BinocularsBlog – Advice on Digital, Waterproof, & Compact Binoculars for Bird Watching, Sports, Astronomy, Night Vision, & more!

The traditional opera glass binocular is almost always 3x, which, back in the days of small opera houses and venues, plenty of magnification. By today's standards for concerts and theatres, however, 3x in a binocular is not nearly enough to provide a close up look at performers. A friend of mine recently used took an excellent Zeiss Victory 8x20 compact binocular to the opera and fell in love with it. Optics were great, of course, but more importantly, from his position in the "nosebleed" section, the 8x magnification was perfect. About the only advantage a traditional opera glass has going for it, these days, is looks and that, to be sure, is a matter of taste. I happen to think a premium compact binocular from Zeiss, Swarovski, Leica or Nikon looks very good on me.

I was saddened to hear the Nikon will be dropping the Nikon Premier LX binocular (except for the compacts) and also the Nikon Premier SE binocular (my own birding binocular), but, at the same time, I am quite excited about reports of a new supergrade Nikon binocular, the Nikon EDG, that Nikon will be announcing, shortly. I have very little in the way of info right now, but their new premium grade roof prism will have the Swarovski EL body style and ED objective lenses. Probably won't see on until summer, but this may be the ultimate Nikon binocular, yet.

No, you can't see detail on Mars when using a binocular, but that is no reason not to take a look at the red planet. With a good binocular, Mars will reveal itself as a tiny reddish or orange disc, shining with a steady glow - my Nikon 10x70 binocular resolves Mars perfectly and the color is stunning. Right now, Mars is high overhead, just after sunset and very easy to find in the constellation Taurus. It is easily the brightest object in the evening sky, other than the moon. If Mars isn't enough to whet your appetite, get up early and check out Venus and Jupiter in the dawn skies. By February 1, these two will be close enough to see in the field of view of any binocular. Two for one. Wow!

I love to observe the sword in the constellation Orion with my binoculars. Of course, this is the home to the famous Orion nebula, but, for a binocular astronomer, it is also a great area for binocular double stars. I especially enjoy splitting the stars Theta 1 and Theta 2 with my Nikon 10x70 and, on a good night, Theta 1 hints at being more than a single star. This brilliant white pair of stars appear all the more spectacular for being framed by the mighty M42, the Orion nebula, which, even in my severely light polluted skies, still shows as a haze surrounding these stars. Take heart, urban astronomers - the sky above our cities will reveal great beauty if you know where to look.

Caught the full moon the other night under ideal skies, so put the Nikon 10x70 Astroluxe on the tripod for a closer look. Still amazes me what a difference a tripod can make when observing very fine detail. When tripod mounted, even a 10x binocular, such as the Nikon will show that the floor of the various lunar maria are covered with fine feathery rays and even a 7x binocular will show color variations in these craterless areas. Both binocular magnifications are also enough to show many, many craters and some of the larger mountain ranges. In other words, there is enough on the moon to keep the binocular observer busy for a long time, even observers using relatively low powered astronomy binoculars.

I do appreciate good equipment. Case in point is the arrival of the long awaited tripod adapter, Nikon 7806, for my Nikon astronomy binoculars (it was delivered by Tom Hadt, our super Nikon sales rep, personally). The machining on this simple piece of equipment is in keeping with the quality of the Nikon 10x70 Astroluxe it will soon meet. After all, a good astronomy binocular deserves a good tripod and a tripod adapter. I had simply been resting my Nikon binoculars on the tripod with my hands, but now I will do it right. Look out double stars, here comes Joanie!

One of the (many) reasons I love binocular astronomy is convenience. When I get home from work and the skies are clear (a rare thing this month), it's always nice to grab my astronomy binocular and step out on the patio for some instant astronomy - no telescope setup and assembly time, no waiting for a telescope to cool down, no time spent on telescope take down. With a binocular, you just point and look. Got a half hour for some quick astronomy before going to bed? Grab that binocular and have a look. Could the crescent moon ever look lovelier? Grab that binocular and have a look. Is the Orion nebula finally high enough in the sky to clear the trees in the yard? Grab that binocular and have a look. Do you have your binocular, yet?

Yesterday's forecast for clear skies overnight came up empty, so no astronomy binoculars last night. Still, there is hope for this weekend for my Nikon astronomy binoculars, which, by now, may be feeling a bit neglected. Looks like we may get another chance to do some astronomy, this weekend, though temps are supposed to be around zero. To a gal who rides a bike in Chicago in the winter, that's mostly an issue of having plenty of hot chocolate on hand.

Joanie's tip for cold weather binocular astronomy: just make sure you use that binocular strap - it's too easy to drop a good binocular when wearing mittens.

The weather forecast is calling for clear skies, tonight and I must say, I am more than ready. My astronomy binoculars have been in their binocular cases for far too long and my star maps are beginning to collect dust. In other words, we have had a long spell of the Chicago drearies - cloudy skies, day after day, without a break. It's part of the winter landscape for Chicago and I accept it, but, oh, how my heart longs for the sight of an open cluster or two in my Nikon Astroluxe 10x70 binocular. "May it be an evening star, Shines down upon you (me, actually)."

What's in a name? Carson Optics is a name usually associated with budget grade optics, but does that mean that Carson does not make a serious binocular? If you've ever had a chance to look through the Carson XM HD binocular, as I have, then you know that Carson makes a binocular that will compete very nicely with any binocular in its price range and that includes the world's best selling $300 binocular, the Nikon Monarch. In fact, in my tests, it rated a bit sharper. Let me also mention that the folks at Carson are also great when it comes to taking care of their customers. Good job, Carson.

I generally disdain the use of tripods for my binocular astronomy. Freedom from the hassle of equipment is one of the reasons I love binocular astronomy and, hence my preference for low magnification binoculars that can be easily handheld. There are times, however, when I mount even my 7x and 10x astronomy binoculars on a tripod. For example, splitting very close double stars is agonizingly painful without a support of some kind and, although I have improvised with a variety of makeshift mounts, a tripod is still the best solution for steadiness for these objects. Ditto for trying to count stars in open clusters. I also regularly use a tripod with my binoculars when acting as a tour guide for others. Just handing someone else a binocular and saying, "Find the star Enif and look about 4 degrees east" doesn't work too well. Better to find M15, first, and then explain to a guest what they are seeing when they look through the binocular.

My favorite way to test a binocular for optics is under the stars. Just how good are your favorite birding binoculars or astronomy binoculars? First, adjust your binocular, carefully, by sighting on some stars. Point sources of light are perfect for getting your diopter adjustment just right, anyway. Then, look at the moon, specifically at the edge of the moon. A binocular with good color correction will show only a trace of color fringing at the edge of the moon. A binocular with poor color correction will show an annoying amount of color fringing. Then, look at a planet, such as Jupiter. Do you see a tiny disc, free of spikes or flares? Takes a pretty good lens to turn Jupiter into a perfect little disc. Mars, due to its smaller size, is even more of a challenge. An average binocular will only show it as a small blur of light, but an excellent binocular will show it as an ever so tiny disc. How does your binocular test?

I know it is "cheating" to do astronomy through a window and it is something I would never recommend as something to do with a telescope. A window glass acts as a lens and will distort an image. The higher the magnification and/or the greater the angle of view with respect to the window glass, the worse the distortion. On the other hand, a low magnification instrument, such as 7x or even a 10x binocular can be used effectively to do some binocular astronomy through a window. When the temps drop below zero in the winter, I often just turn off the lights in the apartment and place the objectives of my Nikon 7x50 Prostar as flat as I can against the window glass. No, image quality is not as good as being outside and for seeing the really faint stuff, I will brave the elements. For just scanning the bright stuff, though, it is one heck of a lot warmer in the apartment.

Still amazes me how much snow cover amplifies light pollution, especially in our badly light polluted area. Ouch! Snow is something of a paradox for me. I like winter and snow and, in fact, I appreciate all seasons and all the weather Earth Mother sends my way. Still, snow cover does make an already marginal observing site even less effective. Does that stop me from observing with my binoculars? Never! No matter how poor the observing site, there is always some astronomy to do with an astronomy binocular. The Pleaides, the Hyades, Melotte 20 and many other bright clusters cut through even the worst light pollution and are always worth a step outside to observe in the cold, crisp air of a winter night with my binoculars. It is something that always warms my heart.

If you have a small face and your eyes are set close together, you may sometimes find it hard to find a binocular that folds close enough for your eyes. This distance between the eyes is called your interpupillary distance or IPD for short. The bad news is that most binocular manufacturers don't actually specify of range of IPDs for their binoculars. This can make it tough to buy the right binocular, sight unseen. The good news is that small, compact binoculars that use a double folding hinge body design, such as the excellent Nikon Premier LX 8x20, will fold close for even the smallest face. If you must by sight unseen, this is the best binocular body design when you have an unusually narrow IPD.

The moon will not rise till later in the evening and the skies have started to clear after our New Year's snowstorm, so guess where Joanie will be tonight? That's right, all bundled up, sitting under the stars with one of my astronomy binoculars and some hot chocolate. Right now, a clear sky without a moon is about the best Christmas present I could receive. As an open star cluster lover, winter is one of my favorite times of the year for open clusters, not just in terms of brilliance, but also in terms of sheer numbers. Sometimes hard to know where to begin, but I usually start in Taurus and move toward Monoceros as the evening progresses. When I am really ambitious, I will mount a giant binocular, such as my Nikon 10x70, on a tripod, but I much prefer to handhold a binocular when possible. Simplicity, especially freedom from a tripod, is one of the things that makes binocular astronomy so attractive to me