This is part one of a short series about us buying new binoculars for birdwatching.
In Need Of Some Binoculars
Now that Pam and I are officially “birdwatchers” we should probably get some birdwatching binoculars. 
When my Father was visiting over Thanksgiving we had the opportunity to compare his binoculars to ours and the difference was amazing. Even though his binoculars are 10 years old they are high quality and were fairly expensive at the time of purchase. Both his and our pair are 8×42 and when we looked at the same things through both pair the sharpness and brightness of the birds in his pair was so much better. There was just no comparison to our current (nearly broken) pair of nearly 15 year old Bushnell binoculars that we got from Best Buy for $75. It became quickly obvious that we should get a little better pair of binoculars if we were to get the most from our birdwatching. So, I have started to research the various options for at least 1 pair, and probably two, of binoculars. There are a lot of choices in binoculars for birding so I have to make some decisions to narrow down the field.
Defining Our Needs
The first thing I did was to write down what I thought we would need in binoculars. My father suggested that we should get 8×42 as they have a good mix of magnification and light gathering ability. Our current pair are 8×42’s as well as his and we like that size. The next thing was to really define our budget. Based on where we are currently and the fact that I’m not willing to go into debt for these we decided on an absolute maximum of $300/pair, hopefully less. My Father thinks we can get good binoculars for $175 to $275 and after some research I tend to agree. The binoculars will be our Christmass gifts to each other. I also want to get binoculars that are waterproof in case we get rained on, etc. And, since Pam wears glasses all of the time and I do occaisonally, we need enough eye relief in the binoculars to allow good viewing with glasses.
So Here is the criteria we will use:
- Size-8×42
- Cost-Maximum of $300/pair or $600 Total
- Waterproof Design
- Enough Eye Relief For Glasses (typically 16mm or more)
Now, time to start the search!
[...] This is part two of our short series on buying birdwatching binoculars. This part covers the research of possible binoculars. To see part one, which covered defining our needs and budget, click here. [...]
[...] on buying binoculars for birdwatching. This part covers the final selection of binoculars. Part one covered defining our needs and budget. Part two discussed the research of possible binoculars [...]