How to Choose Binoculars

Our binoculars are suitable for a wide range of activities, but a few have attributes which make them especially suitable for a specific use. If you don't have a particular purpose in mind or you might use the binoculars for several different activites then a good purchase would be one of the great all-rounders from our General Purpose category.

You can shop by use by selecting a category from the following General Purpose , Nature and Birdwatching , Safari , Hiking and Holidays , Sport , Marine and Observation .

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Binoculars are usually referred to by two numbers, for example 8x40, 10x50. The first of these numbers is the actual magnification of the binoculars: the size to which the subject is enlarged. Magnaloux would highly recommend an 8x or 10x magnification for most applications. There may be a temptation to buy more powerful binoculars, however, bigger magnifications are difficult to hold steady (unless fitted to a strong tripod), offer a narrow field of view and give an image that is less bright. For optimum performance over extreme distances, say looking at ships on the horizon or nesting birds, we would recommend a tripod-mounted spotting scope from our Observation range.

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The second figure in the binocular number is the size, in millimetres, of the objective (front) lens. For the same given magnification the bigger the objective lens the brighter the object will appear. Therefore an 8x40 will have the same magnification as an 8x25, but the image will appear brighter.

The actual brightness of binoculars of differing magnifications can be ascertained by dividing the objective lens size by the magnification. This gives us what is called "the exit pupil" diameter in millimetres. An 8x42 binocular would have an exit pupil of 5.25 and an 8x25 would have an exit pupil of 3.13.

The majority of our binoculars will work well in normal light, however for low-level light or night time you would want to purchase a binocular with a bigger objective lens such as 36, 40, 42 or 50. In particular the LX series has been designed with low-light performance specifically in mind.

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A binocular's field of view can be important if you are as a narrow field of view will make this a more difficult task. The larger the magnification of a binocular the smaller the field of view will be. Information on field of view can be found within the details of each of our products.

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For activities such as hiking where minimizing your weight is important you should look at our compact binoculars which are around the half the weight of a standard binocular.

See Hiking and Holidays for our lower-weight models.

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If you wear glasses and wish to use the binoculars with them still on, you will need a pair of binoculars with a longer eye relief (at least 15mm). Eye relief is the distance from the last surface of an eyepiece at which the eye can obtain the full viewing angle. Information on eye relief can be found within the details of each of our products.

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If so you may well want to purchase a waterproof binocular. Magnaloux waterproof binoculars can withstand submerging in water and are nitrogen filled which stops the internal lens elements fogging up when used in cold, damp conditions.

Models in the following ranges are waterproof: AL1 , HD , LC2 , RM , RM-ED and WPX .

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As with most things, the more you spend the better the binoculars will be. Generally the more expensive binoculars employ higher quality materials and can therefore produce higher quality images. The images are usually sharper and brighter and the binocular will probably be more ruggedly constructed.

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