Filed under: Buying Tips — admin @ 11:29 pm

There are people who need a set of binoculars for the things that they like to, or have to, do. Unless you are in the Army, in which case the military will supply it to you, you will need to purchase your own pair.

Binoculars, however, come in several types.  These are the following :

• Standard
• Digital Camera
• Image Stabilization
• Military
• Rangefinders
• Waterproof
• Compact
• Giant
• Marine
• Night Vision
• Telescope
• Zoom

As if the above list is not long enough, there is another long list of binocular brands to choose from, not to mention the different models and their variations. Selecting the right one can be a journey into a maze of bewildering information and pressure sellers.

Thankfully, there is another list that can provide tips and guides to a confused buyer.

•  Decide what you will use the binoculars for. Binoculars have a wide array of uses. Hunters, fishermen, bird watchers, boaters, astronomers, sports spectators, campers, concert and theater enthusiasts, and even just plain travelers and sightseers could use a good set of binoculars. Your specific need should be the main point of consideration. For instance, if you are a theatergoer and you prefer sitting in the back rows, you definitely do not want to carry giant or night vision binoculars. Compact binoculars would suit your needs pretty well. Those who like to take mementoes of places they visit or sights they see could opt for digital camera binoculars.

•  Confer with friends who have experience with the type of binoculars you want to buy. If you are contemplating purchasing one for your hunting, look for hunter friends, or perhaps hunters’ groups in your area. You can also browse the internet and look for discussion groups and forums for advice. It is not advisable to walk into a dealer’s shop for advice. Usually, sales personnel are biased in favor of their own product. And they can make you feel that if you do not buy their product at that instant, you are losing the world.

•  To enable you to discuss binoculars intelligently with those you seek advice from, you will need to know a few terms, such as:

1.Objective Lens. These are the lenses at the front of the binoculars.  You should know that bigger objective lenses gather more light, hence they are better for low light conditions.

2.Prisms. Binoculars use two types of prisms, the porro and roof prisms. Porro prisms are larger and heavier than roof prisms, but the latter are more expensive.

3.Magnification. A magnification of 8x to 10x often works fine for most uses. Beyond this, the area you can view at once begins to get too small and the slightest shaking of your hand distorts the viewed image. A magnification of 8x means that the image you see appears to be 8 times closer to you.

4.Glass Types. The main glass types used for binoculars are the BK-7 and BAK-4. BK-7 is fine as a first unit, but if you are interested in quality, BAK-4 is your choice. Remember, though, that price increases with higher quality.

5.Focusing. Binoculars are incorporated with either center focusing or independent eye focusing. Your choice will depend mostly on which of these are you more comfortable with. You will want to go to the store and try them out for size.

Keep these few tips in mind and you can be sure that you are on your way to owning a fine set of binoculars.

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Filed under: Types of Binoculars — admin @ 11:22 pm

Telescopes and binoculars have long been pressed into military service. Battlefield commanders immediately recognized the military potential of the telescope as soon as it was invented. The earlier binoculars used were of the Galilean design. This means that their objective lenses were convex while their eyepieces were concave. This setup resulted in a narrow field of view and a low level of magnification. It was not until the end of the 19th century that the porro prisms supplanted the Galilean design, which greatly improved both.

Military binoculars, like the soldiers they are meant to serve, are tough. Durability is of the first order because these optical equipment are expected to be dropped, banged, soaked, covered with dust, and to withstand all kinds of punishment and torture. A strong, heavy duty protective armor, therefore, is necessary.

Since soldiers may have to do a lot of running, hiking, and hill and mountain climbing, it is important to keep at a minimum the weight they have to carry. Their binoculars are not exempted from this weight-trimming. No fancy stuff is included here.

A digital camera might be a nice addition to the binoculars, as soldiers can document the number of tanks they encounter, but it entails added weight. Besides, all the additional mechanisms of the camera would only result to a less rugged device.

Zooming binoculars offer the advantage of a range of magnifications. This may be valuable in the battlefield as it affords the user the option to choose how close he wants the image to appear. However, this type of optics involves a good number of minute moving parts with some connected to each other by thin wires. These are prone to damage and misalignment.

Soldiers may have to scan the horizon even when bullets and missiles are flying all over their heads. In situations like these, it would not be too surprising if their hands begin shaking. This shaking results in a fuzzy image. A good remedy to this is the incorporation of an image stabilizing mechanism into the binoculars. However, as in the zooming binoculars, there is a trade-off. This capability comes at a price of more weight and less durability.

While military binoculars will do without these fancy features, they can be enhanced with  built-in compasses and  rangefinders. These provide additional features to the binoculars without much added weight. If one does not want a rangefinder, reticles can help the user determine the distance of the viewed object.

Night vision capabilities are also a part of a good number of military binoculars.  These use either infrared illumination or an image intensification tube that enhances surrounding light.  The United States troops had made extensive use of night vision binoculars during the invasion of Iraq and it has arguably saved a lot of American lives.

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