Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Purchasing good binoculars

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Purchasing good binoculars

Hello all,

I am looking for a good binoculars for our upcoming trip to Kenya and Tanzania.

What would you recommend? We are not looking to spend the most amount of money on this because we don't know if we will use it again soon.

As always, your input would be highly appreciated.

thanks!

I loved my Nikon Monarchs. They run about $260. Check e-bay!

I should add that if you can you should check them out yourself because everyone sees differently, etc.... But I found binoculars an absolute must on safari. Lynn is right - everyone needs his or her own.

After testing out numerous pairs of binocs before my recent trip I wound up with a pair of Nikon Travelite 8 x 25's, for about $70 at B&H. They were excellent: lightweight and easy to focus, and I never felt that I needed more.
I know many people will disagree with me but the 10's I tried out were too unsteady for me and the 8 x 40's I tried - I bought a pair and used them for a week but was not happy and returned them - were not much different from what I wound up with, for less than half the price.
As others have said, you need to try them out and see what's best for you, and definitely get a pair for everyone.

africatravel: A 7x35 is the standard for a generalist binocular. 8x40 are great for a little extra boost. The general rule is for the field of view to be a power of 5 x the magnification. 7x35's are common and a decent pair can be had for a very good price, around $100 is probably reasonable for your needs, $150 if you want a little better quality -- particularly if you will not use them much in the future.

A lot of people like the small binocs such as the 8x25 referenced above. In the bright African sun and looking at a slow moving elephant that is fine. The issue becomes in lower light you miss lots of color and details with a smaller field of vision. In fact my favorite binocs are 8x56 that I use for owling. The extra field of view (more than 5 x maginification) makes an amazing difference in the detail and color you can see, even in strong sun conditions.

The other problem most people have with a smaller field of vision is it is harder to find your subject -- especially birds in flight or a fast running cheetah. As you scan for the subject you are seeing a much smaller area so it is harder to locate the subject.

Hello,

Personally, I prefer 10x to 8x -- on my last trip my trusty old binocs finally died at Londoz and I borrowed a pair of very nice Zeiss 8x25 from my guide. I found the lower magnification (and inability to use them in low light) really frustrating, and when I got home I went and bought a nice new pair of Leica 10x42s.

Definitely try them out beforehand -- everyone's face is a different shape and some brands are more accommodating to those with either a wider or narrower than usual interpupillary distance. If you wear specs you'll also want to see how the binocs interact with them.

Cheers,
Julian