Field of View sneaky tricks?

[lvn600]

Personally the field of view is no big deal to me with birding because I used pocket binoculars for a long time and got to be proficient zeroing in on birds so that any full sized pair has a more than adequate field of view for me. A bigger field of view is more important l to me with astronomy which I have larger pair of bins with big objective lenses. How important is field of view to you and how much is enough?

[Andrew Rowlands]

I think you may need to double-check this as 114M = 340' (approx.).

It should be listed as 114 at 1000 (M) or 340 at 1000 ('/yds).

Or as (say) 115 degrees.

Andy.

[lvn600]

I just checked it out again and you must be right. What it shows is 341'/114m but doesn't show the at 1000 yards bit.

[Pinewood]

I am not following the train of thought in this thread. Am I missing a post? In any case 114 meters at 1000 meters is 6.5º according to my calculations. What are you discussing?

Happy bird watching,
Arthur Pinewood

[lvn600]

I am not following the train of thought in this thread. Am I missing a post? In any case 114 meters at 1000 meters is 6.5º according to my calculations. What are you discussing?

Happy bird watching,
Arthur Pinewood Sorry-I made a silly mistake when I first posted this thread and since edited this. I was under the impression that a pair of binoculars that I had looked at said 340' at 114 meters. What it really said was 341'/114 meters with the @ 1000 meters or yards being implied so it was a misunderstanding on my part.-My new angle is how important is the field of view to you and why?

[Pinewood]

Actual field of view (FOV) is stated on the binocular. When multiplied by magnification this is the subjective, sometimes called apparent, field of view. Most people seem to favour a subjective field of view of at least 50º and probably more than 60º for bird watching. A subjective field of view of 65º or 68º works for me with an eight power glass. The Nikon Se 8x30 gives a 59.65º which is acceptable but the Zeiss 8x32 FL has a subjective field of 67º. The wider field feels comfortable or natural.

By the way, size of the objectives does not determine field of view, although I am not sure that is what was meant in the first post of this thread. The Zeiss 8x42 FL has a narrower field of view than does their 8x32 FL.

Happy bird watching and clear skies,
Arthur Pinewood

[Pileatus]

Sorry-I made a silly mistake when I first posted this thread and since edited this. I was under the impression that a pair of binoculars that I had looked at said 340' at 114 meters. What it really said was 341'/114 meters with the @ 1000 meters or yards being implied so it was a misunderstanding on my part.-My new angle is how important is the field of view to you and why?


Look through a good 7X42 (Ultravid, SLC, FL) and you'll never ask about FOV again. The view is, in a word, relaxed.

One of the major complaints heard on these forums is "narrow FOV" and that tells me people want as much FOV as possible. As soon as the real FOV specs hit 400+ the complaints usually cease.

John

[Robert Ellis]

Regardless of how fast or well you can spot the birds a wider fov alleviates the feeling of looking through a tube. Even if you see the bird in the middle, it just feels more natural to have a big view.

[lvn600]

Actual field of view (FOV) is stated on the binocular. When multiplied by magnification this is the subjective, sometimes called apparent, field of view. Most people seem to favour a subjective field of view of at least 50º and probably more than 60º for bird watching. A subjective field of view of 65º or 68º works for me with an eight power glass. The Nikon Se 8x30 gives a 59.65º which is acceptable but the Zeiss 8x32 FL has a subjective field of 67º. The wider field feels comfortable or natural.

By the way, size of the objectives does not determine field of view, although I am not sure that is what was meant in the first post of this thread. The Zeiss 8x42 FL has a narrower field of view than does their 8x32 FL.

Happy bird watching and clear skies,
Arthur Pinewood The big objective lenses are good for light gathering for astronomy but the binoculars also happen to have have a big field of view.