Binocular Recommendations?

[Bucket29]

Cruising to Alaska in late May- would love input on whether people brought binoculars and if so any particular brand?

I've also read that some excursions provide binoculars- did people find this to be true?  Would you still bring your own?

Thanks!

[donaldsc]

I did a search of this board and got 10 pages or 238 hits on binoculars including a whole bunch from me.

 

With regard to your question about furnished binocs, I am very fussy about my binoculars and I have found that most of the time and with rare exceptions, the binocs furnished on excursions are total junk.  

 

DON

Edited January 20, 2020 by donaldsc

[Oakman58]

This was a good thread about buying binoculars for Alaska.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2531698-recommendations-on-budget-friendly-binoculars/

[tcdcruiser]

Check out the Meade factory outlet store for deals.  Be sure to compare price at amazon   

 

https://meade.factoryoutletstore.com/cat/79002/Meade-Instruments-Binoculars.html

 

like many most choices, it’s a compromise between size, weight, performance (magnification and aperture) and cost.  
 

suggest at least 10x magnification and if you do not mind the size and weight 50mm aperture 
 

 

 

 

Edited January 20, 2020 by tcdcruiser

[masterdrago]

We took two pair - 8x40 Steiner and 7x35 Nikon. Both fully sealed and waterproof. I decided to opt for lower power than 10x due to the possibility of being in motion while trying to view. Turns out the whale watch tours on the small boats always had a good selection of quality binos onboard. We mainly used them on a large boat tour, Denali transit bus tour and from the rent car on land portion. I would bring my own again unless I was really weight limited. My camera backpack alone weighed 20#. We never had any issues with light grasp due to the long daylight hours in Alaska.

[Fairfield Nana]

Yes--take a pair. You only need one pair as you only have one pair of eyes, and remember -- smaller/lighter is better as you have to carry them . Don't get lost in scanning the total time for the perfect spotting. Your basic eyeballs usually work just fine and are more adapt at locating potential targets for you to use your new glasses on..

Edited January 22, 2020 by Fairfield Nana

[Yo Adrienne]

On 1/19/2020 at 7:19 PM, Bucket29 said:

Cruising to Alaska in late May- would love input on whether people brought binoculars and if so any particular brand?

I've also read that some excursions provide binoculars- did people find this to be true?  Would you still bring your own?

Thanks!

 

I would, unquestionably, bring my own pair along...as someone mentions elsewhere, the binoculars that are provided are often not high quality and/or don't work very well. 

 

Everyone has different ideas of what kind of binoculars would be best (and what feels comfortable in your hands), so if you're thinking of purchasing new binoculars to bring along, I would suggest going to a local sporting goods store (if you have one nearby)...and checking out their selection.  I did this before buying--and I was amazed at what a difference there was between comparable ones of the same magnification and size.  The ones we ended up purchasing were "fair-priced"...so it didn't matter whether we purchased online or from a physical store.

 

In all honesty, you do get what you pay for...so a really good pair of binoculars can be pricy.  If you're buying them for a one time use, you might not wanna shell out a ton...but if you think you'll use 'em over and over again, you might wanna spend a bit more. 

 

Over the years, we've had very good luck with various models from Nikon...and they offer a great variety of sizes and magnifications in different price ranges.

 

Hope this is helpful...! 🙂 

[Cool_Dude]

IF - I would never recommend using provided binoculars - using binos that others have used, please be sure to clean well with alcohol wipes the areas which your eyes may come in contact with. Remember, your eyelids can be the entry point of viruses.  

[Yo Adrienne]

17 hours ago, Cool_Dude said:

IF - I would never recommend using provided binoculars - using binos that others have used, please be sure to clean well with alcohol wipes the areas which your eyes may come in contact with. Remember, your eyelids can be the entry point of viruses.  

 

Excellent reminder...!  Good idea to even clean our own before each use...! 🙂 

[gottagoacruzn]

When going to Alaska, bring them. The ones I have, my dad brought home from WW2, they were made in 1942.

[masterdrago]

For those wanting to read a plethora of reviews on binoculars, I ran into this feast just now. Prepare to become exhausted but the info is very complete with discussions that will give huge amounts of info. If for some reason the link is broken, search for "Binocular Mini Reviews" and then hit the cloudynights link.

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/4864-links-to-433-binocular-mini-reviews-in-this-forum/

[SightCRR]

I say skip the binos and get a good bridge zoom camera. 

sightcrr

[donaldsc]

On 1/20/2020 at 1:06 PM, tcdcruiser said:

Check out the Meade factory outlet store for deals.  Be sure to compare price at amazon   

 

https://meade.factoryoutletstore.com/cat/79002/Meade-Instruments-Binoculars.html

 

like many most choices, it’s a compromise between size, weight, performance (magnification and aperture) and cost.  
 

suggest at least 10x magnification and if you do not mind the size and weight 50mm aperture 
 

 

 

 

 

Unless you get image stabilized binoculars, 10x binoculars will be very hard to hold steady especially on a moving ship.  Also, the field of vision of 10x binoculars will probably be much narrower that lower power models.

 

DON