Its time to upgrade the binoculars and Im looking for some suggestions. Its tough to read anything with my current pair unless the boats very still, which isn`t usually the case when you are in a situation where you need binoculars. I also like the idea of possibly improving night vision. Any feedback on brands, power, etc., is appreciated
Binoculars
- Thread starter mx8
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As you know there are many sizes and manufacturers. I won't cite a particular model but will advise that the best all-round size marine unit is a 7 x 50 "pair" with coated lens, each side with adjustable focus to coform to one's eye strength. Weight is a personal matter, some folks enjoy using a sturdy somewhat heavy unit. Take a look at some of the better (more xpensive) stabilized glasses if you wish.
Its always nice to select from a large variety, or at least do a rough first screen at a large Marine Sales Center. Then you might consider the best place to actually prurchase the unit. Check with Les before you pass any money. He's hard to beat on such stuff.
Its always nice to select from a large variety, or at least do a rough first screen at a large Marine Sales Center. Then you might consider the best place to actually prurchase the unit. Check with Les before you pass any money. He's hard to beat on such stuff.
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When I had a big boat, 23' to 32' I used a pair (cheap) of 10X50 'Focus Free' that I got from WallyWorld on sale. It was an experiement. Soon I wished I'd bought two or three pair.
But on my smaller boats, I like the 7X35 Roof prism's. The little Flat piece on top that makes it easy to adjust.
For close work the Focus Free's wont work. You need the Adjustables to see small boat numbers in a boat just a few boats away.
Any power larger than 10 you'll need one of those Crutches to hold the things up.
Those little short, shirt pocket, binocs are a waste of money unless your Rabbit hunting.
But on my smaller boats, I like the 7X35 Roof prism's. The little Flat piece on top that makes it easy to adjust.
For close work the Focus Free's wont work. You need the Adjustables to see small boat numbers in a boat just a few boats away.
Any power larger than 10 you'll need one of those Crutches to hold the things up.
Those little short, shirt pocket, binocs are a waste of money unless your Rabbit hunting.
Grady Wahoo
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I probably could have bought a stabilized pair for what I paid for my Steiners, but they're great at night. When the beach looks black, you can look through them and make out people walking. Their website explains the lens/prism's use of "existing" light such as streetlamps, stars. moon ect. to brighten/filter the images. Love my Steiners..... Go try holding a pair at a local store. Ergonomics of different brands and models may differ for each user, another reason to visit the mall......
get Steiner Mariners 7x50, anti fog, super rugged, highest clarifty of any glasses, no need to adjust focus and you can get them with a build-in compass. Mine are over 13 years old and perfect as they have always been. This is the one thing I always take with me no matter where I go.
7 X 50 is the optimal size for general boating. If that is too bouncy for you, try a 7 X 35. 7 power and the 7 X 50 gives you a good field of view and is relatively easy to hold steady. 7 X 35 will be easier, still. The 50mm objective lens (the lens on the far end) will provide good performance in low light situations. I agree, 10X is about as far as you want to go on the magnification. Less than than that is better if you boat in a lot of rough water.
High quality glass, coatings and larger objective lenses can improve on the low light performance. Check out the Oberwerk astronomical and marine binos at bigbinoculars online. These are very high quality binos for the money, designed for sharp images, excellent color rendition and well above average light-gathering. They get rave reviews. The Oberwerk Ultra line is their best. I'll buy the Ultra 10.5 X 70 sometime soon for general boat use.
I use the 15 X 70 for river boating birdwatching, etc., but it takes a steady hand and practice to use them hand held. I use a tripod to view planets and stars with 15 X 70s. I also have the ITT Gen 1 night vision monoscope, but the Oberwerks blow them away for night vision!
High quality glass, coatings and larger objective lenses can improve on the low light performance. Check out the Oberwerk astronomical and marine binos at bigbinoculars online. These are very high quality binos for the money, designed for sharp images, excellent color rendition and well above average light-gathering. They get rave reviews. The Oberwerk Ultra line is their best. I'll buy the Ultra 10.5 X 70 sometime soon for general boat use.
I use the 15 X 70 for river boating birdwatching, etc., but it takes a steady hand and practice to use them hand held. I use a tripod to view planets and stars with 15 X 70s. I also have the ITT Gen 1 night vision monoscope, but the Oberwerks blow them away for night vision!
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The best pair of Bino's I've used is the Fujinon, rubber clad, compass binoculars. They are the brightest binocular I've used at night. They're almost like using a night vision scope. I tried the other models at the West marine one evening and could tell the difference.
I like the caps on the ends of the Fujinons. This helps in keeping the dirt out. The compass allows you to take a bearing on distant buoys that you can't see with the naked eye.
If you are boating in rough conditions or on a smaller boat, I would recommend a bino with less powerful magification. 7X50 is useless in rough conditions.
I like the caps on the ends of the Fujinons. This helps in keeping the dirt out. The compass allows you to take a bearing on distant buoys that you can't see with the naked eye.
If you are boating in rough conditions or on a smaller boat, I would recommend a bino with less powerful magification. 7X50 is useless in rough conditions.
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I'm pretty impressed with my West Marine brand "Tahiti" Binoculars. A Christmas present this year. 7x50, Compass and center focus. The night and low light vision is very good. The admiral criticized my choice as overly extravagant. "What do you get from a pair of $300 binoculars that you can't get from your old pair." I handed them to her and her only reply was "Wow!"
If you've got the bucks, $800 will buy you stabilized binoculars. I also have a nightvision monoscope which is pretty much useless. Nightvision binoculars will run in the $600 range.
If you've got the bucks, $800 will buy you stabilized binoculars. I also have a nightvision monoscope which is pretty much useless. Nightvision binoculars will run in the $600 range.
We love our Steiner 7x50 Marine binoculars - incredible brightness, clarity and low light level viewing. The two predecessor pairs of marine binocs the Steiners replaced, are used for back-up.
The extra sets are convenient in situations such as, watching the Newport Jazz and Folk festivals off Fort Adams with guests onboard, viewed by boat on the water side of course.
The extra sets are convenient in situations such as, watching the Newport Jazz and Folk festivals off Fort Adams with guests onboard, viewed by boat on the water side of course.
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Steiners are the way to go.
We had an older pair that really took some abuse, sent them back to Steiner and they refurbished them like new.
No charge.
Jonathan
We had an older pair that really took some abuse, sent them back to Steiner and they refurbished them like new.
No charge.
Jonathan
After a couple of years using binoculars on boats the most important things, IMHO, are 1. night vision, 2. stability and 3. Water proofing. The actual magnification isn't that important. Personally, I think the built in compasses are useless. But, to each his own. Luck. Dale
I researched the available units fairly extensively and found the Canon 18 x 50 Image Stabilized All Weather to be remarkable (I bought them). Normally 18x is too much magnification for a vessel but the stabilization compensates for motion.
When I broke my last $399ish pair of 7x50's I went looking to replace them with a decent stabilized model. The guy at Captains Nautical our local optics expert, talked me out of the image stabilized as my primary set of binoculars and talked me into the best pair of 7x50's I could afford. I went home with a pair of the fujinon 7x50's. I understand the steiner's are also very very nice and would own either. They cost me dearly, but I have to say they now get used about every 15 minutes it seems. They are VERY much treasured on our boat. The image stabilized will be my second pair, but the 7x50's will always remain the primary pair on the boat.
bp
bp
Some things to look for in quality binos for marine use.
Waterproof binos: may or may not be appropriate. Think about your experiences on the boat.
Nitrogen-filled: This will prevent the binos from fogging up inside. This can happen if you make a rapid transition from a warm cabin to the cold outside. If you have been using non-nitrogen binos for years and never had a problem with this, then you probably don't need it.
Optics: Prism: BAK-4 Porro prisms are the best, unless you are talking about the very best roof prisms made by Zeiss or Swarovsky during the last 2 years. "Oversized" Porro prisms make it easier to align your eyes to the binoculars, especially at higher magnifications.
Optics: Coatings. You want broadband fully multicoated lenses and prisms for the best transmission of light. Fully multicoated means all air to glass (or nitrogen to glass) surfaces are multicoated, inside and out. If the binos do not claim to be fully multicoated, then they are not. If the manufacturer claims the binos are "muticoated", that means the lenses are multicoated on some surfaces. Multicoating results in better light transmission than "coated lenses" which means "single coat."
Light transmission: How effective are the lenses, coating and prisms at transmitting light? This is important in choosing binoculars that are best in low light or at night.
The Fujinon Polaris SX and some of the Steiner models can approach 95-96% light transmission. Of the Steiner binoculars, only the Nighthunter XP Series, Commander V, or Military R models reach this figure.
Be careful purchasing Chinese made binoculars. Lesser quality and higher quality binos can look identical (except for the brand name) unless you are expert at examining optics.
Oberwerk sells the highest quality binoculars made in China. The light transmission of these fully multicoated binos is 94%. Each binocular is individuly tested for perfect alignment in the US prior to shipment.
Steiner is famous for rugged build and that's why the military likes them. They carry a 30 year warranty. However, if you buy a model other than the three listed above, the optical quality will be equal to or less than that of the best Chinese made binos.
Oberwerk has a one year warranty, but will do repair and collimation (alignment) after warranty on an hourly basis. 30 day inspection period for reurn or exchange. The stores that sell them are listed at the web site.
Things to avoid: Built-in compass. Unless you really need to have it there.
Red "ruby" coating or mirrored coatings: Deep red coatings do nothing except mask bad color from poor lenses. Mirrored lenses relect light from the lens instead of sending it to your eye. They best multicoatings from Europe, Japan and the US appear violet to green in color, while the best Chinese multicoatings appear greenish to violet.
Waterproof binos: may or may not be appropriate. Think about your experiences on the boat.
Nitrogen-filled: This will prevent the binos from fogging up inside. This can happen if you make a rapid transition from a warm cabin to the cold outside. If you have been using non-nitrogen binos for years and never had a problem with this, then you probably don't need it.
Optics: Prism: BAK-4 Porro prisms are the best, unless you are talking about the very best roof prisms made by Zeiss or Swarovsky during the last 2 years. "Oversized" Porro prisms make it easier to align your eyes to the binoculars, especially at higher magnifications.
Optics: Coatings. You want broadband fully multicoated lenses and prisms for the best transmission of light. Fully multicoated means all air to glass (or nitrogen to glass) surfaces are multicoated, inside and out. If the binos do not claim to be fully multicoated, then they are not. If the manufacturer claims the binos are "muticoated", that means the lenses are multicoated on some surfaces. Multicoating results in better light transmission than "coated lenses" which means "single coat."
Light transmission: How effective are the lenses, coating and prisms at transmitting light? This is important in choosing binoculars that are best in low light or at night.
The Fujinon Polaris SX and some of the Steiner models can approach 95-96% light transmission. Of the Steiner binoculars, only the Nighthunter XP Series, Commander V, or Military R models reach this figure.
Be careful purchasing Chinese made binoculars. Lesser quality and higher quality binos can look identical (except for the brand name) unless you are expert at examining optics.
Oberwerk sells the highest quality binoculars made in China. The light transmission of these fully multicoated binos is 94%. Each binocular is individuly tested for perfect alignment in the US prior to shipment.
Steiner is famous for rugged build and that's why the military likes them. They carry a 30 year warranty. However, if you buy a model other than the three listed above, the optical quality will be equal to or less than that of the best Chinese made binos.
Oberwerk has a one year warranty, but will do repair and collimation (alignment) after warranty on an hourly basis. 30 day inspection period for reurn or exchange. The stores that sell them are listed at the web site.
Things to avoid: Built-in compass. Unless you really need to have it there.
Red "ruby" coating or mirrored coatings: Deep red coatings do nothing except mask bad color from poor lenses. Mirrored lenses relect light from the lens instead of sending it to your eye. They best multicoatings from Europe, Japan and the US appear violet to green in color, while the best Chinese multicoatings appear greenish to violet.
Well, I was just looking around at the Steiner catalogue and saw the new Nighthunter 7x50 XP. Mid 97% light transmission and claims to be the brightest milspec bino ever made. Unfortunately for me, I'd need to be about 20 years younger to get the full light benefits from that 7.1mm exit pupil diameter. (sigh)
The larger objectives (+50mm) help out the 54 year-olds.
The larger objectives (+50mm) help out the 54 year-olds.