Binoculars

[Lsb58]

Can anyone recommend a good pair of lightweight compact binoculars? I want to see EVERYTHING on my upcoming Alaska cruise. Thanks!:eek:

[Aurite]

Can anyone recommend a good pair of lightweight compact binoculars? I want to see EVERYTHING on my upcoming Alaska cruise. Thanks!:eek:

 

I recommend Cabela's 12X30 4.l7 degrees appropriately named Alaskan Guide. They are exceptional quality and extremely lightweight weighing about 10 ounces. Just go to Cabela's.com

 

Aloha, Larry

[cruiseej]

There are a lot of recommendations over on the CC Alaska forum for Zen-Ray binoculars, although they aren't super lightweight like the ones suggested by Larry. One of the tradeoffs I see with those Cabela's is the much smaller field of view: they have only 218 feet at 1,000 yards, while the Zen-Ray Summits have 315 feet for the 10x42 or 367 for the 8x42.

 

I haven't used any of these; I've just been reading a bunch trying to figure out what to buy. A number of people in the Alaska forum have suggested that 8x or 10x is optimal for Alaska sightseeing, as the 12x and higher tend to produce a lot more visible shaking due to the higher magnification, which becomes magnified when you're viewing from a ship, a smaller boat, a train, etc. And the wider field of view is helpful when you're scanning the sea for whales or other wildlife. The second number in a binoculars' size relates to how much light it captures, so a 50 will be brighter than a 42, which will be brighter than a 30.

 

I suggest you do a search for binoculars on the Alaska Port of Call forum here, and you'll find several long and very detailed threads which explain all this better than I'm doing here in brief, and offer lots of comments from people who have bought binoculars for their Alaska trip. I just wish I could walk into a store and compare some of these models, but some of these companies only sell direct, and that makes it a tougher choice.

 

-- Eric

[Aurite]

There are a lot of recommendations over on the CC Alaska forum for Zen-Ray binoculars, although they aren't super lightweight like the ones suggested by Larry. One of the tradeoffs I see with those Cabela's is the much smaller field of view: they have only 218 feet at 1,000 yards, while the Zen-Ray Summits have 315 feet for the 10x42 or 367 for the 8x42.

 

I haven't used any of these; I've just been reading a bunch trying to figure out what to buy. A number of people in the Alaska forum have suggested that 8x or 10x is optimal for Alaska sightseeing, as the 12x and higher tend to produce a lot more visible shaking due to the higher magnification, which becomes magnified when you're viewing from a ship, a smaller boat, a train, etc. And the wider field of view is helpful when you're scanning the sea for whales or other wildlife. The second number in a binoculars' size relates to how much light it captures, so a 50 will be brighter than a 42, which will be brighter than a 30.

 

I suggest you do a search for binoculars on the Alaska Port of Call forum here, and you'll find several long and very detailed threads which explain all this better than I'm doing here in brief, and offer lots of comments from people who have bought binoculars for their Alaska trip. I just wish I could walk into a store and compare some of these models, but some of these companies only sell direct, and that makes it a tougher choice.

 

-- Eric

aloha eric

you make some good points, but to me its about fatigue free viewing. You can spend $300 to $3000 but more power,weight or dollars isn't as important as how you are going to be using them. I have the bigger and more expensive ones however I usually leave them home. Less can really be more. Great viewing.

Larry

[CruiserBobbyB]

Tried the Zen-ray "Summit" 8X42 HD binoculars and they are nice and clear, and the price wasn't bad either at under $200 delivered, and under 2 pounds. They should work great for the trip. Maybe we should get 2!

[Carol From California]

We bought the Zen-Ray Vista Summit Binoculars. One 8 x 42 and one 10 x 42 for our upcoming Alaska cruise.

[PainMD]

I'd suggest taking a look at the Canon 10x30 image stabilization binoculars. I recently purchased them on adorama.com for less than $400 and love them. It's amazing how much easier and less fatiguing it is with image stabilization.

[Mike2131]

I agree with Larry about considering how you are going to use them. You did not mention when you are sailing, but I would do some on-line research and also visit a really professional camera/optical store to actually try them out. Explain what you want to accomplish and let the consultant make some recommendations. Weigh all the factors and then you are likely to make a selection you will be happy with.

 

Enjoy Alaska. It is magnificent!

[cruiseej]

I'd suggest taking a look at the Canon 10x30 image stabilization binoculars. I recently purchased them on adorama.com for less than $400 and love them. It's amazing how much easier and less fatiguing it is with image stabilization.

 

I used a friend's image stabilized binoculars once, and was thoroughly impressed with them. So that's what I thought I'd want to get when I bought new binoculars for our Alaska trip. But a few things weighed against them in the end for me:

 

* They were more expensive, and for the relatively infrequent we use binoculars, I didn't think I wanted to pay nearly $400.

 

* They're lower light than many sport binoculars. (The second number in a binocular size relate to how much light they let in; other binoculars are typically 10x42 or 10x50 rather than Canon's 10x30.)

 

* They are not waterproof and fogproof. This was a key factor for me in choosing binoculars for our Alaska trip. I was expecting to encounter a bit of rain in Alaska, which we were fortunate to mostly avoid, and I didn't want to have to baby the binoculars. The fogproof aspect is something I really wanted, especially for cruising, because I've had problems before taking my camera -- chilled nicely in the stateroom all night -- out on deck where the air is humid and then not being able to shoot a clear photo without the lens fogging up for 10-15 minutes until the lens acclimates to the environment. Fogproof overcomes that.

 

* From reading the Alaska forum for many months, I got the message that it would be better to have two binoculars rather than trying to pass one pair back and forth. Buying two seemed like extra weight to carry, and something we wouldn't use frequently, but I decided to do it -- and I'm very glad I did.

 

That's not a rip on the Canon binoculars at all; I'm just sharing some of the tradeoffs and considerations in choosing what will best meet your needs.

 

I did end up buying Zen Ray's -- one of the higher priced Summit model (10x42) and one of the lower-priced Vista model (8x42) -- and both my wife and I were very happy with them on our recent Alaska trip. I know they'll last us many years... or at least until image-stabilized binoculars become much cheaper and compell us to replace them! ;)

 

-- Eric

[MtnDriver]

...The second number in a binocular size relate to how much light they let in; other binoculars are typically 10x42 or 10x50 rather than Canon's 10x30.-- Eric

 

Eric is correct. The general recommendation for daytime viewing is for the objective (big front lens) diameter to be five times that of the power of the binocular. That is 7x35, 8x40, 10x50, etc. For lower light situations (I have an 11x80 Celestron for astronomy), more than 5 times is better. The smaller bino's are better for packing, but you cannot beat larger objectives for image quality.

[plenox]

Eric is correct. The general recommendation for daytime viewing is for the objective (big front lens) diameter to be five times that of the power of the binocular. That is 7x35, 8x40, 10x50, etc. For lower light situations (I have an 11x80 Celestron for astronomy), more than 5 times is better. The smaller bino's are better for packing, but you cannot beat larger objectives for image quality.

 

 

that's our experience as well.