Binocular Choices?

Dougal

Dougal

Well-Known Member
Joined
6 Dec 2006
Messages
895
Location
Wiltshire / Brittany (50/50)
Visit site
Need new binocs. Ours were rubbish anyway.
What are others using for sea work? Ours were cheap 8 x 50 and never of much benefit.
In the past, I've usually had 10 x 50 but just curious what the marine 'norm' might be.
 
The usual answer is 7x50 but over the years I've used everything from 6x30 ex WWII through 7x35, 7x40 and 8x40 to 10x50. I like to have both 7x50 and a smaller lighter pair on board. 'Wide angle' ones are nice.
 
Years ago I bought myself a pair of Zeiss 7x50s. I've still got them and they have only been refurbished once. However whilst their image quality is superb, I found myself putting the 6x30 monocular from my Plath sextant in my oilskins jacket pocket - also optically superb but far lighter and easier to use.

I then started to think, and I remembered that I used to visit Hamburg very regularly in the 70's and that my clients, a wonderful old German shipowning company, used to do a lot of business with the East on a barter basis. I wondered if the nameless monocular in the sextant box might have arrived in Hamburg via such a route. Sure enough, eBay yielded a cornucopia of East German Zeiss 6 x 30 monoculars, dating back to WW2 and even WW1. Standard item for the Wehrmacht and its East German sucessor the Nationale Volksarmee. So I left the sextant monocular in the box with the sextant and bought another one, which now lives in my oilskins jacket pocket, full time.
 
The usual preference for marine use is 7x50, these give a reasonable magnification, but not so large that it is difficult to keep the image steady, 7x50 binoculars also provide the maximum image brightness,as the exit pupil of the binoculars roughly matches the maximum aperture of the humane eye, so sre considerably better in low light or at night than other magnifications.
Have a look at a previous thread about just broken my binoculars, several users recomend the 7x50 binoculars sold by Gael Force Marine at about £98.
 
Last edited:
I would encourage you to have a go with image-stabilising binoculars before you shell out. At least you know then whether you want to spend the extra.
As the image is stable, greater magnification can be used and so the benefits are more than just the stabilisation.
I find IS to be excellent when at sea - the movement of the boat prevents easy identification of marks if you don't have IS.
 
Praxinoscope said:
The usual preference for marine use is 7x50, these give a reasonable magnification, but not so large that it is difficult to keep the image steady, 7x50 binoculars also provide the maximum image brightness,as the exit pupil of the binoculars roughly matches the maximum aperture of the humane eye, so sre considerably better in low light or at night than other magnifications.
Have a look at a previous thread about just broken my binoculars, several users recomend the 7x50 binoculars sold by Gael Force Marine at about £98.
Click to expand...

Although it is true that 7x50s produce an exit pupil matching that of (young) eyes (50/7, approximately 7mm), this doesn't in itself make them brighter but does have the advantage that the eye can adjust to differing light intensity, and will also give a better image to those with a central cataract. In full daylight, 7x50s will actually appear less bright than most other sizes, which is an advantage in reducing strain.

For use on a yacht, almost any quality will do, since most people will be unable to hold the glasses steadily enough to take advantage of high quality optics, though a stabilised pair such as the Canons that many of us have can be very useful as an extra.
 
I think that as the price of waterproof image-stabilised binoculars continues to fall, the traditional recommendation of 7x50 will have much less relevance. The key thing with boat binoculars is to get ones which are actually waterproof. I have an old Steiner Commander 7x50, bought about 40 years ago, which continues to give crisp and bright images, but if I were buying today I'd want image stabilisation.
 
None of my several binoculars is waterproof, and I have never drowned one, yet. The oldest has been in use on the boat since 1972 and the Canon IS ones since 2000, bought when I realised that I could not make out Danish marks when competing against the wind. Waterproofing is nice to have, perhaps, but not essential if you are economising, any more than IS. All binoculars are a thousand times better than none, even badly-adjusted cheapos.
 
pvb said:
if I were buying today I'd want image stabilisation.
Click to expand...

The problem there is that as far as I know nobody makes stabilised binos with a compass in. At least half the time I look through mine I’m either taking a bearing or, more often these days, aiming them on a specific bearing to see the thing that the chart or AIS says will be found there.

That said, I think I am going to have to get some new ones soon. The ones I have are not compatible with glasses, so I take them off (hold between my teeth :) ) and have the binos adjusted to match my wonky eyes. However, my eyes are getting slowly wonkier and have reached the end-stops on the bino adjustment, so I need either an even wonkier pair or eyepieces that work with glasses.

Pete
 
My first pair was a Russian 7x50 which I bought from a market stall in Moscow during the Glasnost period - cost about $25 from memory, and still going OK but are heavy and the lens are getting a bit dirty. But these stay on board all the time. The next are a pair of Pentax which are excellent, better than the Russian ones but only used occasionally on board, usually on the summer cruise. The 3rd pair are Zenith which I bought a few weeks ago from a local auction for £15. In excellent condition, obviously not used much and will replace the Russian ones on board.
 
We have a pair of auto focus and work without adjusting with and without glasses on, makes using very easy and no issue when SWMBO has just picked them up to use.
 
Personally I would look at image stabiliser binos if budget permits . We have a basic pair bought in 2000 and have never had any issues with sticky body or suchlike but they are kept below and not left onboard in winter months . Clearly many love their Steiner but stabilisation seems a great benefit. Obviously if you are bird watching a small pair of Swaskov? Might be crisper but our stabilise ones also worked well on the marshes at Lymington
 
ashtead said:
Personally I would look at image stabiliser binos if budget permits . We have a basic pair bought in 2000 and have never had any issues with sticky body or suchlike but they are kept below and not left onboard in winter months . Clearly many love their Steiner but stabilisation seems a great benefit. Obviously if you are bird watching a small pair of Swaskov? Might be crisper but our stabilise ones also worked well on the marshes at Lymington
Click to expand...

I have ended up with three binoculars
a) Monk with compass (see #10)
b) Steiner Commander with compass; (see #7 and #14 - but pvb acknowledges he would get IS if buying now) and
c) Fujinon IS.

Steiner are routinely praised for their quality including the amount of light they let through.

I have carried out extensive testing in very dark conditions at anchor (Iken cliff) and the Fujinon IS let through significantly greater light than the Steiners and allow you to see things that you could not see with the Steiners.

Coming through Fisherman's Gat for the first time, I was able clearly to see the red bouy but not able to read the marking in order to identify it fully - it was because the boat's movement prevented a stable image for long enough to read with either Monk or Steiner. That's why I decided to get some IS bins.

Now I use both the Steiner and Fujinon and on a long passage both are normally out in the cockpit - the Steiners are easy to pick up and use and I am not concerned about damaging them or getting them wet. The Fujinon are used if I want a better look and can invest a bit more time in handling them carefully and turning them on etc - it is always worth it.

Hope this helps
 
Steiner and Fujinon are top pieces of kit but try them carefully. My eyes don't suit Steiners - I can't get a full field of vision with them. Fujinon non-stabilised are at least as good as Steiners to me and I get full field of vision so they would be my choice. Top end Fujinon are eye-wateringly expensive though (£1K and yes that's non-stabilised). In practice I find my Bynolyt (Mk III) are plenty good enough and compensate for my ageing eyes without me needing to wear my distance glasses. One dis-claimer - the eye-piece cover (just the cosmetic/spacer moulding that goes over the eyepiece lens) come loose just a few weeks after I got them. I simply glued it back on with superglue and it's been fine ever since. I contacted Force 4 and have a standing offer to replace them for a new pair any time in the next two years. The other eye-piece is fine, the repaired one is like new and neither Force 4 nor I have heard of any problems elsewhere so I'm treating it as as a one-off - £200 bin's should have better QA than that though. The only other thing I'd say is that the light switch for the compass is VERY stiff to operate. It's not something I use a lot so no big deal. In practice I'd go for the mid-range Fujinon 7x50 (about £300 ish) or a "mid-range" pair of Steiners for £300 or £400 because I don't think my eyes can justify anything better.
 
Agree 2 pairs would be great .So plus 1 to this idea to back up our Canons IS ones and to have with a compass . Would love a secondhand Steiner pair if any cheap ones out there looking for a home ? We have a another brand pocket pair on board but a cheap pair with compass might be useful backup ?
 
About 30 or more years ago someone recommended and sold me Jason 7x35 autofocus and we have been using them on the boat ever since, they were around £80 which seemed expensive then but they are light, compact, neat and durable. I think the make was American and I have not seen it recently but compared to various 7x 50s I have tried and taking into account the heavy use over an extended period I would recommend them.

Google reveals that the name and the Autofocus patents were bought over by Bushnell about 20 years ago but the originals are still treasured by specialist repairers.
Bushnell 7x50 permafocus £87 on Amazon which is about what I paid in the 80s.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Other threads that may be of interest

Baggywrinkle
Test run of the Lithium system that has been sitting in my cellar for most of this year.
Replies
7
Views
365
jakew009
J

Share this page

Top