Binoculars revisited

S

SnowTexan

New member
Whaddaya got? Currently using hunting glass, and its just not the best tool for the job. I’ve seen past recommendations but theres bound to be new kids in town when it comes to marine optics.

I use vortex hd 10x42, and maven 18x56 for hunting. Spotting scopes make my brain hurt…. Looking for long eye relief for use with glasses and quality glass for “whats that in the water” and “whats that sign say” and “what the heck is that guy doing” moments. Will pay for quality and reliability.

Thanks!
 
You have to have awful steady hands to effectively use an 18 X 56! I sure cannot do it. I use a tripod and monopod and a Minolta FV63 spotting scope (20-50X), if land based for high magnification. Or more often a Sony stabailized APC Camera: a6600, with a 200 - 600 mm lens--effective 18X power. But hand held, with stabilization I am shooting at 1/2000th or more...to get a sharp image. I use this setup for birds and other wildlife from land or the boat/dinghy.

For on the boat--I still love the Fujinon techno-stabi 14x40. It is the only higher power binoculars which I can count on being steady enough on the boat to effectively use.

My everyday glass is a 8 x 30 Steiner Military/Marine. For night I use an older Fujinon 7 x 50 (has bearing compass). For guests I Have a couple West Marine center focus 8 x 32 and 7 x 50. The guests don't get to use the good glass.
 
SnowTexan,
My binoculars for the marine environment are 7x50 and I have had many over the years, some expensive (and great) and some not so great (West Marine cheapies come to mind).
I have really enjoyed the brand that I have used for the last 6 years. Inexpensive and good quality. I do have a more expensive binocular for birding and the are a different power than used for the marine environment.
This is what I've got on several of my boats and they have been reliable:
https://www.celestron.com/products/come ... 001e&_ss=r
 
Thank you I will definitely look at lower magnification (7x-8x) and possibly a stabilizing binocular. Those are new to me and I might get spoiled there. The 18x I only use on a tripod, and I find I spot far more animals at distance this way than with any other method. Also I can spot much longer comfortably using both eyes. As soon as I tried it my spotting scope started gathering dust!
 
SnowTexan":cidonwim said:
Whaddaya got? Currently using hunting glass, and its just not the best tool for the job. I’ve seen past recommendations but theres bound to be new kids in town when it comes to marine optics.

I use vortex hd 10x42, and maven 18x56 for hunting. Spotting scopes make my brain hurt…. Looking for long eye relief for use with glasses and quality glass for “whats that in the water” and “whats that sign say” and “what the heck is that guy doing” moments. Will pay for quality and reliability.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Zeiss 10x42 :thup
 
SnowTexan":2uqv07sq said:
. . . possibly a stabilizing binocular. Those are new to me and I might get spoiled there. . . .
Click to expand...

Oh, you will. No "might" about it.

I absolutely swear by the Fujinons. (Others have been happy with other brands.) I choked pretty hard on the price when I bought mine, but very soon came to consider them one of the great bargains of my boating life. They are relatively heavy, require batteries, and should be handled with some care - but if you need to see something at a distance from a rocking or bouncing or moving small boat, they are fantastic.
 
There is a long discussion on Trawlerforum about image stabilized binoculars. Most posters recommended Fujinon over Canon due to the Fujinon technology for image stabilization. It was more conducive to boating over what Canon uses.

I looked into them, but they are not inexpensive. Base unit (12X28) are about $600. The 14X40 units run in the $1200 range.

I have a really nice pair of Steiner that I use on the boat. The Admiral bought them as a Christmas gift. They would have paid for half a Fujinon 12X28, but she did not know that when she bought them and I didn't have the heart to send it back...
 
Son got us the 7 x 50 West Marine. Medium price, and ever so much better than our previous cheaper ones. I would rate them very good for most inland waters (Puget Sound and Hood Canal).
 
We picked up some Nikon 7440 OceanPro 7x50 Binocs a couple weeks before our 3 week PNW trip earlier this month, and I'm glad we did. They were fantastic for the whales, seals, eagles and other wildlife we saw.

Very nice for little money.

I wished I had rented a longer lens for my camera though. 70-200 f4 just wasn't long enough at times. Especially when we ran into a pod of Orcas.
 
Fujinon Polaris 7x50. 30 years old and still as good as new. Very high quality glass, sharp image, great light gathering ability. About as good as it gets for boating in a non-stabilized binoc.
 
Thank you all for the suggestions! Will start with some 7x50’s and go from there. Steiners and fujis seem to be well respected among the cbrats.
 
I managed to score a set of the Fujinon Techno-Stabis from a couple getting out of boating for $700. Used them for many years and sold them for $800 when we got out! Think of them as an Investment!
 
Patty got me Fujinon Techno Stabi binocs for my birthday today. When we get each other something really expensive, we tend to buy some thing we both can use!

But we both tried, and we cannot get them to focus correctly.

What are we doing wrong?
 
Pat Anderson":3i6x2zzz said:
Patty got me Fujinon Techno Stabi binocs for my birthday today. When we get each other something really expensive, we tend to buy some thing we both can use!

But we both tried, and we cannot get them to focus correctly.

What are we doing wrong?
Click to expand...

Well, first of all, Happy Birthday!

It's been several years, now, since I had my Techno Stabi's, so I don't know how helpful I can be. However, I seem to remember having to pay attention at first to coordinating the "power" button and the "stabilizer" button. (I think mine had the two very close together, almost like opposite ends of a toggle?) Anyway, I think sometimes when I had the binoc's up to my eyes, I was pushing one button when I thought I was pushing the other. I sure hope your problem is something simple, like that, because when I learned how to use mine I just loved them. Good luck.
 
Also, give a few seconds for them to stabilize. They to do some wonky adjustments in the process of stabilizing, but once stabilized, nothing comes close to them for holding a clear stable image at 14X, while the boat is being rocked. I hit the stable button twice to stabilize & the power button to turn off.

Jay
 
I'm using Canon IS 10 x 42 WP binoculars on the boat. Mine are twenty years old now. They are image stabilized and waterproof, which is something that has come in hand in the PNW. The image stabilizing is great, I don't know if it's better than others, but the optics are world class.

One tip. If you are considering spending top dollar for high quality optics, don't look through a pair of top quality optics until you are absolutely certain that you can spend the money because you will never be satisfied with lower quality lenses after you do.
 
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