Originally posted by leonine Hello all.
I am not much into birding and wish to buy a decent pair of binoculars simply as a way to scan the surroundings to spot wildlife.
Can anyone suggest a decent make/ model which is not too expensive? I don't know the price range of these, but anything that does its job reasonably well while not creating a big hole in the pocket :-)
Thank you all.
I used to be a hardcore birder back in the day. Some things to consider, in no particular order:
Exit pupil: this is the amount of light that hits your eye. Calculated by taking the diameter of the objective lens and dividing by the magnification factor. So a 8X40 bino has an exit pupil of 5 mm, meaning a 5 mm diameter circle of light is hitting your eye. Bigger is better, but really comes into play at dawn and dusk or when you're chasing after birds hidden in the brush in shadow when the light is dim. Binos with larger objectives are going to be more expensive, generally.
A magnification of 8X or 10X is generally good for birding. 8X gives a wider field of view, so better for scanning. 10X gives you more reach but you'll need a steadier hand since it also magnifies vibration.
Weight. Just like cameras, the best binos are the ones you'll carry with you in the field. An optically superior bino is useless if it's heavy and stays at home.
Roof or porro prism. Porro prisms are the classic bino design. Roof prisms are the "two tubes" design. Roof prisms are generally more expensive by a factor of 2 or more. But, the design lends the optics to be housed in waterproof casings (focusing is internal).
And if you wear glasses, eye relief is an important factor. Longer is better. Eye relief is how far your eyeball can be to see the entire field of view through the eyepiece.
As with any kind of gear, set a price point you want to be at. Then see what you can get at that price point, and adjust up or down. As for brands, Pentax has always been a great value brand (good bang for your buck, just like with their cameras). Swarovski, Leica, and Zeiss are the premium brands, and to a lesser extent, Nikon. Vortex and Celestron are good value brands.
Oh... another piece of advice. Go to a birding outing with your local Audubon Society. Birders are friendly folks. Doesn't matter if you show up without a pair of binos. Chances are someone has a spare pair. Plus, they will let you look through their main pair so you can try before you buy.