General Category > General Discussion
NGC Quality Binoculars
Chuck in Indiana:
Many years ago, my sweetie bought me a pair of Swift Ultra lite 8X42s. They are excellent for bird watching.. they show lots of detail. Probably not too expensive, dunno.
JNMathews:
I did some research years ago on this topic. The one thing that really struck me was light gathering capability. The human pupil can typically open to about 5mm. When selecting binoculars, you want the diameter of the objective lens to be at least 5x the power; this ensures good light gathering. If this ratio works out to 7x, you get even better view, especially when lighting is low, around dusk/dawn.
I’ve experimented with this and found it seems to be true. I used a very old Tasco, a Cannon, and 2 pairs of Nikons to test this theory.
For what it’s worth the new Nikons are excellent and only around $100.
moto:
--- Quote from: JNMathews on May 25, 2022, 05:59:22 AM ---I did some research years ago on this topic. The one thing that really struck me was light gathering capability. The human pupil can typically open to about 5mm. When selecting binoculars, you want the diameter of the objective lens to be at least 5x the power; this ensures good light gathering. If this ratio works out to 7x, you get even better view, especially when lighting is low, around dusk/dawn.
--- End quote ---
Since Guzzi owners tend to be older we should take into account the decrease of pupil size with age, to avoid buying binoculars whose light output would be wasted on us. A clear, concise and I think authoritative discussion: https://binocularbase.com/choose-binoculars-for-older-people/
I'm 70 years old, so my nighttime fully opened pupils should be about 3.2mm. Binoculars with exit diameters larger than that are wasted on me. If I want 8x magnification, I won't benefit from an objective lens more than about 8 x 3.2 = 25.6mm, even at night! Needing lighter, smaller and cheaper binoculars is the only advantage of age that I can think of right now. My USSR-made field binoculars, at 8x30, are just right and are my favorites.
steven c:
My 35 year old Minolta's 8X30 are my favorite and my Nikon 8-20 Zooms I picked up on Ebay for $25 are pretty good, they just are not good at the far end of the zoom.
John Ulrich:
When this thread started I bought a Hawke Endurance ED 8x32 for a cruise. Now hopefully 3 years later the cruise will finally sail.
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