BirdForum is the net's largest birding community dedicated to wild birds and birding, and is absolutely FREE!

Register for an account to take part in lively discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Alexis Powell" data-source="post: 1311420" data-attributes="member: 5327">There's nothing funny about it.  The issue with the scope is that 30x allows for identification of extremely distant birds.  Birds that are too far away to be IDed at 30x are often either (1) outside the routine range of most birders' awareness, or (2) so far away that atmospherics are the limiting factor, not magnification (Of course this is not always true, so I have and do use my higher powered eyepieces sometimes, and have never claimed otherwise!).  Let me make it clear that when I say that top-end optics not infrequently make the difference in clinching an ID, I don't attribute the critical difference to "barely detectable differences in resolution."  It's not about differences in centerfield resolution, which is why I don't use 10x binos (despite their higher resolution) and why I'm always happy to argue that 60x isn't all that much of an advantage over 30x because it's "only" twice the magnification.No, the advantages of superb optics (whether expensive or not) are their abilities to deliver reliable contrast and color details with bad lighting or when looking at birds that are tiny specs in the sky, their presentation of a relatively flat and distortion free view across a wide real field, and their precision and reliability in delivering synchronous left/right focus.    A further, and extremely important, advantage of superbly designed and built binoculars is excellent ergonomic design which allows for predictable and rapid handling, holding stability under less than ideal conditions, and rapid yet precise focus (even in very hot or cold conditions).I can't comment on the qualities/abilities of your EL sporting colleagues, or the conditions under which you bird together.  And after all, the Viper is a darned good bino--it's not your average glass (most birders I see have far worse), it's a fine mid-range roof as far as they go!  --AP</blockquote>

Verification