Your dream binocular (1 Viewer)

[Gijs van Ginkel]

Lee, post 100,
Basically binoculars did not change from 1890-1900 until now, better and more convient constructions were developed, optical improvements were considerably improved through better optical glass, coatings etc.
The question really is in my opinion: are we consumers behaving like spoiled children who want constantly to be confronted with something new? The discussion worldwide is that the earth is damaged by the way humans destroy wildlife, the atmosphere, polluting the oceans. Battery operated instruments will in my opinion not avoid these developments, but will probably enhance them becuase of the waste they generate by discarded batteries and the production of new ones.
Gijs van Ginkel

 

[Troubador]

Lee, post 100,
Basically binoculars did not change from 1890-1900 until now, better and more convient constructions were developed, optical improvements were considerably improved through better optical glass, coatings etc.
The question really is in my opinion: are we consumers behaving like spoiled children who want constantly to be confronted with something new? The discussion worldwide is that the earth is damaged by the way humans destroy wildlife, the atmosphere, polluting the oceans. Battery operated instruments will in my opinion not avoid these developments, but will probably enhance them becuase of the waste they generate by discarded batteries and the production of new ones.
Gijs van Ginkel

An excellent point Gijs and we have an excellent choice of binos at the moment. I am not at all interested in binos with batteries and since 8x magnification is my favourite, I am not so interested in image stabilisation at all.
At the moment I am on the Isle of Islay off the south west coast of Scotland and have been here for 3 weeks with a selection of Zeiss and Meopta binos and couldn't be happier.

Lee

 

[dries1]

Lee.

Any chance of some photos of the otters on the coast?

Andy W.

 

[Troubador]

Lee.

Any chance of some photos of the otters on the coast?

Andy W.

Andy

Unfortunately our photo gear is for close-ups and landscapes but we did get some half decent shots the last time we were here on Islay and I will post a couple when back home in a few days.

When we stalk close to the otters we are too entranced watching them to start setting photo gear up and risk startling them.

But thanks for your interest Andy and I will post them soon.

Lee

 

[dries1]

Thanks Lee, I am sure the landscape views are great and you are having a great time, enjoy.

Andy W.

 

[Troubador]

Thanks Lee, I am sure the landscape views are great and you are having a great time, enjoy.

Andy W.

Andy

If you have a spare 5 minutes you can see some of my pics on the Birdforum Gallery https://www.birdforum.net/gallery/search.php?searchid=333139

Cheers Lee

 

[Canip]

Nice, Lee!!!!!

 

[dries1]

Nice place Lee, I can see why you go there often.

Andy W.

 

[Troubador]

Lee.

Any chance of some photos of the otters on the coast?

Andy W.

Here they are Andy: not brilliant but full of memories for us.

Lee

 

[dries1]

Lee, they are great animals aren't they. Nice pics

Andy W.

 

[fazalmajid]

Peter,
Canon's IS revolutionized astronomical binocular observing for me 20 years ago. I have their 10x30 and 15x45 IS binoculars. They are essentially Porro prism binoculars with battery powered electronic IS. I know of a few people who bird with the 10x42, but I bird pretty regularly (often several times a week) and at least once a week I am with a group. I have seen someone else using an IS binocular perhaps once or twice.

Same here. My first serious binoculars were the Canon 10x30 IS circa 2001, for astronomy use. I then purchased a Trinovid 8x20 and an Ultravid 10x50, the Canons started collecting dust and I ended up selling them.

I have nothing against IS, in fact as I said I like them for astronomy or for sports or concert. Yet I don't use them routinely for birding essentially for ergonomic reasons (I am speaking primarily of the 15x45, but it is true for the 10x30 as well). The Canon optics are very nice, but compared to similarly sized objectives, they are considerably heavier, bulkier, harder to point, have slower focus, don't focus as close, the IPD isn't as adjustable (I need a very narrow IPD), I find the eyecups less comfortable and less adjustable. Newer models may be more weather proof, but I would not consider them to be nearly as rugged as a well built roof prism binocular. Most of these things are not show stoppers for astronomy, but for birding, between the bulk/weight and handling problems, I simply don't use them.

I bought a pair of Canon 10x42L IS two Christmases ago, but my go-to-binoculars are the Swarovski EL SV 8.5x42. The Canons are just too bulky/heavy and the slow focus is a real deal-breaker (I think the too-small knob more than the number of revolutions is the issue).

I am seeing quite a few birders with super-zoom fixed lens cameras. These are relatively tech rich devices including IS and enough automation that once you have the camera set up, you take a quick burst of shots of a distant bird with the hope that one will be sufficiently in focus and showing the distinctive markings you seek or that someone more knowledgable will explain. Also many birders today are using networked smart phone apps for tracking what they see, for planning outings, and for online handbooks. So I don't think birders are particularly technology averse.

I sometimes use a lightweight Canon SL2 with a 55-250mm lens (2x-8x equivalent) in addition to my binoculars. I've found the optical quality of the small-sensor cameras too sub-par to entertain, granted I haven't used a bridge camera in the Sony RX10IV or Panasonic FZ-2000 class.

What we really need is a specialist camera with a compact telephoto lens in a range like 6x-12x (or better yet a fixed 8x lens) rather than the generalist 0.5x-8x range. TinyMOS has come up with something like this for astronomy, and Nikon has very compact tele lenses like the 300mm f/4 PF.

What was said about the triumph of non-optical viewfinders in cameras—that's just fascinating. What advantages, exactly, did the bitter-enders see, or claim to see, in optical viewfinders? Since I would bet that we are more or less certain to repeat, word for word, the precise debate that the community of photographers already went through, only transposed to the register of binoculars!

I owned a pair of Sony DEV-3 binoculars with dual EVFs, and they were complete garbage both for viewing and recording.

Lee, I absolutely defer to you—you know far better than I how much ingenuity, care, and institution-bending has been poured into making new concepts like the SF’s and the Harpia actually come to pass.

Also major manufacturing breakthroughs to make the extremely thin objective lens doublet elements

 

[justabirdwatcher]

Dream binoculars? Hmm...

Bushnell Engage/Leica Trinovid HD size and handling with Zeiss Conquest HD image and discounted Legend M price.

Hey, we're dreaming right?

 

[aCuria]

I am probably in the minority, but I would like too see binoculars that can focus at +12 beyond infinity, so I can ditch the glasses when using them. I have no idea what current bins do, but its not enough.