Choosing Bird Watching Binoculars

There are many factors to consider when it comes to finding the best bird watching binoculars. But, only you can determine what binoculars will be best for your situation. Here are some of the facts that you will need to take into account when making your decision.

The main components of bird watching binoculars are: the eyepieces (the end that goes up to the eye), the objective lens (the larger end of the glasses), the prisms (the glass inside the binoculars that receives the light) and the focus wheel (usually a dial between the eyepieces).

Bird watching binoculars have numbers like 7x35, 8x42, 10x50 attached to them. To break the numbers down let's take a look at the first number. The number 7, 8, 10 that you see on binoculars is the magnification. It means that objects will be 7x closer, 8x closer, or 10x closer though the bird watching binoculars. You will need to determine what magnification that you need for the type of bird watching that you will be doing. But, remember one of the trade-offs is the higher the magnification the steadier you need to hold the binoculars. So, if you feel like you will not be able to hold the 10x binoculars steady you may want to try the 8x bird watching binoculars.

The next number (i.e. 35, 42, 50...) is the objective lens diameter. The objective lens diameter is the size in millimeters of the larger lens on your binoculars. This means that a larger objective lens will allow more light to flow into the binoculars. The more light that enters the objective lens, the better the details and the brighter the image. If you are planning to use your bird watching binoculars more towards dusk or in the dark, then the 50mm lens is the better choice. The thing you need to remember is a 50mm pair of binoculars will be much heavier to tote around. If you are only using bird watching binoculars at your garden bird feeder the weight of the 50mm binoculars will probably not be a factor.

More facts about bird watching binoculars in the following article...

Let's take a look at some other factors that will help you make a decision in buying the best bird watching binoculars for your situation.

What type of prism design will work the best for you? There are two types: porro and roof prism systems. The porro prism system has a z-shaped optic path. What does this mean to you? Bird watching binoculars employing this system are bigger, bulkier and heavier, probably not a choice if you do alot of walking and hiking to watch birds. On the other hand, a couple of advantages of the porro prism is that they will have a wider field of view and they will cost less.

An overlapping prism is the roof prism system. This set-up overlaps the prisms closely resulting in a slimmer and more compact shape. The bird watching binoculars that employ this system makes the roof prism binoculars more lightweight. The drawback with the roof prism is that they are a more expensive bird watching binocular and the field of view is narrower.

Another very important feature is the ease of focusing the binoculars. With birds constantly in motion, look for a pair of bird watching binoculars that has a quick and sharp focus wheel. Look for the focus mechanism on the binoculars to focus from far to close in one or less revolution. You want your binoculars to feel comfortable in your hands.

As you can probably tell there are trade-offs when finding the most appropiate bird watching binoculars. Here are a few examples of the trade-offs: the higher the magnification the steadier you will need to hold the binoculars, the less expensive binoculars the heavier they will be, the lighter the bird watching binoculars the less field of view, and smaller the objective lens the less light that flows in.

Know how you will be using your bird watching binoculars. That will be the most important factor. An ideal situation would be to have an opportunity to try different variations before you make a purchase. Remember, it is an individual preference and you should buy the best ones that you can afford.