Best Binoculars
 

OK, we're not plunking down BIG money for binoculars for our trip in May, but we do plan to get 2 good pair as everyone says sharing on a safari may lead to divorce...

What did you find worked the best? We spent this afternoon at our fav camera shop doing our initial look-see, and we think we should take something like the Minolta Activa 8x40 or Steiner's 8x30 Safari models.

uhoh_busted: I use Nikon Action 10-22X50 and absolutely love them. Easy to adjust, fantastic lense and very lightweight. I searched high and low for a pair that I felt comfortable with, and this Nikon binocular foot the bill - not only quality wise, but price wise too! And yes, each person wants to have his/her own pair of binoculars.

Hey! Something someone told us that seemed to be true is that the higher the 2nd number, the more they tend to bounce, if that makes sense. It's easier to hold the smaller numbered ones steady.

Definitely get 2! :) Do you have a good telephoto camera lens? We were a bit bummed that we could see everything so well with our binoculars but couldn't get pics of what we were seeing.

I used the Steiner 8x30 Safari binocs in Africa and they worked great.

The first number is image magnification and the second number is the diameter of the lense. As the second number increases so does the field of vision and the brightness of what you are looking at.

It's been recommended that if you decide to get binocs with more than 8x image magnification that you should also get image stabilization, and that starts to cost a lot of money.

I use Nikon's -- small binoculars but the quality is great and they admit a lot of light. You do not need to spend big bucks to get a great pair of binoculars, and its definitely worth getting two pair for $60 each than one pair for $120.

I used the exact same pair that Roderick used...the Steiner 8x30 Safari binoculars. I was very pleased with the binoculars and even bought a less powerful and more compact pair of Steiner's for my wife so she could conveniently fit them in her purse.

Thanks guys! You've set my mind at ease -- that was how we were interpreting what we were hearing...but it's always helpful to talk to someone who has used them for the same purpose you're planning to!

Peep -- I wish my Canon digital had a better zoom, but Steve bought a lovely lens for his Nikon film camera that we've been playing with all summer. I think we'll be OK. I used mine to take more animal pics at the San Diego Zoo over Christmas, figuring that I could get a good idea of how close I can get from various distances.

I had a pair of Stenier Safari 12 x 40 and they were great but a little too powerful for most of the viewing we did at Phinda. If I had to do it over again, I would buy 8 x 30 Swarovskis. I tried a pair at Phinda and they were perfect - light, compact and the perfect strength.