Binocular ramblings (1 Viewer)

[lulubelle]

I have read through the many posts about binoculars and I amazed at & grateful for the detailed knowledge, but I have to ask - do you guys actually bird or do you all have a binocular addiction?!!! I think you have a created a "binaholics club"!!!

 

[Pinewood]

I have read through the many posts about binoculars and I amazed at & grateful for the detailed knowledge, but I have to ask - do you guys actually bird or do you all have a binocular addiction?!!! I think you have a created a "binaholics club"!!!

Hello Lulubelle,

Just search for the post by poster's name. You should be able to separate the binaholics from the bird watchers. Although some of us are both.

I post changes on my patch on a regular basis.

Happy bird watching,
Arthur Pinewood :egghead:

 

[Tero]

I have read through the many posts about binoculars and I amazed at & grateful for the detailed knowledge, but I have to ask - do you guys actually bird or do you all have a binocular addiction?!!! I think you have a created a "binaholics club"!!!

You can get some idea from this thread
http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=128790

I bird, and I look at small and large birds. I try to use 8x some of the time, but in winter and in open plains I use 10x a lot, still, even though I have a scope as well. 12x is too shaky even for me.

 

[lulubelle]

I wasn't aware of the poll - thanks Tero!! It is quite humerous to read through the posts (don't get me wrong, the amount of time, effort and knowledge of glass in this forum is absolutely amazing) - I have to wonder (perhaps this should be the topic of a new post!) - just how many binoculars do each of you own?!! This would include current and how many you have sold/returned throughout the year!!! I am curious! Tero, (if you don't mind me asking)why did you sell the Vipers so quickly? Was it the quality or the urge to get a different binocular?

 

[Tero]

I liked the Vipers with glasses, but I have three other 8x pairs. I just had a craving for one more 10x pair and was out of cash. The Vipers were still rather ordinary, not a collectors item.

 

[JohnJos]

I have to wonder (perhaps this should be the topic of a new post!) - just how many binoculars do each of you own?!! This would include current and how many you have sold/returned throughout the year!!!

Well of course there is a thread on that subject as well!
http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=108127

 

[Pinewood]

.. just how many binoculars do each of you own?!!

Hello Lulubelle,

I am no longer able to answer that question, except by writing, "Not enough."

Happy bird watching,
Arthur Pinewood :hi:

 

[elkcub]

I have read through the many posts about binoculars and I amazed at & grateful for the detailed knowledge, but I have to ask - do you guys actually bird or do you all have a binocular addiction?!!! I think you have a created a "binaholics club"!!!

Hi

I love birding, but not chatting about it.

 

[FrankD]

I am a bit of both. I love binoculars and I thoroughly enjoy casual birding. The two seem to go quite well hand in hand.

;-)

 

[lulubelle]

John - thanks for directing me to that post, I should have known from the posts I have read that one on that topic would already exist!! There are some impressive binocular collections around!! I can see how it might become addicting between the search for better optical quality and quality at a bargain price. Frank, I would agree - although I only own 2 pair.

 

[jjg213]

Well said, Elkcub! I totally agree.
regards, John

 

[ceasar]

I wasn't aware of the poll - thanks Tero!! It is quite humerous to read through the posts (don't get me wrong, the amount of time, effort and knowledge of glass in this forum is absolutely amazing) - I have to wonder (perhaps this should be the topic of a new post!) - just how many binoculars do each of you own?!! This would include current and how many you have sold/returned throughout the year!!! I am curious! Tero, (if you don't mind me asking)why did you sell the Vipers so quickly? Was it the quality or the urge to get a different binocular?

Well, as I commented earlier on another thread devoted to this subject: "If you know how many binoculars you own, you don't have enough!" :king:

Bob

 

[Alexis Powell]

I do lots of birding and other natural history exploration, but I only discuss those exploits on my state's birding listserve and with my friends and colleagues locally.

--AP

 

[Tero]

Back to binocular wheeling and dealing. I have been dealing with Colorado. One binocular is entering Colorado, as another one leaves. So I did not upset the equillibrium of Colorado binoculars, though one was 8x and one 10x.

 

[marcus]

- just how many binoculars do each of you own?!!

I have about 17.
Marcus

 

[lulubelle]

Marcus, you seem to be about mid-range in binocular ownership!

Tero, are you waiting for the Promasters?!! If you ordered from Mike's, they have a 7 day return policy - not enough time, I think.

 

[Tero]

No problem. I have returned several pairs to EO after a one day visit to my house.

The last pair I exchanged to tripod base.

 

[BirderSean]

I'm a newbie.

I own two bins.

I decided to get into birding about a year ago and picked up
the Browning 8x32 on closeout. The optics are decent and I
love the ergonomics, especially the eye cups. I'll probably hang onto these
for a long time.

I recently purchased the Stokes DLS 10x42 as I wanted a little
more magnification and something a bit brighter. These are nice.

at some point, I may pick up a nice 8x42, but I'm pretty satisfied for
now.

 

[lucznik]

I .. picked up
the Browning 8x32 on closeout... [and] I recently purchased the Stokes DLS 10x42 as I wanted a little more magnification and something a bit brighter...

Unless the Stokes has significantly better coatings, mirror surfaces, etc. these two binoculars, with their almost identical exit pupils (4.0mm for the Browning and 4.2mm for the Stokes) will be very similar - practically identical - in brightness.

To see significant changes in brightness you would have to have significant changes in exit pupil. For example, an 8x42 (e.p of 5.25mm) would be quite a lot brighter than the 8x32. So too, a 10x50 (e.p of 5.0mm), etc.

 

[Kevin Purcell]

Unless the Stokes has significantly better coatings, mirror surfaces, etc. these two binoculars, with their almost identical exit pupils (4.0mm for the Browning and 4.2mm for the Stokes) will be very similar - practically identical - in brightness.

I rather suspect the DLS do have a better coatings (especially the silver mirror coating). The 8x42 I looked through was quite bright (not the brightest bin but rather good). The Browning are similar to Legend/SP brightness i.e. good but perhaps a bit less bright than the DLS.

To see significant changes in brightness you would have to have significant changes in exit pupil. For example, an 8x42 (e.p of 5.25mm) would be quite a lot brighter than the 8x32. So too, a 10x50 (e.p of 5.0mm), etc.

Unless your eye's entrance pupil is 5.25mm (i.e very very unlikely for birding in daylight ... even well into dusk the average pupil is 4mm). The extra light never makes it into your eye so you pupil effectively stops down the bin's objective.

To maximze the light in this sense you need to match the exit pupil of the bin to the entrance pupil of the eye. But birders never do that because it makes the bin more tricky to use.

An oversized exit pupil for a birder adds to viewing comfort not brightness. It make it easier to align the bin with the eyes.

For birders transmission through the bin (i.e. good AR and mirror coatings or even TIR porro prisms) matters more than exit pupil size to brightness.

This is different than bin astronomers who have a large entrace pupil at night so can make the most the light at low magnification but even then in "not dark" (sub)urban areas you can't use more than a 5mm pupil (so 10x50 becomes more popular than 7x50 in those areas).