How useful are Binoculars ?

[dunedin]

Keep the receipt. Slightest knock and they are toast.

Survived 3yrs and circa 7k miles so far, living in cockpit. But yes not a £1,000 binocular

 

[pandos]

Amazon.co.uk

I bought a pair of these. I find them great As has been said elsewhere, good for working out which target is which on the AIS.

Dropped them a few times and they have survived.

 

[jamie N]

I use this Seago monocular, and have found them very good over the past 10 years, on a small boat, and not having been 'cared for', they've shown no sign of deterioration.

 

[Boathook]

My wife & I walked into a shop in Kelso just browsing. We were casually looking at binoculars with no real intention of buying.
The owner asked if we would like to look at a couple so we agreed.
Before we could stop him he had produced over 20 pairs all in a row on the counter. He then told us to look at a point some distance away. Then try 2 binoculars, We did & discarded the lesser of the two. We then repeated using the saved one & another, discarding the worse one, working our way through all of them.
He advised us to consider the width across the lenses. Some are very narrow .He pointed out that some have much better light admittance. Some had higher magnification, but would be harder to aim & also tiring if used for longer period.
We eventually came to the last pair that he had put to one side & we had no problem in chosing that pair. He laughed & said that he had kep it to the end on purpose. They were Bushnels & not particularly high magnification. It seems that they are favourites with bird watchers. My wife has used them on the club committee boat & starting bridge for years. I am not allowed to touch them.
My daughter has only sight in one eye, so has a really good monacular set.
I have a pair of self focusing ones, gifted to me, with a compass in. However, being too close together makes the lenses awkward & the compass is at an angle. I end up looking through 1 side only to get a bearing. The high magnification makes them hard to aim. I tend to use my Sestral hand bearing compass where possible. That is a quality piece of kit.

Sounds a good person and salesman.
@waynes world for boating it was always recommended 7 magnification and 50mm lens, 7x50. Any bigger magnification you can't keep the binoculars stable and over 50mm the binoculars become to big for the average boat. Just buy the best you can. Fancy extras don't normally do better than good optics.

I should add that I have 2 pairs of 7 by 50 on board.

 

[Tamar]

I bought a pair of 7x50 from Lidl about 5 years ago, I think they were less than 30 quid. They are used most days at sea and work ok.
I have never had a really expensive pair.

 

[Concerto]

Last year I decided I needed a new pair of binoculars and settled on the Seago binoculars with compass. They were heavier than the smaller pair I had been using for years. However the clarity and brightness of the image has made them my favourite pair now. Slightly over the £60 budget, but definitely worth buying.

Seago 7x50 Waterproof Binoculars With Compass

 

[Bouba]

The thing about really expensive bins, like Leica...is that they are incredible...they really trap the light...making the view quite wonderful....of course I have never owned a pair...I couldn’t justify four figures for a pair...and rather than get second best....I get real cheapies

 

[KompetentKrew]

If it's far enough away that you need binoculars to see it then you don't need to worry yet about the risk of hitting it!

I have a pair of Bynolyt Searanger II binos ("as used by the RNLI") which I'm pretty pleased with, but they're £200 glasses that I got for about £100 (in very good condition, still with the new rubber smell) by watching eBay auctions assiduously. I like them, but I'm not sure that I'd be prepared to pay £200 to replace them. (Looks like this model is, in fact, out of production and the new OceanRanger is €300.)

 

[Laser310]

I use the compass in binoculars quite a bit.

I think i get a more repeatable bearing than with a hand bearing compass - which i also use quite a bit.

But I'm mostly racing, so that might make a difference.

 

[Kelpie]

Bushnell Marine 7x50
These are good. Ive only really used them for stargazing though when ive been out on my boat.

That's what we've got- they were a present- and cannot fault them. Pin sharp images, the right magnification for use on a moving boat, and have survived a couple of tumbles down the companionway.

Previously used a pair of Lidl 10x50 which were good value for money but not a patch on the Bushnells.

 

[alan_d]

We use these - good value and effective for boat use. Gael Force 7x50 Floating Waterproof Binoculars with Compass Gael Force Marine

For coastal sailing I think they are very useful - albeit nowadays less for spotting navigation buoys (they are a rare beast in NW Scotland anyway) but more for looking at interesting things - other boats, otters/dolphins/whales/eagles, ships etc.

I bought a very similar-looking pair from Lidl/Aldi about 15 years ago for rather less money. The compass light failed on day one, but they exchanged them without question and the replacement pair have served me well ever since (although they are now starting to feel slightly sticky to the touch).

 

[Frank Holden]

A few bob more than the OP wants to spend but these Nikon 7x50s are a good budget glass.
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/319410-USA/Nikon_7239_7x50_Action_EX_Extreme.html

I have a pair of the Action Extreme 12x50s ashore , good quality for the price.

 

[ChromeDome]

Plenty of good advice.

Suggest look for Marine versions and go for no more than 7x (magnification) and the largest dia. you can fit to your budget.
The larger diameter, the less problem when boat is moving as the point in focus will remain within you view.

I had a pair from Aldo or Lidl with compass. Fairly good for some years then the compass failed and the rubberized outside turned sticky.

Was replaced by a Fujinon which are next class, also price-wise.

 

[Bouba]

If money were no object...I would get image stabilized binoculars....it solves the biggest problem of trying to look at something on a pitching deck

 

[ashtead]

At the budget end of market another option is to look a WW2 ex military binoculars, I inherited a set of Canadian made ones,quite heavy and only used on land but surprisingly good vision and robust construction. When sailing I tend to keep stabilising Canon versions below and have an old pair of 10x versions from1980s in cockpit. I suspect for £100 a secondhand supplier might be a solution. The ones I like if ever buying another would be a small pair of bird watching type but a tad pricy by the crystal people Schwartz (spelling not good) . Brilliant little pair borrowed from friends ashore .

 

[Snowgoose-1]

It's surprising how effective ordinary binoculars are at night.

 

[Daydream believer]

Many years ago a retired ships captain who had spent most of WW2 on patrol in the N sea told my father that most of his time was spent with binoculars glued to his face. He recommended to my father a particular Zeis binocular which my father subsequently purchased. They were brilliant, but very expensive. The optics, even at night, were extremely good. Unfortunately, when he passed away, they went missing so I never managed to get them.

 

[Supertramp]

I keep a decent pair of 7×50 on deck. They are decades old. They are often used to check on buoys, whales and birds and especially approaching a new harbour or anchorage to determine where the greens and reds are or the house (conspic but no longer very). I use them more as my eyes age.

Years ago we had some Russian night binoculars which didn't really do much different.

 

[Simonpk]

I like my Nikon Sportstar bins:

Sportstar EX 8x25 DCF Black

 

[14K478]

I have a pair of West German Zeiss (there’s a “carbon date” for you) 7x50s that I bought in Hong Kong 37 years ago. They have been overhauled once. They are brilliant. My son has an East German Zeiss pair given to him by a friend and they are almost equally good.

However I found myself slipping the 6x40 monocular from my Plath sextant into my oilskin pocket as it is so quick and easy to use. Careful inspection showed it to be East German Zeiss, as once supplied to the former East German Army, but badged “C.Plath”, so I bought another one on ebay and put the sextant one back where it should be.