Maggie's Farm

A pal commented on our birding binocular post that excellent German Army Hensoldt 10X50s can be found on eBay for reasonable prices. Good optics.

Here's an example of one.

10X50 is a bit too much magnification for 90% of birding and for all of sports viewing, but they do have other fun uses, like watching the NoKos watching you across the DMZ.

Lower magnification (ie 7 or at most 8) meets almost all outdoor uses because higher is more than needed and makes it difficult to locate what you're looking for. Larger objective lenses (the second #) admit more light, so they are better for poor lighting conditions. Heavier, too.

Binocular skills are learned by use - those are eye skills. Clarity has to do with lens and prism quality, and that's where the $ comes into the equation.

For long-distance viewing (eg military, nautical, seabirds far off in the water and the like - and certainly for astronomy, you need higher magnification (10X +) and probably larger objective lens but those work best with a binocular or a scope on a mount or tripod.

What is best for watching high-altitude migrating raptors? Some swear by a Zeiss 8X45 or 8X42 with their wide (400 m) FOV (field of view). A wide FOV is desirable for wildlife observation. I have seen that the most experienced and expert wildlife watchers do very well with minimal inexpensive gear, but that's not me.

Related, useful binocular basics