Powerful Binoculars - Is Bigger Better?

October 8, 2009 by binocular

Powerful binoculars might seem like a good idea at first, but before you run out and purchase the biggest pair of lenses you can find there are some factors to consider. If it were simply a matter of ‘bigger is better’ then you wouldn’t need to do much research or worry about features or quality. You could just pick out the heaviest set and go on your merry way. But of course, nothing in life is quite that simple.

When binoculars are called powerful, it typically refers to the magnification power of the binoculars. The magnification determines how much larger objects appear through the binoculars than with the naked eye. A magnification or power of 8, for instance, means that an object viewed through the lenses will appear 8 times as large as simply observing it with your eyes. Higher powers will bring the object even closer, showing more detail and smaller items.

One thing to be aware of is that a higher magnification requires more light to produce a similarly bright image to a lower power. In other words, the more you magnify an image, the darker it will appear given the same amount of light. Since the light gathering power of binoculars is determined by the size of their objective lens, you will generally want bigger lenses for higher power binoculars. This will tend to increase the size of the binoculars as you increase their power, or else the image quality could begin to suffer.

The first consequence of powerful binoculars is therefore a tendency for them to be large. If you are willing to cart around a huge set of binoculars, that may not be a problem, but otherwise you may need to think of getting something with a lower magnification.

The second concern to watch out for is that the higher the power and the closer and larger your subject appears, the more the movements of the binoculars will be noticeable during viewing. With very high magnification, even the slightest jitter or wavering in your hands will be quite noticeable and even distracting. If you don’t have very steady hands, or need to use the binoculars in an unstable environment like on a boat or while on the go, you will probably have to step down to less powerful binoculars.

So you see, you can go for the most powerful binoculars out there, but that won’t necessarily be the best option in every situation. Instead it’s best to go for the most powerful binoculars that are practical for your given situation.