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

It's hard to think of warblers when our woods and trees are still covered in snow, but it is nearly April, after all. Time to pull out the bird guide and start reviewing. Okay, after all these years, that's just an excuse. I'm just too impatient to sit and wait for the warblers to arrive, so I like to browse through the warbler section in my Sibley's to whet my appetite.

In our area, we have about 35 species of warblers. That's respectable in anyone's book. For eastern warblers, I much prefer the steadiness and wider field of view afforded by a good 7x or 8x binocular to follow the action as birds flit from branch to branch. I also consider smooth, quick focusing a must have on a good warbler binocular. Warblers are active birds and that means watching them is also an active pursuit. She or he who can get on a bird, quickly, and keep it in the binocular will see more warblers.

If I had money and didn't know what to do with it all (fat chance on either score), I might consider starting a collection of old binoculars. I would do this more for nostalgia than for investment reasons, simply because I like old binoculars. Indeed, if I could wave a magic wand and have all the binoculars I have owned in my lifetime, suddenly appear, I would have quite a collection. In fact, some might even been considered collectible. Of course, I didn't know that at the time. I wonder which of today's current crop of binoculars will someday rate as collectible? I would grab my crystal ball, except I think I sold it …

Now and then a customer ask what someone should use to clean a binocular. You can, of course, go with fancy chemicals and lens tissues, but I have had my best luck with a simple lens pen. These go under many brand names, but the one I currently have is the Nikon version. They last a long time and the little squeegee tip is perfect for cleaning around the edges of the lenses. Next best is a lens cloth. These are a better option for large lenses, especially for eyeglasses. I carry one all the time.

Spring did not make an appearance, this weekend, despite the calendar. That's not to say this girl didn't get out and ride and see some wildlife. One of my close encounters was with a striped skunk as it ran across my path in a local, suburban neighborhood. No, I did not stop to get a better look with my monocular, not would I have used a binocular had I been carrying one. There are times when discretion is more important than optics. Besides, the skunk did not appear to be in too much of a hurry. Can't say the same for myself.

I am sometimes asked what makes good handling in a binocular. To me it is a binocular that, of course, fits comfortably in the hands, but it is also a binocular that is well balanced when I hold it. I find that a binocular that is well balanced can compensate, to some extent, for a little extra weight. I am fussiest most of all, though about focusing. I must have a binocular that places the focusing mechanism beneath my index finger, automatically. Since I often use a binocular with one hand, I cannot go hunting for a focusing knob when I need it and, along this same line, I need a binocular that focuses smoothly with little effort. Of course, what works for my hands may not work for someone else's. You'll have to decide which binocular handling feature is most important to you.

It's not like me to go for looks, but I have to say, one of those Swarovski Crystal Pocket binoculars, such as the Nabuccoa, would look good around my neck. Of course, I would not buy such a binocular on looks, alone, but, hey, these are still the great Swarovski Pocket compact binoculars underneath that Swarovski Crystal exterior. Can't think of a nicer thing to take to the next opera or concert at the Chicago Symphony. Who knows, I might even have to wear a dress to do these binoculars justice. Not sure my usual blue jeans would be a good match.

Although I use individual eyepiece focus (IF) binoculars for astronomy on a regular basis, can't say I have much use for IF in my birding binoculars. IF is just not a practical system for close in work on warblers and sparrows and much of my birding is for these groups. That's not to say IF binoculars cannot be used for some types of birding. I once knew a guy who swore by Steiner 7x50 military marine binoculars and, for his birding, they suited him well. He was a duck hunter by fall and a waterfowl birder by spring, operating out of the same blind for both. At waterfowl distances, his IF Steiner was perfect and especially useful for identifying ducks on the wing, since no focusing required.

Had a customer on our forum who found an old Carl Zeiss 7x50 binocular in his loft, which he thinks may have belonged to his uncle. Wow! Most folks are lucky to find a cheap binocular hidden away, but I'd say this customer hit the jackpot. May have been a marine binocular version, from the description, but regardless of how old, it is still a Carl Zeiss and a real treasure of a binocular to find. Now that's what I call the luck of the Irish, given the date of the forum post.

A binocular that offers great optics by day should be a great binocular for astronomy at night. Right? A binocular that kicks butt for astronomy should be a great choice for day work. Right? Not necessarily. The two applications certainly overlap, but I have seen many a great birding binocular come up short at night in terms of image brightness and optical correction, especially for flare and coma. Likewise, I have seen some high end astronomy binoculars that didn't have enough color correction to satisfy me for birding. You can tweak optics for a specific application, but doesn't mean it will be tweaked perfectly for all applications. There are, of course, some that work great both ways. I loved the way I could use a Nikon 10x42 Premier SE porro any time, day or night.

When at first you don't succeed .. when at second you don't succeed … when at third ... That's the name of the game when it comes to finding deep-sky objects with a binocular from a very light polluted observing site. It's taken three nights and a bit of ingenuity, but I finally detected M81/M82 in Ursa Major the other night with my astronomy binocular. My normal routine had not been working, so I got creative. Too much light outside for my eyes to become dark adapted? No problem. I sat in a darkened living room with a towel over my head for a full thirty minutes, then kept the towel draped over my head as I went back outside and looked through my already tripod mounted Nikon 10x70 binocular. There was the galaxy pair, ever so dim and a tiny smudge, but there just the same. Not visible enough to show them, distinctly as to their shapes, but I'm not complaining. I keep wondering, though. Does a woman sitting in a living room with a towel over her head say more about her dedication as an astronomer or is it more a statement about her social life?

A good star map that goes down to magnitude 7.0 or so is a basic tool for learning celestial navigation, but a binocular can also be quite useful for learning this essential skill. The view through a binocular, like the view through a typical finder scope on a telescope, can be fairly close to what you see on a good star map, though much depends on your observing site. Here in my light polluted area, my Pocket Sky Atlas is a pretty good match for my Nikon 7x50 Prostar binocular. Not that I planned it that way, but who's complaining?

My galaxy quest from my heavily light polluted site began last night in earnest. My target was M81/82 with my Nikon 10x70 Astroluxe binocular. My results, I am sad to report, were inconclusive. With this fine astronomy binocular mounted on a tripod, there were moments when I could just barely detect an ever so faint small smudge of light that might have been this galaxy pair, but nothing I would be willing to take to court as evidence. The fact that I have seen this galaxy pair in binoculars hundreds of times and know where to look and what to expect is the only reason I didn't write this one off as a bust. However, being the devoted astronomer I am, I will try again, but, this time, I will hike over to a local park for a darker sky and take my chances with the muggers. How's that for dedication?

The forecast, for what its worth, is for clear skies this evening. My astronomy binoculars and tripod are certainly ready for some astronomy. I am more than ready. Have to say this is my worst winter, yet, for astronomy. Not that I am complaining; I believe that it is my problem, not Earth Mother's, if the clouds keep me from doing one of my favorite things with a binocular. Besides, there is always birding and that will be getting some serious attention from me and my binoculars quite soon. It's a good thing I don't do both at the same time of the day. I can only carry so many binoculars at once.

Can you use a binocular for digiscoping (taking pics through the eyepiece with a small digital camera)? I've done it in a pinch by resting the binocular against a convenient object and then handholding a digital camera over the eyepiece. It's awkward and clumsy and not very efficient, but with patience, you can get some decent pics, especially with high grade binoculars. If you want to get serious about digiscoping with a binocular, however, mounting the binocular to a tripod is the way to go. I still prefer to handhold the camera, though, as universal digiscoping adapters are too tight a squeeze on most binoculars.

Still waiting for a clear sky to do some binocular astronomy, though the forecast suggests, at least, that I may get a peek at the stars over the next few days. My first targets of interest will be spring galaxies, as this is the challenge I set for myself here in the Chicago suburbs. No, I don't expect much of a wow in terms of image quality or detail, even with my excellent Nikon 10x70 Astroluxe binocular, but I will definitely be getting a very big WOW for every galaxy I can add to my binocular list. Just seeing a galaxy under these light polluted skies will be a real treat. Can't wait for the fun to begin.

With the snow melting over the warm weekend, there is finally some hope in our area for better observing conditions for astronomy. Light pollution is bad enough, but add snow cover and you further reduce the limiting magnitude of any observing site. Snow covers reflects light back into the sky and, around here, we have an abundance of light excess of light to reflect. Regaining some dark ground cover is certainly good news for me and my astronomy binoculars.

Maybe I'm bored, but I keep looking for ways to challenge my observing skills. Call me crazy, but my observing project for this spring is to see how many galaxies I can pick up in my binoculars. After all, spring is traditionally the time to hunt for galaxies, but a binocular astronomer would have to be crazy to try this under a magnitude 3.0 sky (and that's on a good night). Guess I'm just the gal for the job, then.

You never know what you have till it's gone is as true for an astronomer as for anyone else. There was a day when I would have laughed if someone had mentioned that I would have a hard time seeing the Helix nebula or M101 with my my favorite astronomy binoculars. Yet, here I am, with the best astronomy binoculars money can buy and I can't even see nearby M51, let alone M101. Ouch! Forget the Helix. I can't even see M27 without an O-III filter fitted to the eyepiece of my Nikon 10x70. Why? It's all a matter of light pollution. Now, if I could get 3 million people in my neighborhood to turn off their lights for an hour …