The Best Take Everywhere Compact Binoculars under $250
Article | Posted by Best Binocular Reviews This article comes about as a result of a question I received from Holly, a new BBR Patreon supporter. The answer to which I thought would be useful to the community and so I have decided to publish it:
Question
Your site has so many choices I’ve gotten lost! I’m looking for a pair of lightweight, compact binoculars to throw into my backpack and take everywhere – on water, land, and even to the theatre (less important than on the water). I wear progressive lens glasses so need (I think) high eye relief. And I’m hoping not to spend more than $250 if possible. What do you suggest? Thanks!
Hello Holly, thanks very much for the question. Before I get into my recommendations for you and at your budget, I always think it is a good idea to understand the “why”.
So if you have not seen it, I urge you to take a look at the video below that I made some time back, where I go over what exactly makes a good compact and the main differences between the different types that are available:
Best Compact Binoculars for your Budget & Preferences
Further Advice
Binoculars on Water
In order to get a best, sharpest view of whatever you are looking at you need to make sure the image is as steady as possible. When you magnify an image, any movement is also magnified and that is one of the reasons why most hand-held binoculars keep their magnifications down to under 12x as the movement of your hands makes the image too shaky if you go much higher.
On a moving surface like water, keeping the binocular still and shake-free is even more difficult and this is why, unless you use image stabilization binoculars, most marine binoculars will keep the magnification down to 7x or 8x at most.
Lower magnifications also have many other advantages, including a wider view (good for theatre, sport, birding) and a better low-light performance (good for theatre, forest, jungles, early morning birding etc.,
Thus for your needs, I would suggest a maximum of 8x power.
My Top Recommendation for You
Opticron Explorer WA ED-R 8x32
Winner of the award as Most Compact Mid-Sized Binocular, with its “large” 32mm lenses, the Opticron Explorer 8x32 is not strictly a compact binocular, but it has a remarkably compact design making it much smaller size than most mid-sized binoculars and it actually has the same outer dimensions as many true compacts.
The beauty in the combination of using larger 32mm objectives, high-quality glass and coatings and an 8x magnification is that it outperforms most compacts (especially in low light), indeed it delivers performance on par with high-end, mid-sized binoculars.
So, if size matters to you but compromising on low-light performance isn’t an option (good in forests, sunset, sunrise and the theatre!), the 8x32 Opticron Explorer is an excellent choice.
Excellent Eye-Relief
Additionally, it has a wide field of view and impressive 18mm eye relief, making it one of the best compact options should you need to wear glasses whilst binning.
It is for these and many other reasons that you can go through in detail in the review that I rate this as my top recommendation for you based on the needs and requirements that you have passed onto me.
Price & Where to Buy
Sitting right at the top of your budget, the Opticron Explorer WA ED 8x32 currently retails at or just over $250 in the US and about £210 / 220 Euros in the UK and Europe:
More Recommendations
In this section, I was going to list several other full compact binoculars that I feel will also be ideal if not perfect for your needs, but I realised that I was just repeating a list that I have already put together so rather than recapitulating it, take a look at my selection of what I feel are the Best Compact Binoculars that I have recently tested.
Low Cost – Perfect All Rounders
From this list the Pentax Papilio II 8.5x21 Binoculars are a great low-cost option, easily fall into budget and are one of my all-time favourites. The 8.5x magnification may be a little of a concern, if so, Pentax also makes a 6x version, which would be more suitable on water and also in the theatre due to a wider field of view and improved low light performance.
Similarly, you can get 8x versions of all the 10x instruments that I have tested on that page, which i feel would make a better fit for your needs.
Most Compact
If you really want to get a device that is as small as possible, take a look at the ingenious and fun Pentax VD 4x20 WP – It is actually a binocular that can break apart into two separate monoculars (so you could just carry one of these in situations where you want a tiny optical device. The two monoculars can also fit together end-on-end to make a 16x scope.
Not the ideal instrument to use for at long distances, but the 4x magnification means that it has a nice wide field of view, is super easy to use and will be very stable on the water.
Anyway, I hope these ideas help – I did not want to give you too many options to choose from, but if you would like more, please let me know.
Further Reading
Categories: Compact Binoculars, Questions Answered | 
Tags: Compact Binoculars, Question | 
Comments Off on The Best Take Everywhere Compact Binoculars under $250
