Binocular specs what do they mean

Get your hands on a variety of binoculars and look through them to see what looks best. The most common multi-purpose magnifications for binoculars are 8 power and 10 power binoculars. These magnification levels allow users to have a wide field of view, good light gathering, and functional magnification in a lightweight package. Binoculars in a magnification greater than 12 power become difficult to use handheld because small movements are magnified when looking through them.

These high power binoculars are useful for glassing long distances in open country, but they usually need to be paired with a tripod. The performance of budget optics is improving, but to get the best clarity and low light performance you need quality glass, prisms, and coatings. Manufacturing these components is costly as is the quality control.

The cost of these components and manufacturing them drives the cost of binoculars. Expensive binoculars offer superior optical clarity and the ability to see objects clearly at dusk and dawn.

This allows the user to see more detail in varying lighting conditions. Good binoculars also reduce eye strain. If you spend a lot of time looking through cheap binoculars, they can cause headaches and eye strain, but quality binoculars are much easier on your eyes. A quality set of binoculars can help you see animals you would have never seen without their help and they have uses in daily life like at a sporting event.

Save big this week on your next favorite piece of outdoor gear. Learn how to tie a fishing knot for braid, mono, fluoro, and leaders. What Do Numbers on Binoculars Mean? Our competitors generally use BAK The data sheet next to each pair in our shop will tell you. This is where the real difference between cheaply made not always low cost! It's a subject about which there is also a great deal of miss-information and confusion.

We shall try to explain it simply and accurately. Binocular lenses have optical coatings to improve the amount of light they gather.

The coating reduces the amount of light which is reflected away and lost. Our coatings are incredibly thin and must be applied with equal thickness to a very high degree of accuracy. This is not a cheap process, that's why many brands cut corners! Binoculars have at least 8 lenses. Some of these are cemented together, but for the rest there is an air to glass boundary which light must cross.

It is on these boundaries that the coatings are important. In a conventional set of binoculars there are an incredible 20 glass to air transitions! Perhaps now you see why good coatings are vital. Without a good coating some light is lost on each air to glass transition. Our high quality coatings greatly enhance image contrast and sharpness. After all, what's the point in seeing an image close-up if it's not sharp?

It is always the second number with the magnification been the first. The aperture is the 42mm. It is the diameter of the objective lens and its always indicated in millimeters. This binocular specification determines the resolution and brightness of the image. However, the higher the objective lens size, the heavier and bulkier your binoculars will be. As it always turns out that the objective lens size affects the size of the binoculars drastically. Eye relief is the optimal distance from the eyepiece to your eye or the focal point where the light passes through the ocular lens eyepiece.

It is the comfortable distance between your eyes and the binocular eyepiece such that you can see a clear image through your binoculars.

It is important to have a larger binocular eye relief if not, you will get eyes fatigue if you are using them for a longer period.

These days, most manufacturers place eyepiece caps on the eyepieces to create enough room for you to see comfortably.

For those who are glass wearers, manufacturers are taking into consideration your special needs by offering dioptric adjustments on the eyepieces that will allow users to fine-tune the focusing system to their eyes prescriptions so they can use the binoculars without glasses. However, if the binoculars do not have a dioptric adjustment, most manufacturers ensure that there is enough eye relief for you to be able to wear your glasses and use your binoculars.

The eye relief affects the field of view. The larger the eye relief is, the narrow your field of view will be. The binoculars exit pupil is the objective diameter divided by the magnifying power. This number indicates how bright an object will appear when viewed in low light situations.

A higher number means brighter images. A large exit pupil also makes it easier to maintain a full image of an object if your hands move or shake.

Exit pupil size is measured in millimeters. For standard daylight viewing, exit pupil size is less important. In bright light human pupils narrow to roughly 2mm. Example: For 7 x 35 binoculars, 35 divided by 7 equals an exit pupil diameter of 5mm.

In dim light, however, our pupils can widen up to 7mm. A 7 x 50 binocular, for instance, offers an exit pupil size of 7. The wider the diameter of the exit pupil, the more light that can pass through, resulting in brighter, easier-to-see images when lighting is poor.

If you anticipate regularly using binoculars in low-light situations-at dawn, dusk, within dense tree cover or while observing the night sky-seek out models with a high exit pupil number, preferably 4mm or higher. The binocular field of view is often expressed as the width in feet at 1, yards, or in degrees of field.

When the field of view is expressed in degrees is termed angular but if it is expressed in feet or meters is called a linear field of view.

As the definition indicates, which means that the wider the field of view of the binoculars, the larger the area of the object or whatever you are viewing. This figure may not be important to many but to the few that really appreciate little details, it will be important to them. Many bird watchers and insect viewers like to have a close minimum focus distance that can allow them to see a minute detail of birds—like wing bars, beak shape, or crown markings.

In this type of cases, the shorter the focal distance of the binoculars, the more details you can see. The minimum close focusing distance of the binoculars is about 1 to 2 meter. These need to be greater than your pupils. The value is easily calculated by dividing the objective lens diameter with the magnification. A 10x50 binocular will have a 5mm exit pupil, while an 8x25 will only have a 3. Our final entry in this article about what do binocular numbers mean is close focus.

This number tells you the minimum distance the binoculars need to focus. For example, a close focus of 13 feet means you can get a perfect focus on an object as close as 13 feet to you. Now you no longer have to be daunted by the question of what do the numbers mean on binoculars.

Let's give you a quick checklist to help you remember the most important points:. What does the numbers mean on binoculars? You now know the meaning of all the most important ones. Keep this guide handy when you shopping for binoculars to find the one that's right for you. Get a nice big aperture if you want to see as many stars as possible, and a smaller aperture if lighter weight and portability are important to you.

Beware of magnifications higher than 12x if you don't want too shaky an image without support, while also maintaining a decent field of view. You'll be able to figure out all these considerations for yourself with the help of this guide.

Good luck on buying the perfect pair of binoculars for your needs! He is a mechanical engineering graduate and New Jersey Resident. He loves to review binoculars and related optical Instruments and loves testing each one of them. Greetings, Good article have a pair of vintage binoculars purchased at estate sale and trying to learn more about them.

Any info would be appreciated. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. For every five degrees you look away from the target, you want to be able to get an image that is sharp and crisp.

There are many binoculars that do not offer this great capability but there are a couple of models that do. The best binoculars will not only bring you great visual clarity, but will also help to increase your enjoyment of your favorite outdoor pastime. What are the best binoculars longevity? Buy Bins from recongnized companies and you should be able to pass them on to the next generation.