Educate Yourself About Binoculars and Bird Watching
Binoculars for bird watching
Using binoculars in your daily bird watching is a great way of getting close up views of your garden birds, and choosing binoculars can be some what confusing with the large verity of sizes and shapes that are available, and of course the different prices.
Three are some factors to bear in mind; generally a larger model will give better magnification, but also remember to look into the image brightness, the quality, and the ease of use when you decide which pair to buy. When you look at a pair of binocular that interests you, look for a pair of numbers that are etched into the binocular housing. The first number will tell you how many times larger the object you are viewing will appear, the second number will tell you the diameter of the objective lens, for example: 10x40 or 8x32.
The ranges that are most often used by bird watchers are 7x35 to 10x50. Remember that larger numbers might seem even better, but it could be harder for you to keep a steady hand when the field of view is much smaller. Also when you choose a pair of binoculars that has larger numbers they become quite heavy, and you might find the stress on your neck to become cumbersome. You are going to carry them around your neck for hours at the time when out on the field, and another point is that you are using the focus wheel constantly, so you want that process to be easily maneuvered with just your finger tip.
Here are some different kinds of binoculars you might consider:
Traditional-style binoculars use a porro prism design, and this simple optical arrangement is very rugged, and the widely separated objective lenses will help to produce a great tree-dimensional image that offers great value to you as a beginner.
Waterproof optics, will offer you a great all-weather performance, with its rubber-clad body, and retractable eyecups. The lenses are also made of low-dispersion glass to maintain the color accuracy, and the coating on the lenses will minimize internal reflections.
Compact models are highly portable, and are designed to provide you with great comfort when you handle them, such as the 8x23 porro prism one. The small objective lens will unfortunately limit the brightness of your bird image.
Roof prism binoculars are more expensive and have a straight body, with a slender and compact shape to them. The prism is a more complicated one, than of the porro prism binocular ones, and therefore the glass and the manufacturing has to be of higher quality.
All these different designs have their own advantages, so it is really up to you in what pair you choose and which advantages will meet your needs the most.
Some binoculars can also be fitted with an optional eyepiece that will convert them into a short telescope. But remember that this optical compromise will not produce the quality you might be looking for, compared to the best purpose-built telescopes available. They will offer you a chance to get closer to the bird you are watching, and as a beginner that might be sufficient for your needs for now.
There are binoculars available to you if you wear eyeglasses as well, you might find it difficult to look through regular ones and the image will not appear as clear as you like. This is because light will enter from the sides, since your eye is a little to far away form the eyepiece. You can try to eliminate this problem by raising a finger or a thumb to block out this light, but the image could still appear dark or blurred to you. The best thing for you is to buy a pair of binoculars that are fitted with adjustable eyepieces.
