Question

Today’s question comes from someone looking to buy some binoculars for their husband’s birthday. They live on the beach in hot and humid east coast of Florida and he spends a lot of time on the balcony watching cruise ships, boats and yachts go by. They were looking for a lightweight pair, perhaps fog proof and keeping the cost under $500.00.

Answer

The good news is at your budget of under $500 there is a wide choice of really good binoculars to choose from, the hardest part is making the decision! So lets look a what features he will mostly need and see if we can’t narrow down the choices:

Because he will be mostly looking at slower moving objects (yachts, ships & boats) in wide open environments, I would not worry too much about the field of view. Therefore I would suggest getting binoculars with a higher magnification: 10x or more.

You say a lightweight pair, I would say that then cuts out any binoculars with image stabilization as they tend to be much heavier as they have batteries etc. I am not sure if by lightweight, you also meant compact?

If so, under budget ($319.99 – $408.25) is the excellent pair of Steiner 12×30 Wildlife Pro Binoculars.

If a compact binocular is not that important and you are only looking for something that is lightweight, then:

The Minox 10×42 BV Binoculars are a great pair, fully water and fogproof and is way under budget: currently reduced from $299 down to $169 on Amazon.

Or the Vanguard 10×45 Endeavor ED Binoculars:
These have only just been released and cost around $399.99. I recently reviewed the 8.5x magnification version which was excellent. They are fully water and fogproof.

I am also currently reviewing the Vanguard Spirit 10×42 Binoculars (the full review will be up on the site in a few days) that have a list price of $309.99 but you can get them on Amazon for $199.99, that are fully water and fog proof that I am really impressed with at that price.

Photo Credit: slack12

Today’s question comes from someone who is lucky enough to live where they have views over a marina and out onto the sea and they are looking for a good all-rounder, a pair of binoculars for the house:

Question
I want a pair of binoculars for the house, we have a lovely view overlooking a marina, peninsula and small island all out to sea where we can see the yachts going by. My hands shake a bit – can you please recommend a pair of binoculars under US$500.

Answer
I will try and answer your question as best I can:

It sounds like you live in a great place and that you have some great wide open views and generally when people are looking for a pair of binoculars to use round the house, they need some good all rounders. Something to use for birding in the garden and perhaps take to a sporting event or on holiday.

Magnification
Something with an 8x or 10x is usually fine as a good all rounder, but you said that you have a view out onto the water and so have plenty of wide open spaces, you could opt for a stronger magnification (12x). You also mentioned that your hands shake a bit and as you may know, increasing the magnification also makes the image that you are looking at through the binoculars harder to keep steady, so I would probably stick to 10x or go for binoculars with image stabilization. The down side of image stabilization binoculars is increased size, weight and usually cost.

Size of Binoculars
If they are for keeping around the house, size should not be too much of a factor, so standard binoculars with about 42mm objective lenses sound right as they perform well in most light conditions.

Cost
Your maximum budget is US$500, which is a fair amount for general purpose binoculars and you can get a really good pair of binoculars at that price.

A few Suggestions:

Minox 10×42 BV Binoculars

Great all purpose binoculars from a quality brand and on sale at Amazon and Eagle Optics (links on the review page on my site) for under $300, so way under budget. Tough enough to take anywhere, but may be a bit “Outdoors” looking for around the house?

Canon 10×30 IS Image Stabilized Binoculars

If you are worried about image shake, then these will really help and they are currently on sale at around $350 – $390 (see links on my site). You could even go for the 12×30 IS, that are available at slightly over budget at $550. The down side to these is the smaller objective lenses (30mm) will probably mean they probably wont work quite as well as 42mm binoculars in low light conditions.

Olympus 10×42 Magellan Binoculars

Now available for around $200, you get plenty of binocular for your buck – you could even get two pairs! I would however say that if you are looking to spend around $500, I would go for the Minox 10×42’s, still way under budget and a superior pair of optics.

I hope that these suggestions help.

Photo Credit: Sunrise at the Marina taken by Indy Kethdy

Many people ask why they shouldn’t just buy a cheap pair of binoculars as surely they all have the “same magnification”. Well that may be true, but apart from the quality of the optics another major difference in the price and quality of a pair of binoculars is how sealed they are to moisture and dust. Not only will you have a far poorer view though a cheap pair of binoculars, but it often does not take long for them to either fog up inside or dust enters the mechanism making your view through them even worse and sometimes even un-usable.

Before we take a look at some of the best 10×42 waterproof binoculars that I have reviewed, I thought that we should first look at a few features that we should look out for and understand what they mean and how they help.

Generally speaking all waterproof optics are sealed with O-rings, this prevents moisture and dust from getting inside your sport optics.

Hermetically Sealed
If you are after the best waterproofing, a keyword to look out for is a pair of binoculars that have been hermetically sealed. A hermetic seal is a seal which, for practical purposes, is considered airtight. It is often used in optics, including binoculars, to make them water and fog proof and to keep out dust.

Nitrogen Filled Binoculars
Binoculars that are filled with nitrogen or argon gas are often termed “Fogproof binoculars” as these gases inhibit the internal fogging that is often caused by temperature extremes.

Hydrophobic Coating
Some of the best binoculars have a special coating on their lenses that actually repel water, this can be very useful if you will often be using your optics in wet weather conditions. Not only does this coating enable you to use your binoculars in wet and dusty environments, but it has the added benefit of making it much easier to remove fingerprints and dirt particles from the lenses and they have a higher resistance to all forms of abrasions that may otherwise leave the lenses permanently scared. Most of the manufacturers have their own name for it, Leica call it their AquaDura coating whilst Carl Zeiss Binoculars call it their LotuTec coating.

The Best 10×42 Waterproof Binoculars

Olympus Waterproof 10×42 Magellan Binoculars
These great binoculars have been both Hermetically sealed and filled with Nitrogen making them them fully waterproof, dirtproof and fogproof.

Minox Waterproof 10×42 BV Binoculars
Fully waterproof and according to the manufacturer (I did not test it!) they are submersible to a depth of down to 3 meters in water, which obviously makes them sealed against the effects of dust as well. They also have Fog-proofing with the use of nitrogen gas that protects the mechanism inside from corrosion and prevents fogging up of the optical surfaces as the temperature fluctuates from one extreme to another.

Bushnell Waterproof 10×42 NatureView Binoculars
One of the best selling pairs of binoculars, due to their very competitive prices and many excellent features, the Bushnell 10X42 Natureview Roof Prism binoculars are both Water and Fog Proof. The are o-ring sealed to keep moisture at bay, nitrogen purged for fog proof viewing in any season.

Leica Waterproof 10×42 Ultravid HD Binoculars
Not only do Leica say that these binoculars are watertight to a depth of 5 m/16.5 ft, but they also contain a hydrophobic coating on the lenses that repel both water and dust and so should easily handle most watery conditions that you are likely to encounter.

Zeiss 10×42 Victory FL Binoculars
100% Waterproof and Nitrogen filled to prevent fogging and like the Leica’s above they have a hydrophobic coating on the lenses that repel water, dirt and grease.

The High Grade Light Binoculars from Nikon are their top of the range binoculars.
This model, the Nikon 10X42HG L DCF boasts the following features:

• Lighter weight than older models(790g).
• Prisms feature a high-reflection silver coating to provide brighter images.
• Phase-correction-coated roof prisms deliver high resolution.
• Nikon’s original multilayer coating attains a high light transmission rate across a wide range of wavelengths and reduces flare and ghosts for excellent colour reproduction.
• Turn-and-slide rubber eyecups facilitate easy positioning of eyes at the correct eyepoint.
• Every model is waterproof and fog-free, and has O-ring seals and nitrogen gas.

Where to Buy the Nikon 10 X 42 HG L DCF Binoculars

US Shoppers
Nikon 10X42 Binoculars on Amazon.com

UK Shoppers
Nikon 10X42 Binoculars on Amazon.co.uk

Amazon have the full range of Nikon Binoculars including the Nikon 10X42 HG L DCF Binoculars and from my research are most often at the cheapest prices.