Monday, August 31st, 2009 at
4:23 am
For binos, get a pair under 10x, 10x is pretty much the upper limit. Anything above 10x is useless handheld, you need to mount them on a tripod otherwise the shaking will make you dizzy.
The lens size, depends on if you want a compact bino or something big. The bigger the size, the heavier the bino but also makes the image brighter.
The key thing to look at is the design, there are two designs, porro and roof. Roof binos have two parallel straight tubes, they’re more compact. Porros have a bend in the tubes, also known as a dog leg design. For cheap binos, anything under $150, stick with a porro design. Cheap porros will have much better quality optics compared to cheap roofs. Roofs require phase correction to be good, and phase correction is not cheap.
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Thursday, August 27th, 2009 at
9:25 am
Grace asked:
I don’t want to spend a lot of money, preferable $75 or less for a second pair to keep in my truck just in case I need them. I think I want 8x optical but the second number (i.e. 32, 42, 50, etc) what does it do for you? I want something clear and good for low light situations, so do I want a higher or lower second number? Also I was considering the Bushnell 10×42 Permafocus. . . does anyone have any other recommendations? Thanks
Reply:
BINOCULAR MAGNIFICATION (POWER)
Binoculars are often referred to by two numbers separated with an “x”. For example; 8×32. The first number is the power or magnification of the binocular. With an 8×32 binocular, the object being viewed appears to be eight times closer than you would see it with the unaided eye. We do NOT recommend to use binoculars with magnification over 10x without a tripod – if you go with too much magnification in a hand-held binocular, your image will be very shaky! Also, many people ask – How far can you see with a binocular? – we always answer – You can see as far your eyes can see, but the objects will seem to be closer – magnified by the power of your binoculars. Please see this page for some sample digital pictures taken through giant Oberwerk binoculars with 25x and 40x magnification.
OBJECTIVE LENS SIZE (APERTURE)
The second number in the formula (8×32) is the diameter of the objective or front lens. The larger the objective lens, the more light that enters the binocular, and the brighter the image.
Source(s):
http://www.opticsplanet.net/how-to-understand-binoculars.html
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Wednesday, August 26th, 2009 at
7:14 pm
When scanning for animals there are actually two considerations. One is power and the other is field of view. Unfortunately, the higher the power the smaller the field of view. A pair of 8×21 binos might have a field of view of 383 ft at 1000 yds. That is reasonably wide. 10×26 binos might have a field of view of 285 ft at 1000 yds. 1/3 less. With even higher magnification the field of view becomes even much less. Now there are 8 power binos that have even a wider field of view. Bushnell Legacy 8×42 WP have a field of view of 430 ft at 1000 yds.
Another important consideration is eye relief. That is the distance from the eye piece that the eye can be and still see the full field of view. Some binos have a very short eye relief.
In general 8 power binos are preferred by most users because they are relatively free from motion share which higher power binos are not.
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