How to Buy Binoculars for Bird Watching

Many people are put off birding by the difficulty of seeing birds well. It’s usually due to two factors: lack of practice (which is easily put right) and poor binoculars (which is avoidable, if you know how). Here’s how to spend your money wisely and well.

1. Work out the most you can afford to pay.
Never buy cheap binoculars. They’re not worth it and will soon irritate you. Always spend the most you can afford. If you get it right, your pair will last you a lifetime, so they won’t be expensive in terms of later use.

2. Go to a reputable store or your local birding group.
You must be able to handle binoculars to know if they will suit you. If there’s no local dealer, or you want to get a better price by buying on-line, try to find friends who have the type you’re interested in and ask if you can try theirs for a few minutes.

3. Check out the power and light-gathering strength.
Binoculars are described by two numbers with an x between them, like 7×40 or 8×35. The first number is the amount of magnification (7 means 7 times what you can see with the naked eye). The second number is a measure of their ability to gather light. The bigger that number is, the brighter the image will be, especially on dull days or in poor light. Try to find pairs where this second number is in the range 35 to 40. Bigger than this is not better, since the extra glass will make the binoculars heavy.

4. Look for no more than 8 or 8.5 times magnification.
7 or 8 is best. Avoid anything over 10. Magnification magnifies everything, including how much your hands shake or how much the wind is blowing you about. Strong magnification will make it hard to see the bird clearly. It also reduces how much you can see when you look through them. Nothing is more irritating than being able to see the bird with your naked eye, but not being able to find it in the binoculars. This can be a problem anyway. Don’t make it worse by using binoculars that only cover a very small area.

5. Look for pairs that are light enough to wear without fatigue (but don’t choose ‘pocket’ binoculars).
You need to be willing to wear your binoculars for long periods. Heavy, awkward pairs will make your neck and back ache. You’ll soon be finding excuses to leave them at home and whatever they cost you will be wasted money. Never buy ‘pocket binoculars’. Their light gathering power is too poor for anything but bright sunlight. They’re also too small to handle comfortably.

6. Try as many pairs as you can.
There’s no substitute for this. Even hugely expensive, ultra-high-quality binoculars won’t suit everyone. I have tried three of the most expensive and exclusive brands. One I simply couldn’t abide! Of the other two, one was OK, but I wasn’t convinced. The brand I now use was no cheaper or better quality than the other two. It just suits me and I won’t change.

7. Pick the pair that comes closest to the maximum you can afford to pay and which feels best when you handle them.
Don’t worry about the brand name. What you are looking for is a feeling a little like falling in love. When the pair is right, everything clicks. Until then, keep looking. Never mind what anyone tells you. If they don’t feel right, don’t buy them.

8. Buy a shoulder harness at the same time.
Most binoculars come with a neck strap. By hanging the whole weight of the binoculars around your neck, you guarantee an aching neck and shoulders after a long day. Buy the kind of x-shaped harness that you put your arms through and that hangs the weight of the binoculars from your shoulders. You will find it much more comfortable.

9. Spend as much time as you can with your new binoculars to get used to them.
New binoculars always take getting used to. Even the most experienced birders will tell you this. The more you practice in your yard, or somewhere you can go watch birds without it being expensive or difficult, the better your results will be when you’re on that important birding trip, hoping to see birds you have never seen before. I knew a guy who bought a new pair of binoculars the day before going on a birding tour to the Caribbean. He spent the first three or four days of the trip missing birds while he got used to his purchase-and cursing himself for a fool all the time.