Binoculars Pair Quality Field Magnification

One of the questions we regularly get asked is “what sort of binoculars should we take?” or sometimes “Do we need binoculars?”.

We feel pretty strongly about this - the answer is you absolutely must have binoculars. What's more you should have a pair for each person and they should be the best quality pair you can afford - this is not an area to scrimp. It makes good sense when you think about how much you're spending on your holiday and though not every animal you see on safari will be a great distance away, you'd be amazed at how much you'll gain from having a really good close up look at, say, the eye of an elephant standing 20 yards away; you'll see little hairs, cracks and creases that you couldn't have hoped to notice with the naked eye.

Bells and whistles
The first thing to say is avoid gimmicks of any kind; zooms, stabilizers etc. Unless they are extremely good quality, they will likely detract from the quality of the optics. Secondly size matters - don't be tempted to buy that really neat little pair just because it fits so well into your pocket. Chances are that if this is your main criteria, they'll be as much use in your pocket as in front of your eyes. True there are some very good quality binoculars that are also small, but the most important thing to do is try out lots of different pairs. Choice of binoculars is ultimately a very personal thing and the most important thing is that you have a pair that you're comfortable with.

Magnification - how powerful should they be?
Magnification is only one half of the equation, the other, which is as important is field of view. The combination of these two is what defines the light gathering ability of the binoculars. The rule of thumb here is: Take the field of view and divide it by the magnification and the answer should be at least 4. For example:

8 [magnification] x 42 [field of view] . Divide 42 by 8 and the answer is 5.25.

The smaller this number gets, in simple terms, the less light gets in. So some good sizes are:

8 x 32
8 x 42
7 x 50
10 x 50

So what make?
There are a wide range of good makes of binoculars and this is where personal choice really comes into things. My own feeling is that Leica are the best - I've used them for many many years and have yet to find a pair that are better. Other superb makes are Zeiss, Swarovsky, Opticron, Bushnell and Bausch and Lomb.

At this stage it might be useful to talk to some real experts and the following websites are particularly worth visiting.

Bristol Cameras who stock an extensive range of all the top makes of binoculars and will also be able to give you further advice on which ones might suit you.

Focal Point Optics is a family run business dedicated to its customers in a highly specialized field. They offer friendly, unbiased advice and on a wide range of Binoculars.

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Which Binoculars?