Birding Tips #15 Binocular specs

 

BINOCULAR Specifications

for Birding the best sizes are -

8x30 - small lightweight ,     porro prism normally--  General birding, bird tables etc

 8x 32 -  small lightweight ,  normally roof prism-  General birding-

 8x 40 -  general use bins- porro or roof prism - good field of view -   at home in woodland, rain forest etc

 8x 42 - probably the birder bins of choice atm-  roof prism -  good field of view - at home in woodland, rain forest etc

 7x 42 - bright image, huge field of view and deep depth of field, roof prism- excellent in rain forest and on dull winter days etc.

10 x32 - small and powerful but not great in rain forests, leafy woodland  or at dusk. Narrow field of view.

10 x42 - Popular size , big image , normally roof prism- great for open country birding, not so good in rain forest and woodland.

 10 x50. - Big and heavy - bright image,bulky  but optically excellent  roof prism, also available as porro.

As a guide, divide the second number by the first- the higher the figure, the better the light gathering power of the bins. Anything below 4 is probably not bright enough for birding in all conditions.