Where these Opticrons fall slightly short is in what’s included, or rather not included, in the box. All you get is a basic pouch and a simple, non-padded strap, whereas the Celestrons include a stretchy neoprene strap, a pouch with extra compartments and a harness.

Compact binoculars are great for somebody who doesn’t want a heavy or bulky pair but still wants a decent view of objects in the distance. Strictly speaking the image isn’t as bright using compact binoculars due to the smaller objective lens, although this can be improved by choosing an option that has high quality lenses or ED lenses.Even the best-behaved and older kids can easily drop objects and damage them unintentionally! Unfortunately, it’s unavoidable concerning kids’ toys.

This gave me another thought of improved ergonomics for the manufacturers to notice: forget the dual focus knobs, no need for that; just add two more attachment points for the strap on the bins, so you get FOUR eyelets, two on each side of the bins, on the same level, and you can choose to wear your bins in a normal or upside-down manner. They will hang vertically in any position then. Making this so should not be very demanding, as it would be part of the housing and not of the optical system. But on the other hand, most spectacle-wearers will prefer the zero-position as the specs themselves will deal with the diopter problem? There are various types of binoculars, coming in a wide array of sizes, with different magnifications and features. To simplify things, we've listed five things you need to consider when choosing the right binoculars for you: 1. Purpose General rule of thumb with all optics is as you pay more you are paying for higher quality glass and coatings which result in a sharper, crisper image.For older children, there are real binoculars. These feature proper systems inside, such as Porro prisms, to provide excellent image quality and magnification. They are essentially the same as real binoculars but are usually designed to understand and used easily. Roof-prism units are smaller and lighter-weight but have a more complicated, touchy optical design, which makes them more difficult and expensive to manufacture well. As a result, roof-prism binoculars tend to cluster at the high end of the market and, inexplicably, at the bottom end too — but not so often in between. A saying around my local astronomy club is that if your roof-prism binoculars don't seem to be performing well, you didn't spend enough money! Giant Binoculars Why is this important? Because the bright disk of the exit pupil should fit inside the pupil of your eye. And not everyone's eyes open to the same diameter in the dark. Young people (under age 30 or so) have pupils that open to about 7 millimeters across. While individuals vary a lot, the rule of thumb is that after age 30 you lose 1 mm of exit pupil every 10 or 15 years. So older eyes can't take advantage of binoculars with large exit pupils and, as a result, might see no difference between 7×35s and 7×50s. The extra light collected by the bigger 7×50s isn't fitting into your eyes; it's just going to waste. Score a big point for the high-power camp, at least if you're getting on in years; the higher the power, the smaller the exit pupil. Testing Binoculars for Stargazing

There are two main body-types to choose from when choosing new binoculars. Today, roof-prism models tend to dominate the market and have objective lenses straight in line with the eyepieces. Alternatively, Porro-prism models were standard until the 1960s, and feature the more traditional zigzag offset shape. Experts in sports optics disagree on which is better, or if there's much difference at all – it all comes down to personal opinion. 5. Magnification The size of the objective lens is most critical to the quality of the image you see through your binoculars. The larger the lens, the greater its light-gathering ability. Too small and the image will be murky and dim; too big, though, and the binoculars will be too bulky and heavy to be practical.Every model in the BDII-XD range benefits from a magnesium alloy chassis, a sophisticated moulding process produces the feel and strength of metal with the added benefit of decreased weight. You should therefore look at how durable the best kids’ binoculars are. Naturally, the binoculars should be made from durable materials.

If you are going to use them a handful of times a year it may not be necessary to spend hundreds or thousands of pounds on some binoculars when a decent entry level pair would work best for you. Inspired by their iconic full-sized counterpart, Leica's 8x20 Trinovid BCA Binocularsare outfitted with a moderate magnification and small objectives to deliver the performance users have come to expect from the brand, but now in a highly portable and easy-to-carry design. Binoculars have lots of different specs, but two key ones are best to focus on if you want to keep things simple. These are magnification and lens size.ED is the common abbreviation for Extra – low Dispersion glass. These are specially treated lenses with multiple layers of coating that reduce colour fringing by limiting the amount white light splits into constituent colours as it passes through the glass. If you’re mostly going to be stargazing or mounting your binoculars to a tripod, you can get away with larger lenses. 7×50 and 10×50 pairs are popular for moon exploration and constellation-hopping, while 12×60, 15×70 and 20×80 pairs will take you even deeper into the night sky, although they start getting too heavy for realistic handheld use.