Binoculars Guide

Archive for the ‘Binoculars Types’ Category

Ever since humans became hunters, it is fair to assume that they had the desire to see things at a distance, in greater detail than that provided by the Mk I eyeball.

With the invention in the 17th Century of the telescope, by a Dutch optician, this wish was to be increasingly realised. Although Galileo put down on paper the optical principles of the telescope, there is no evidence of their construction and use until October 1608.

At the same time as the development of the monocular telescope, there is evidence to suggest that the development of two telescopes, joined together and focused (collimated) to give a single image when viewed with both eyes, was being developed in tandem. This resulted in the binocular telescope, or what we know today, as binoculars.

Early telescopes used Galilean optics which had the benefit of an upright image but were limited in the power of magnification they could deliver. Indeed, some opera glasses… Read more …

If you are looking for an article on how to buy binoculars you first need to ensure that you are familiar with the many terms which are used to describe binoculars and we have listed many of these below. In summary we would say you should first decide what you want from a set of binoculars before you ask how to buy binoculars.

Binocular magnification – magnification dictates how close up the object appears,. Larger magnification is better and the number used to describe the magnification multiple indicates how many times better the binoculars image is in comparison to the naked eye.

Field of view – this may be expressed in degrees and indicates the width of an image shown by your binoculars at a specific distance. The greater the magnification the smaller the field of view.

Focusing range – every set of binoculars has to focus to infinity, the interesting measure is therefore the minimum focusing distance that can… Read more …

When looking through binoculars with higher magnifications, the image presented can often be distorted and lack clarity, due to ‘shake’. Or the inability to keep the binoculars steady enough to focus closely on the object of your attention.

This is particularly relevant under low-light conditions experienced primarily at dawn or dusk.
As these are times when a significant amount of wild-life observation is undertaken, it is a problem requiring a solution.

The answer is stabilized binoculars.

The simplest form of stabilization is a tripod, whether a camera tripod or a specially designed tripod specific to your binoculars. Most good quality binoculars, come with a threaded mounting socket, that will accept a standard tripod mounting screw, or a fast release shoe on more upmarket models of tripod. This allows focussing and viewing without the need to support the weight of the binoculars, resulting in better image resolution and enhanced viewing pleasure.

The only downside to this is, of course, that… Read more …

Night time has long been the friend and province of the predator. Because of the human beings’ very limited night vision capabilities, his nocturnal activities have always been strictly limited. His abilities to observe the world around him during the hours of darkness, were similarly restricted.

Since the Second World War, the steady increase in the capabilities of equipment designed to enhance the night vision capabilities of the human being, has resulted in a range of binoculars and other equipment that, for a price, can banish the darkness.

Whilst not providing the same clarity of image as that delivered by their daylight counterpart, night vision binoculars have developed to such a high degree, that most things that were hidden by the darkness can now be seen at an adequate level of clarity to permit detailed observation, depending on the magnification of the device.

Indeed, the very latest technology, enable law-enforcement and military operations in visual conditions not far removed from… Read more …

Traditionally, binoculars providing both the degree of magnification and image clarity required for detailed observation, have been relatively large and weighty objects that you hung round your neck on a strap or lanyard.

As optical manufacturing techniques have improved, and optical coatings have improved the transmittance of light through the optics of binoculars, so the reduction in size of binoculars has become more feasible. Compact binoculars now offer improved portability with little or no loss of performance.

This is largely due to the adoption of the roof-prism or Dach design as the means for transferring light through the binoculars.

The roof prism design splits the light into two paths and has a more complicated light path than the Porro prism design. This traditionally meant that the precision with which the roof prism was manufactured and assembled was a significant factor in the cost of such binoculars. This meant that whilst they were lighter and more compact, they were considerably more… Read more …

Binoculars can be heavy pieces of equipment, especially those providing the higher levels of magnification.

A good pair will generally tip the scales at between 2 and 3 lbs. The job of holding them steady enough for clear viewing, even for relatively short periods of time, can become a feat of muscular endurance.

When you add in low light levels, wind, the cold and excitement, very often the combination of any or all of these variables, can render detailed observation nigh on impossible.

So what’s the answer? Holding the binoculars on a tripod, is one solution. But what if circumstances don’t permit the use of a tripod. Besides, using binoculars on a tripod can, in certain circumstances, be a very real ‘pain in the neck’, particularly when trying to view the night sky at angles greater than 30 or 40 degrees above the horizon.

Observations from moving vehicles of any nature, also tend to rule out the use of a… Read more …

There are currently no manufacturers, of which I am aware, producing ‘true’ auto focus binoculars. The majority of camera manufacturers have auto focus lenses as standard on all their compact cameras and most of their SLR range of lenses. You just turn the camera on and point it in the direction you wish to shoot. The lens will usually identify the object you wish to photograph and focus upon it.

There is currently no comparable system available for binoculars.

There have been attempts to emulate auto focus camera lenses with binoculars, the most notable being an instrument produced by Minolta, in the 1990′s.

It was reported to be bulky and the performance in terms of accuracy of the item upon which the instrument chose to focus, left something to be desired. To be fair, the same can be said, even today, of camera lenses, in low light conditions and where contrast levels are not distinct.

So what are auto focus… Read more …

With the advances in digital image capture over recent years, it was only a matter of time before the idea of combining a camera and a pair of binocular finally caught on.

As the prices of digital cameras have fallen and made relatively sophisticated image capture available to a wider and wider audience, it is hardly surprising that this growth is spilling over into the digital binocular market.

What have become accepted as digital binoculars up to now, is actually a misnomer.

The majority of digital binoculars are an optical device with a digital camera attached.

You still look through traditional optical lenses but you have the facility to record what you are viewing either as still images or short movies. The images are captured on SD or MMC cards, for transfer to PC or or a suitably equipped printer at a later stage.

With traditional binoculars, you can watch the action you are observing, but have no way of… Read more …