Background

A good pair of binoculars can really enhance your trip experience. For some trips they are indespensible, such as to Costa Rica, Argentina, or Panama. These are places where you may be seeking birds high in a rainforest tree under low light. For other trips they may be less important, such as to Antarctica. The wildlife here is close to you while on shore, although you will find binoculars very important if you are trying to identify seabirds while aboard ship.

Binocular quality and price vary a great deal and a little research will help you buy just what you need. It is very important to do some "soul-searching" to decide what you want to use them for. If you only want to bring them to concerts or sporting events, then you only need a compact, inexpensive pair to throw in your pocket. If you will spend many hours looking through them at birds and other wildlife in the field, then a durable pair with quality lenses are a must.

Prices range from from $200 to $1300. You can easily spend over $1000 on top quality binoculars, but if you use them often they are well worth the high price.

Today's top quality binoculars are filled with nitrogen making them waterproof and resistant to mildew and fogging in both tropical and cold conditions. Most good ones are also "armor" or rubber coated, improving durability and assuring they stay in alignment despite the knocks. A pair of binoculars can have over 15 air/glass interfaces, with light lost at each interface. Anti-reflective coating prevents light loss and is a very important feature of quality lenses, especially under low light conditions such as in forests and on cloudy days. Quality binoculars tend to be heavier since they contain more and better quality glass.

Binoculars are commonly referred to with their power rating, for example 8x42 or 10.5x44. These numbers define two important measurements - magnification (the first number: 8 and 10.5 in our example) and field of view (the second number: 42 and 44 in our example).

Read more about binoculars at Wikipedia, including more definitions of optical parameters.

Current Recommendations from Doug

I no longer think that the Swarovski EL are the best for the price since I found that mine are slow to focus compared to other binocs. The Swarovski EL are very sharp, but I think that the Kowa Genesis are the best for the money, as they are very sharp, fast to focus, lightweight, and durable.

Kowa Genesis

I believe Kowa Genesis is the best for ruggedness and ability to quick focus to a close 5.6 feet. They are extremely sharp, showing excellent definition of birds and mammals. My pair withstood bouncing on the bottom of an open Land Cruiser in Botswana and Zambia. They easily focus with a large center wheel and the diopter ring does not accidentally turn, as happened to me with my pair of Leitz.

Other High-end Choices

My next choice in the top-of-the-line category would probably be Leica. Nikon makes a new binocular called the Nikon EDG, 10x42, that costs $1999 (ouch) and focus to 9.8 feet. I don't think they are worth that much money, but I am sure they are good.

Vortex Viper

If you do not want to spend $1000 or more on the Kowa Genesis model, then the Vortex is next best. Like the Kowa, Swarovski, Leica and Zeiss the Vortex are nitrogen filled and rugged. They focus faster than the Swarovski. The Swarovskis are sharp, but to me they are too slow for tropical birding.

Bottom Line

There are many other good binoculars made by Pentax, Bushnell, etc. I just think that the Kowa and Vortex are the best. Kowa for quality, ruggedness, and sharpness and the Vortex Vipers for the price.

Eagle Optics is a good source for binoculars.

Page updated: November 2008