newbie disappointed by first purchase of Nikon 8X40 (1 Viewer)

I made my first purchase of a nikon 8X40 Action binoculars.
I just started watching the birds at my feeders and am mainly interested in seeing them real real close, colors,beaks,feet etc...These don't zoom like i expected and when i look far away seems i have to re- focous on each item i want to see, like a flower, bird ,into a tree...
I read a few reviews and thought these would work but, very disappointed.

Can you please tell me what i need for up close viewing.

Thanks Laurie

Hi Laurie,

Welcome to Bird Forum!

The binoculars you have are good ones and are excellent for back yard bird watching but they are single power binoculars and you have to refocus all single power binoculars when the distances to the subjects you are looking at change. I have little experience with Zoom binoculars but I do know that they do not have as wide a field of view as single power binoculars like the ones you own have and they are much more plagued with mechanical malfunctions.

I think you are looking for a binocular like this one which should be suitable for back yard bird watching. But they will not be good for close up viewing. (These also won't be good for you if you wear glasses because their eye relief is very short). You can't get everything you want in one binocular I'm afraid.

http://www.eagleoptics.com/binoculars/nikon/nikon-action-zoom-7-15x35-binocular

You need something like these for really good closeups if you are interested in looking at bugs and flowers and dragon flies that are close to you and you can also use them for looking at your feeder but they do not zoom.

http://www.eagleoptics.com/binoculars/pentax/pentax-papilio-6-5x21-binocular:hi:

Bob

Recent thread here on similar subject (just ignore the idiot who made the last post there) :
http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=212841

Are you finding that you're not getting the level of magnification you were expecting (ie. things still look too far away)? If so, could consider getting a "maksutov spotting scope" (can Google that) on a small tripod which might be handy for use from house and garden. Scopes are a more specialised and "difficult" piece of kit though and more likely to be consigned to a cupboard than your binocular purchase which, as Bob suggests, seems a sound choice.

Lauriew6 said:

I made my first purchase of a nikon 8X40 Action binoculars.
I just started watching the birds at my feeders and am mainly interested in seeing them real real close, colors,beaks,feet etc...These don't zoom like i expected and when i look far away seems i have to re- focous on each item i want to see, like a flower, bird ,into a tree...
I read a few reviews and thought these would work but, very disappointed.

Can you please tell me what i need for up close viewing.

Thanks Laurie

Click to expand...

How far away are the birds? Seeing a bird 100 feet away to the level of detail you are talking about will involve the use of a telescope or high power binoculars on a tripod. Hand held zoom binoculars are likely to not provide the results you want because at high magnification they will have a very narrow and relatively dim field that will seem to bounce around.

Can you simply move closer? If not consider trying a pair of higher magnification binoculars at say 10x or 12x. 12x is about the limit for most people to hold steady.

The others did a very good job of addressing the issues you referenced. They are two different issues and a bit of a design compromise considering what you are trying to achieve.

On the one hand you want good "depth of field" which means that objects are in focus both in front of and behind the object you initially focused on. The problem with that, and your expectations, are that the higher in magnification you go then the shorter the depth of field is (all else being equal).

The problem arises in that you want a truly "close up" view of the bird which you typically can only get at higher magnifications. In order to get the level of detail that I think you want then you are going to probably need to go with a spotting scope or a very high power pair of binoculars. To exacerbate the issue you are going to run into quality control issues and/or design limitations with inexpensive high power binoculars or spotting scopes in the same price range as those Nikon Action binoculars that you purchased.

Suggestions?

Well, if you go the spotting scope route then look for a fixed power 20x model. The fixed power eyepieces tend to involve less optical class which means that the chances of their being optical imperfections are less....again, in this price range. If you go with a higher powered binocular then stick with the porro prism design. They are easier to manufacturer and tend to produce better image quality at this price point.

Here are two suggestions based on what I mentioned above....

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Alpen-20x50...217?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a6b15fca9

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Olympus-Pat...220870311378?pt=Binocular&hash=item336ce57dd2

...in addition, this is the least expensive spotter I have experience with that I would recommend based on optical quality....

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Celestr...699?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item519b5c366b

Thank you all for the responses, this binocular thing is like "greek" to me but i'm sure in time i'll be talking your language!

Lauriew6 said:

I made my first purchase of a nikon 8X40 Action binoculars.
I just started watching the birds at my feeders and am mainly interested in seeing them real real close, colors,beaks,feet etc...These don't zoom like i expected and when i look far away seems i have to re- focous on each item i want to see, like a flower, bird ,into a tree...
I read a few reviews and thought these would work but, very disappointed.

Can you please tell me what i need for up close viewing.

Thanks Laurie

Click to expand...

Laurie,

I think by "don't 'zoom' like you expected" you meant "magnify". Eight power is not a lot of magnification for sure, but it's often the most birders can handle without the image shaking, and 40/42mm binoculars deliver enough light in most situations, hence the popularity of this format.

There are image stabilized binoculars that will steady the image electronically (or mechanically), but once you go beyond the Canon 10x30 IS, the prices get pretty steep.

If you want to see more detail, you have two options, higher magnification or closer focus.

I checked on the specs of the 8x40 EX and the close focus is 16.4 ft., which doesn't allow you to get very close to birds.

Here's a list of binoculars that focus close. You can pick one out in your price range. Eagle Optics has a month return period, so for some reason if they don't work for you, you can return them.

http://www.eagleoptics.com/binoculars/for/close_focus

In general, midsized binoculars focus closer than full sized ones, but even at that, the 16.4' close focus is rather long by today's standards for full sized binoculars.

Roof prism binoculars (a slimmer design that might suit you better if you have small hands) generally focus closer than porros, and the images between the two barrels are less likely to overlap at close focus because the objectives are closer together in roofs.

As far as having to refocus at different distances, the only way to overcome this is to buy a pair of binoculars with individual focus eyepieces which only focus from 20 yards to infinity, which wouldn't be suitable for birding. Even then, you might need to refocus the EPs, depending on your eyes.

At higher magnifications, the depth of field (how much is in focus over a certain distance) decreases, so this issue would worsen with higher power. You might also have to mount a 10x or 12x bin if you can't hold them steady.

So the best advice I can give is to buy a pair of 6-8x binoculars with a closer focus, and then later add a spotting scope to see birds at a long distance.

Keep on asking questions, and read as much as you can on binoculars and spotting scopes.

Brock

Laurie,
While you are on the Eagle Optics web site you can check out the Education section (Understanding Optics) and learn the basics of optics. The basic are easy.

http://www.eagleoptics.com/articles/technical-guide/

Bob