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How to Pick a Good Pair of Binoculars

Binoculars aka field glasses are like two telescopes pointed at the same area. It is easy to perceive depth because it has two lenses and not just one, like a monocular.

The binoculars have been around since about the 17th century after telescopes have been invented. People use to mount two telescopes side by side and looked through them with both eyes.

Between the 1850-1890s, a prism type of binocular was invented that allowed greater depth perception by allowing the eye pieces to be spaced wider apart. These binoculars allow greater magnification.

The most affordable binoculars are porro prisms that allow for brighter images and are precise instruments. These binoculars are wider and sometimes need to be re-aligned.

An expensive kind of prism binocular is the roof prism binocular. This binocular is smaller and narrower but loses some brightness. The good think about them is that they usually never have to be re-alligned. They are also much lighter. Optical coating fixes this problem. That is why many roof prism binoculars are coated.

Optical Coating is a great feature that helps make a brighter image by reducing the amount of light that is reflected. Reflected light inside the binoculars makes the image hazy.

General Binoculars are focused by moving a round wheel that focuses both telescopes at once. More sophisticated binoculars use independent focus which means that each side of the binocular needs to be adjusted individually.

Some binoculars have image stabilization technology which dampen sudden movement. It can usually be turned on or off by the user. This means that very high powered binoculars can be hand held when normally they couldn't. The image quality is not always as good for stabilized binoculars, and they are usually more expensive.

Coin-operated binoculars are very popular in many tourist attractions. They allow a more detailed view. These are always mounted on a pedestal and are usually high powered.

Military Binoculars are usually hand held and at a magnification of 5x or 7x. Military binoculars are more rugged and sturdy than regular binoculars and they also use independent focusing because it is more sturdy than central focusing. Most military binoculars also have special features that help it work when wet or to block out laser beams. Sea binoculars are meant to be easier on the eyes because of the sea rocking back and forth.

Astronomical Binoculars allow people to view certain elements of the sky from far away. There are many moons and planets that can be viewed with binoculars. Pluto, Eris and Uranus can all be seen easier with the use of binoculars. Some users use lower magnification binoculars so they can have a larger field of view than if they used a higher magnification.

About the Author

Matt is a Binocular fanatic that has many binoculars available for sale at auction prices at his website MK 32 Binoculars UK.

in monoculars with variable magnifications does increasing the magnification decrease the quality of image?

If the optic quality of the monocular is good, and the magnification is less than about twice the size of the aperture in millimeters, then, no, increasing magnification doesn't decrease the quality of the image.

So let's say you have a very good scope with a zoom eyepiece - perhaps an apochromatic refractor, and it has an 80 mm aperture - the diameter of the big lens. You could zoom up to 160x and the image would just get bigger. Now, one caveat is that you'll likely have to refocus, as even really good zoom lenses are not exactly parfocal. But if you have good focus, the image will be good. Such a scope might be $650 - without the zoom eyepiece, and without a tripod.

But i have a $250 monocular (not including tripod), optimized for bird watching. It has a big compromise to optical quality - it has erecting prisms. That means there are more optical surfaces. And, it's not an APO - it's not apochromatic. That means the different colors of light don't focus to the same point. And, it's 60 mm. So instead of getting good images at 120x, this scope seems to max out at about 30x. And, in fact, i use 22x all the time, because i have a very good 22x wide angle eyepiece. The scope is as expensive as it is partly to solve problems i don't have in astronomy. The tube is made of cast iron. So when i'm wandering through the woods and whack it against a tree by accident, absolutely no harm is done to it. Not even a scratch.

Now imagine that your 40mm monocular was less than $100. And, let's say it has a zoom that goes from 8x to 20x. I have one of these. It seems to be good to 15x. But i like my 22x60 much better.

I'm not really fond of zoom at any cost level. I evaluated a $1200 80 mm spotting scope. It had a zoom from 8x to 30x. It wasn't parfocal - though close. I found that i'd zoom in to 20x or 30x and leave it there. I'd rather have my 22x60.

Overpriced Night Monocular Is a Dim Choice
The Bushnell StealthView monocular rocks 5X magnification and fits easily into a jacket pocket. But you may wipe your pocketbook clean with what you pay for this puppy, distorted image and all.

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