Best Binoculars for Bird Watching

Bird watching has lately become a popular hobby among people of various age groups. Birdwatchers travel around the world, just to get a glimpse of one of the most spectacular creations of nature - birds. A device used in bird watching is a pair of binoculars, also called birding binoculars. A good pair of binoculars increases the chance of spotting, identifying and getting detailed information about a particular bird species. Binoculars for bird watching or birding binoculars need to have certain features, such as good magnification, design and focus. After all there has to be some difference between a pair of binoculars used for animal watching and one used to watch birds, with the latter demanding more precise, finer and detailed view. Here are some important features of the best binoculars for bird watching.

Magnification
Binoculars meant for bird watching / birding should have a magnification of 7x, 8x or 10x. Higher magnification will give a closer view, but at the same time it will narrow the field of view. Binoculars with lower magnification give you access to a wider field and hence are ideal to watch a flock of birds. Binoculars with higher magnification are ideal for watching birds at a distance. Binoculars with a magnification of 8x are considered to be ideal for bird watching, and hence are very popular among bird watching enthusiasts.

Objective Lens Diameter
Another important feature of binoculars used by bird watchers / birders is the diameter of its objective lens. This is the place from where light enters the binoculars. Bigger the lens, more amount of light will enter and therefore the view would be more brighter, colors more vibrant and details finer. The only drawback of having a bigger objective lens is its weight. Bigger the lens heavier will be the binocular. Binoculars with 50mm lens can give you a perfect view of the bird, but it becomes difficult to carry it when you travel into the woods to watch birds. The most popular choices for bird watching are 8 x 40 binoculars, sporting a 40 mm objective lens.

Prism Design
The capacity of the binoculars largely depends on its prism design. There are two types of prism systems used in binoculars, porro system and roof system. Binoculars with porro prism have a z-shaped optical path, wherein the objective lenses are offset from the eyepieces. The user gets a wider field of view owing to the two offset prisms, which are mounted separately. A major drawback of porro prism systems is their weak design, due to which they are more vulnerable to alignment problems if dropped. In binoculars with roof prism, the objective lenses are in line with the eye pieces and the prisms overlap each other. This gives the binoculars a slim shape and hence they are easier to carry around. In this design, two separate prisms are bonded together, which makes the product stronger and more durable. Roof prism binoculars are more costly than porros prism, owing to the expensive technology used in it.

Focusing
Focusing enables one to get a sharp detailed image of a particular object. The term 'close focus' is used to refer to the shortest distance at which an object can be focused on by a particular pair of binoculars. The minimum close focal length increases with higher magnification. Focusing is an important attribute in bird watching, especially when it comes to watching a bird at a distance of less than 15 feet. The binoculars with minimum close focus are considered to be the best binoculars for birdwatching. Birds keep on moving, therefore the binoculars you use for bird watching should facilitate quick and sharp focusing. The binocular should have a central focus, which can be turned smoothly by the index finger without putting much efforts.

An important thing to remember is the quality of the product. A good quality 8 x 40 pair of binoculars would be much better than a low quality 10 x 50 binoculars. Some of the best binoculars for bird watching include Nikon Action Extreme 7 x 35 ATB Binoculars, Nikon Monarch ATB Binoculars 8 x 42 and Zeiss Victory FL 8 x 42. So if you want to experience the sheer delight of birding, go ahead and buy one of these and take your hobby to the next level.