Looking for advice from those in the know on Binoculars

I may be overstepping what is acceptable bulletin-board etiquette, if so then I apologise in advance.

I was searching the net for info on binoculars and happened upon this site, and from the postings I reckon there are some members in here who could help out an amateur.

I am going on a safari holiday with my family in June and am looking to get binoculars to add to the experience, but am at a complete loss as to what to buy, the range is vast (astronomical even), have been browsing optical-systems.com...

I would appreciate some advice on what would be most suitable.......

Hi,

I suppose a little bit about binoculars will help you decide whats best for you. If your already familiar with this stuff feel free to skip through.

Binoculars are generally described by 2 numbers e.g. 10 x 50. The first number is the magnification the second is the aperture (width) of the objective lenses. What you need to keep in mind is that in order to magnify an image n number of times the aperture needs to be large enough to collect enough light to make the scene you are looking at bright enough. During normal daylight this isnt a problem, however during twilight this might be an issue. The generally accepted rule of thumb is that for the best low light performance the first number (magnification) should divide into the second(aperture) by at least 5 times. Now this rule isnt sacred, but you should aim for the highest ratio possible.

The second thing to keep in mind is that the higher the magnification goes the harder it will be to handhold without the view being so shakey it becomes useless. If you go for anything above say 15x magnification it becomes next to impossible to hand hold. In any case a sturdy tripod to mount them on will pay you back tenfold.

The next thing to consider is the quality of the optics. You should insist on multi-coated' lenses which increase the transmission of light through the lenses.

There is another option you could consider. There are many high quality 'spotting' telescopes available with extremely high quality optics, for example the 80ED from orion/skywatcher, or the 80/100ED from celestron to name just a couple. These give you the added benefit of being able to interchange small eyepieces to change the magnification to anything you desire. The downside is that they MUST be mounted on a well appointed tripod.

Try to stay clear of zoom binoculars if possible, they tend to be a little dodgy optically and generally provide poor quality images at high magnification.

So in summary;

Get the largest aperture you can afford, keep the magnification/aperture ratio as high as possible. Dont get too high a magnification and get a decent tripod (manfrotto make the best tripods I have seen but they are expensive).

More than all of that dont forget to explore the night sky while you are down there, with a decent set of binoculars you will be able to see star clusters, galaxies and all kinds of things you cant imagine!!

Enjoy the trip.

All good advice from Dave!

There are also a couple of other things to watch out for, such as chromatic aberration or misalignment. these may sound terribly technical but the're not really. Remember too, when looking to buy binoculars, there is no substitute for actually hold them in your hands and trying them out.

Here is a web page I found invaluable when I was buying my first pair.

Is that advice necessary for a pair to use on a safari though?

I would have thought you could compromise a bit on the aperture (20x50 would probably be ok in the bright light?), and go for a pir with image stabilising instead? Just wondering, ive never used those fancy binos

Cheers,
~Al

For astronomy, aperture is a major issue. However, for daytime use it's a different ballgame. If it were me, I'd get a small pair so as too minimise their weight. Something like a good quality pair of 10x25s would IMHO be ideal. You have the magnification but you also have a lightweight pair of binos making them easy to hold. If they're easy to hold, you'll be inclined to use them alot more often. Aperture isn't too important at all during the day. Pick a well known manufacturer and you should be fine.

For astronomy, aperture is a major issue. However, for daytime use it's a different ballgame. If it were me, I'd get a small pair so as too minimise their weight. Something like a good quality pair of 10x25s would IMHO be ideal. You have the magnification but you also have a lightweight pair of binos making them easy to hold. If they're easy to hold, you'll be inclined to use them alot more often. Aperture isn't too important at all during the day. Pick a well known manufacturer and you should be fine.

some good advice there, thats exactly what I was thinking
For daytime usage only, go for something small that will easily fit in a small carry bag.