically think telescopes. This is only natural because looking through the telescope eyepiece of even a small telescope reveals an amazing amount of detail on the lunar surface. However, a telescope is not the only tool that can be used for observing the moon.

I often use binoculars to observe the moon and not just astronomy binoculars, either. 8x42 or 10x50 birding binoculars or hunting binoculars will do just fine. So what can you see with ordinary binoculars when you turn them toward the moon? For one, you can easily identify and name all the lunar maria; for another, large craters and there are so many of these it can be actually get tricky to single them out. Then there are lunar mountain ranges, rifts and … well, you get the idea. There is a lot to see with binoculars when you study the moon. No, not as much as with telescopes, but still enough to make it worthwhile to step outside with the binoculars on a night when the moon is up.

For the most part, I do my binocular moon watching without the aid of tripods just to keep things simple. However, when I really get down to trying to sort out and name smaller features on the moon, astronomy binocular tripods makes life much, much easier. Even with an 8x binocular, it can be a challenge to steady binoculars enough to study the smaller features. In short, you will need a tripod to squeeze all the potential you can when using binoculars for the moon.

About the pic: Taken through my spotting scope via some digiscoping.

What makes a binocular an astronomy binocular? Is it some mysterious special binocular lens coating that allow you to see more stars? Is it some weird astronomical binocular focusing system? Just how do you know you are looking at birding binoculars or hunting binoculars instead of astronomy binoculars?

The fact is that there is no special binocular feature that turns an ordinary binocular into an astronomy binocular. About the only generalization to be made about astronomy binoculars is that they tend to be models with large objective lenses, typically 50 mm or more, for the sake of seeing faint astronomical objects. There is, however, no rule that says you cannot use smaller binoculars for astronomy. No, you won’t see as much with smaller binoculars, but even the smallest binocular will show you a great deal more than what you can see with your eyes, alone.

I have put typical 8x42 birding binoculars and even some 10x25 compact binoculars to good use when doing astronomy. These are not my regular astronomy binoculars, of course, but there have been times on vacation or camping trips where these were the only binoculars I had to use and I was able to do plenty of astronomy, even with the 10x25 compact binoculars. Now, compact binoculars are about as far as you can get from giant astronomical binoculars, such as the Celestron 25x100 Skymaster, but even a tiny 10x25 compact binocular will show you moderately bright star clusters, features on the moon and even the moons of Jupiter, none of which can be seen without binoculars. In fact, it was my first birding binocular, a 10x40, that drew me into astronomy when I was curious as to what it could see in the night sky.

Bottom line: if you already own a binocular, any binocular, you can begin to do some astronomy. You don’t have to wait until you buy a binocular that is labeled as an astronomy binocular.

Monoculars are all about portability and less about performance, though some, such as the Nikon 5x15 High Grade monocular or Zeiss 8x20B Design Selection monocular rank right up there with high grade binoculars for optical excellence (and price). The big question of course, is whether monoculars can do the job of binoculars. So, monocular or compact binoculars when you need that portability? I own and use both monoculars and compact binoculars and here is how it works for me.

The typical monocular is certainly more portable than the typical compact binocular. My Nikon 5x15 HG, for instance, is no bigger than my thumb and I can hide it in the palm of my hand. Now, that is portable! For this reason, my little Nikon is a constant companion in my purse and always there when I need a little optical help. That’s the whole idea of a monocular. It’s there when you need it because it is so small and you are never tempted to leave it at home.

Replace my binoculars with a monocular? Not a chance. You do pay a price for all that monocular portability. For one, monoculars are harder to steady than binoculars and noticeably so. After all, monoculars are not designed to be held and steadied with two hands, as are binoculars. Keep your monocular magnification lower than what you would use with binoculars and you’ll be a lot happier. For another, it is harder to center an object you wish to see in monoculars than binoculars; you will need plenty of practice with monoculars to use them effectively in this regard. Lastly, using only one eye, as you do with monoculars, produces eye fatigue for continuous and extended viewing.

Bottom line: monoculars are no substitute for even small binoculars for serious use. If birdwatching is your thing, for instance, at least go with compact binoculars or, better yet, mid-size or full-size birding binoculars. Yes, I have used my monoculars in a pinch to do some birding because I didn’t have my binoculars with me, but all the while kicking myself for not having brought the binoculars. Monoculars are wonderfully portable quick peek instruments, but when things get tough, you need binoculars, not a monocular.

You might think that my interest in astronomy binoculars will have ebbed a bit, given that I now own one of those large Dobsonian telescopes. Nope, not at all, even though my Nikon 10x70 Astroluxe does look kind of puny sitting alongside my new large telescope. For me, astronomy with binoculars and astronomy with telescopes are two different things; both types of astronomy have their charm and attraction and, although they overlap a bit, each type of astronomy provides a unique perspective on the universe. I wouldn’t think of abandoning either. Then, too, I also own small refractor telescopes, which offer yet a third option for astronomy, so there are astronomy nights when my biggest challenge is to decide which tool to use. That’s a nice challenge to have if you love astronomy as I do.

I’ve been fortunate enough to live in an era where astronomy binoculars have gone from being considered a poor orphan to a telescope and a second class tool into a serious astronomy instrument that has spawned a separate branch of amateur astronomy all its own. Gone are the days when it was standard advice to tell folks that “if you can’t afford to buy a telescope, well, you can still do a little astronomy with binoculars”. We now even have binocular astronomy clubs, such as the Astronomical League Deep Sky Binocular Club and a fairly long list of books devoted to binocular astronomy. That’s as it should be. My only question is, what took it so long? I thought binoculars were a great way to do astronomy as far back as the 60s and I still do.

One of the things I like about binoculars is the fact that binoculars, with a few exceptions, have escaped digitalization, electrification and computerization. In a day when just about everything has gone digital and electrical and computerized, binoculars are still largely binoculars, made the same way they have always been made. No need for batteries, no 100 page manuals or complex menu options, no switches. Not that the binocular industry hasn’t tried to “modernize” binoculars with high tech, whiz-bang digital and electrical add-ons.

In the earliest attempt to modernize binocular design, some manufacturers decided to add electronic focusing to their binoculars. Why, I’m not sure. It was basically a waste of good batteries as far as effectiveness and usefulness and sales reflected this. Good riddance.

Next came the much more successful digital binoculars. Digital binoculars are, in essence, inexpensive digital cameras mounted on inexpensive binoculars. Sales of these remain fair to this day, but digital binoculars don’t really offer much performance as either digital cameras or as binoculars, much to the disappointment of the beginners who typically buy them. They are no threat to either the conventional binocular market or digital camera market, which perhaps explains why none of the major digital camera manufacturers has shown any interest in them. In fact, the digital camera market left the digital binocular market in the dust years, ago, and these days you can buy digital cameras that offer much more magnification and much better pic quality for the same as what you would pay for a digital binocular. For this reason, digital binoculars, despite their digital appeal, will never get beyond the fun product category.

About the only place digital and electronics have made a serious place for themselves in the binocular market, has been in the specialty binocular market, especially in the image-stabilized binoculars market. Unlike digital binoculars, image stabilized binoculars are serious instruments and offer serious performance. Image stabilization works and it works well, though there are trade-offs, as always, anytime you add something this complex to binoculars. As for optics, some of these image stabilized binoculars offer optics that rate in premium binocular category. I've seen these binoculars put to good use as marine binoculars, astronomy binoculars and long range observation binoculars or other applications where you need to use a lot of magnification but don't want to use tripods. Nevertheless, image stabilized binoculars remain specialty binoculars and are not as well suited for every day use over as wide range of applications as are conventional binoculars.

Given the fact that you do sacrifice some optical performance with compact binoculars by way of their smaller objective lenses (second binocular number), it may come as a surprise to learn that compact binoculars can actually be superior to full size binoculars in some optical categories. Yes, you do take a hit on image brightness and resolution anytime you go with the smaller binocular objectives you get in compact binoculars – that’s a basic law of optics and you can’t get around that - but did you know that those smaller binocular objective lenses are often better corrected for edge sharpness, pincushion and other optical defects than their larger counterparts? Larger binocular lenses may get you more optical muscle, then, but not necessarily more optical correction of defects. In fact, you are more likely to encounter optical defects in larger binocular lenses.

The reason for this is simple. It is easier and therefore cheaper to make a small lens optically excellent than a large lens. Larger binocular lenses have much more surface area than small lenses – it is a square function - so doubling the size of a lens means much more than just double the surface area that needs to be corrected and, yes, often much more than just double the cost. For any given binocular price point, then, the odds of getting an optical lemon that never should have made it through quality control are probably less with smaller binoculars.

I am fussy about edge sharpness and pincushion distortion in my binoculars, for instance. All of my compact binoculars are good to excellent in this respect, even the cheap ones, but I’ve owned many full size birding binoculars, hunting binoculars and astronomy binoculars - even some expensive ones - that were only fair in this regard and a few that were actually so annoyingly bad that I sold them.

Compact binoculars may not hang in there with their larger counterparts for raw optical performance, but don't be in a hurry to dismiss them as optically inferior on all counts.

Most new users of compact binoculars immediately notice that compact binoculars are harder to hold steady than full size birding binoculars, hunting binoculars and so on. This is partially due to the much lighter weight of compact binoculars and, to a lesser extent, the more compact size – smaller size means less to grab and hold. Decreased steadiness is just one of the disadvantages of dropping down in binocular size, so my usual recommendation to folks buying binoculars is to stay with 7x or 8x on your first compact binocular. In fact, it is good advice for any size first binocular, but especially helpful on smaller binoculars.

That said, I own and use 10x compact binoculars, as well as 7x and 8x compact binoculars. Yes, the 10x compacts are harder to steady, but there are times when a 10x compact binocular is an advantage over an 8x. Mostly it’s a matter of the larger objectives on my particular 10x compacts, compared to my 8x compacts.

When I need the absolute most in portability, my 8x20 compacts deliver. Both my Zeiss Victory 8x20 and my Swarovski Pocket 8x20 are small enough to barely know they are there and, as binoculars with dainty 20 mm objectives go, these are as good as it gets, optically. You do, however, take a hit on optical performance with 20 mm objectives, compared to larger objectives. That’s why I jump to my 10x25 compacts when I need more resolution and detail and that’s where my Leica Ultravid BL 10x25 and my Nikon Premier LX 10x25 really shine. The extra magnification and larger 25 mm objectives, coupled with fabulous optical quality, deliver enough detail to allow me to keep up with much larger, but cheaper, binoculars when I need that extra performance. I’d be lost without either one of these fine premium compact binoculars.

There are probably more ways to use binoculars than any of us will ever know, but I have to say I’ve been one of those folks who have tried. Thanks to my habit of carrying binoculars, especially compact binoculars, just about anyplace I go, I’ve come to discover many ways in which binoculars can be useful.

As for using binoculars outdoors, I’ve yet to find any outdoor activity where binoculars cannot be at least slightly useful. Of course, I am very passionate about birdwatching and birds are, after all, everywhere, so that's all the excuse I need for carrying compact binoculars at all times. Okay, compact binoculars are not typical birding binoculars, but having them with you at all times makes up for their lack of performance and birds are the big reason I’ve carried compact binoculars while canoeing, kayaking, skiing, hiking, fishing, bicycling, on photography outings, family and company picnics, you name it.

Other outdoor uses for binoculars? Too many to list, but here's a couple you may not know. Did I mention that you can use your binoculars as a close-up magnifiers by turning them upside down and holding them close to your subject? Yes, you can even take pictures with your binoculars via a little digiscoping if you are also carrying one of the many small digital cameras on the market.

Now, indoors may seem a strange place to use binoculars, but I have used binoculars at the opera, in stores to read signs on the other side of the store, in indoor arenas to watch sports and concerts, in short just about any place I’ve needed to take a closer look.

By now, some people are so used to seeing me with binoculars that they comment when they see me without binoculars around my neck. Not to worry, I tell them, the binoculars are in my purse. After all, I am still finding new ways to use binoculars.

Binoculars are different in many ways compared to other products. One is specialization or, more correctly, the lack of specialization. While the trend in just about every other type of product has been ever increasing specialization, binocular manufacturers, over the years,have tended to make binoculars ever more universal, so that a single model of binocular can be used for a wide variety of applications. Yes, of course, there are certain features that you want to have in good birding binoculars, good hunting binoculars, sports binoculars and so on, but it is actually quite easy to find all these features in one and the same binocular. That’s good news when it comes time to buy binoculars, of course, if you are the type of binocular user that has many interests.

Is there one binocular that can be identified as the universal binocular? I think so. Based on the many ways I use binoculars, I would say an 8x42 waterproof rood prism binocular with a minimum focus in the range of 10 feet or less would get my vote as the universal binocular. The waterproofing covers you for hunting, hiking or any other hard use outdoor work, the close focus takes care of birdwatching needs and the roof prism provides typically easy focusing for keeping up with the action in sporting events. I’ve even used these binoculars, in one brand or another, as marine binoculars and light duty astronomy binoculars. In fact, I can’t think of any binocular application where a waterproof 8x42 roof prism binocular couldn’t be useful to at least some extent.

What, are you crazy? Why would any sane person pay such binocular prices? That is a question, presented here in polite terms compared to the more emphatic ways I’ve heard it, that people naturally ask when they see high end birding binoculars or hunting binoculars in that $2000 category.

The rational answer is that if you want the best in terms of both binocular optics and durability, you will pay those prices for binoculars. Getting into that “best” category always costs and not just in binoculars. If you doubt it, take a look at the best in other optical equipment such as digital cameras, spotting scopes, telescopes and so on. Furthermore, as long as there are enough people to pay these high prices for premium binoculars, we will continue to see binoculars in this atmospheric price range.

However, as a lover of premium and expensive optics, I can tell you that paying though the nose for binoculars is not entirely a rational decision, at least not for me. I’ve never had a lot of disposable income, so, for me, buying expensive binoculars has certainly not been an impulse buy. No, I’ve always had to save and sacrifice to get what I want in binoculars and that, I admit, is probably far more in the way of quality and performance than I actually need to get the job done when it comes to birdwatching or astronomy. So why do I buy and use expensive binoculars?

For me, personally, owning and using premium grade binoculars is its own reward. Every time I look though my binoculars I get to go, “Wow!” That’s a lot of “Wows”, since I use binoculars on practically a daily basis. Using the good stuff when it comes to binoculars makes my birding and astronomy even more enjoyable and that is worth whatever sacrifices I have to make to get this grade of optics. That’s me, though, and I’m smart enough to know that not everyone is motivated in this way. No way will I automatically tell everyone that they need to pay these prices when it comes time to buy binoculars. Spending $2000 on binoculars is a very personal and a very emotional decision.

I was sitting on the back porch steps, yesterday afternoon, reading a book with one hand and petting our young English Setter with the other when I noticed a bird flitting through the trees that just didn’t seem to fit with the others. It didn’t “fit” because it was different in the way it flew and sat and otherwise behaved from my more common yard birds.

This matter of “fit” is a relative thing. It starts with the ability to identify birds by the way they fly, sit, the way they feed and all the other behavioral things that separate one species from another. This skill comes with long experience birdwatching, but, once attained, you will be surprised just how many birds you can identify before you raise the birding binoculars or take a peek through the birding spotting scope.

Nest, you learn all your local and common birds – the ones you see, day after day – in the same manner. You learn to separate them by differences in overall behavior instead of observing actual field marks in the binoculars. When a new bird makes an appearance, then, it just doesn’t seem to “fit” among all those familiar birds. The way it flies, sits, feeds and so on signals that you have something different.

From the way this bird moved, I knew it was a flycatcher of some kind, since flycatchers all have a very distinctive way of feeding. Which one, though? That’s where the binoculars are needed and, of course, I just happened to have Nikon Premier LX 10x25 binoculars around my neck. Hey, if you lived where I do, you would always have at least compact binoculars at the ready anytime you are outdoors, even if it is only to sit on the porch steps.

As identifying flycatchers go, this was an easy one. It was an Eastern Wood-Pewee. This didn’t surprise me, given that I had heard this bird’s call, earlier in the spring, but it was nice to actually see the bird in the binoculars.