An avid bird watcher’s kit is not complete without a pair of binoculars. Binoculars can give a bird watcher a glimpse of a bird that might be out of range for the human eye but more importantly they allow for silent bird viewing that will not disturb the wildlife. However, choosing the best binoculars can be tricky if you are unfamiliar with some specifications.
Some key specifications are:
Magnification – Magnification is the amount of zoom on the binoculars. A magnification of about 10x is perfect for bird watching in most areas however if the birdwatcher is located around large and expansive planes a little more magnification might be more appropriate.
Lens Diameter – Lens Diameter is often mentioned along side magnification. All binoculars will state that a binoculars is ’10×32′ for example. The number 10 states the magnification while the ’32’ is the lens diameter. A large lens diameter will allow more light to enter the prism and will result in greater image quality however it does come at the cost of weight and portability.
Eye Relief – Eye relief is the distance that the eye must be placed from the binoculars. This is an important statistic for anyone who wears glasses as you will require a higher eye relief to accommodate for the glasses. However, some higher end models will often have adjustable caps.
Lens Type – There are four types of lens, the types are listed below in order of quality, with the lowest quality lens type on the top:
- Coated: A single layer on at least one lens.
- Fully-Coated: A single layer on all air-to-glass surfaces.
- Multi-Coated: Multiple layers on at least one lens.
- Fully Multi-Coated: Multiple layers on all air-to-glass surfaces.