If you need high performance for faster discovery, especially of birds on view, take a close look at the new light weight alloy bodied Steiner Merlin. They are precise, yet amazingly rugged and also fully waterproofed for even the rainiest days.

Some of its Prime features are:

1. Perfect Balance with comfort with exceptional brightness.
2.The Merlin 10×50’s features phase corrected roof prisms and fully multi-coated optics for clarity and
highest resolution.
3.The image brightness due to the large 50 mm lenses is perfect for deeper, older growth forests and for viewing during early morning and evening hours.

4.Weight: 28 ozs.
5.Eye relief: 18 mm
6.Field of view: 264 feet @ 1,000 yards .
7.Dimensions: (inches)  7.5Lx2.5Hx5.1W
8.Close focus: 8.0 feet.

The optics of the Binocular are made  with premium optical glass and are coated with our own natural color transmission multi-coating which boosts light transmission much higher than similar binoculars in this price range and yields extraordinary clarity, resolution and color fidelity.

It has a  unique “Fast-Focus” system which turns from close focus to infinite distance in two full turns of the focus wheel, for razor sharp fine tuning. The focusing is smooth and precise, and it’s waterproof.
Since birds are skittish by the presence of bright or light colors, Steiner tried the opposite approach with the exterior finish of the Merlin: the almost transparent neutral color on the Merlin is a unique earth tone brown; chosen by Steiner’s development staff and birders as a color least noticeable to birds.

Brand: Steiner

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

They are resistant to water, salt spray and the coffee in the galley. If you love riding the waves and swells, be sure and stow a pair of MarineTM series on the boat. This series of binoculars is specially designed to deliver excellent performance in extreme naval conditions. Watertight, rubber-armored construction (even hermetically sealed against moisture) guarantees a sure grip in rough weather; multi-coated precision optics grant excellent viewing from dawn till dusk.

A classic marine binocular with internal rangefinder and illuminated compass.

Features:

• BaK-4 porro prisms for bright, clear, crisp viewing
• Multi-coated optics for superior light transmission and brightness
• Rugged, 100% waterproof construction
• O-ring sealed and nitrogen-purged to keep out moisture
• Highly resistant to saltwater corrosion
• Non-slip, non-skid rubber armor cushions bumps and shock, prevents sliding and provides a firm grip when wet

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Celestron’s SkyMaster Series are high performance binoculars. They are ideal for astronomical viewing for terrestrial use mainly for long distance. Each SkyMaster model has high quality BAK-4 prisms and multi-coated optics for enhanced contrast. Celestron has designed and engineered the larger SkyMaster models to meet the special demands of extended astronomical or terrestrial viewing sessions.
The 15×70 version is one of the most popular models in the series. It offers serious large aperture light gathering in an affordable and reasonably lightweight configuration.

Features

• 15x magnification porro prism binocular
• Large 70mm objective lens offers maximum image brightness in low-light and long-range conditions
• Four-element objective lens for ultra sharp focus across the field of view
• Multi-Coated optics for sharp, clear views
• Suitable for terrestrial or astronomical viewing
• Protective rubber covering for ultra-firm grip
• Large center focus know for easy focusing
• Tripod adapter included
• Long eye relief ideal for eyeglass wearers
• Carrying case included for travel and safe storage
• No Fault Warranty provides best protection and product support on the market

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

How to Choose the Right Pair of Binoculars for You

There are several factors to consider in making a good choice of binoculars.

How important each binocular factor is to your selection will depend on how you plan to use them.Important binocular properties;

• Magnification

Binoculars are almost always identified as number with X then a second number, such as ‘7X50?. Magnification in this example is 7X. Natural expectation for people is to want higher magnification but higher magnification comes at a price more than money. The higher the magnification the harder it is to hold what you are looking at steady. Since most uses of binoculars are hand held, having excessive magnification is not desirable.

• Brightness

The second number after magnification is the example above 7X50 is the diameter of the ‘objective’ lens in millimeters. The objective lens are the larger ones on the far side of the binoculars (see diagram courtesy of Nikon below). The size of the objective lens is important to brightness as the larger they are, the more light they are gathering for your eyes at the other end. If you think of photons as a quantity of ‘information’, the more photons the lens gathers and bring to your eyes, the more ‘information’ your brain will have to enjoy. However the trade off for larger objective lens are the binoculars will be more heavy and bulky.

• Exit Pupil

The light that does get to your eyes has an effective area called the ‘exit pupil’. This can simply be calculated using the 7X50 specification if you divide the 50 (objective lens diameter in mm) by the magnification (7X), which in this case is slightly more than 7mm. The pupils of your eyes are less than 4mm wide in bright daylight so in this case there is ample efficiency. However in low light situations the pupil expands to 7mm when you are younger (not as much as you get older). So if you are older than 40 and using 7X50 binoculars in a low light situation you will likely see a darker view than with a pair of 7X35 binoculars with a 5mm exit pupil.

• Weight & Bulk of Binoculars

Weight is not an optical property but can be a crucial factor in how useful the binoculars you choose are. As mentioned above having high magnification won’t mean much if they are too heavy to lug and hold steadily up to your eyes. More expensive lighter lens materials can offset this if you can afford it. Also more expensive “roof prism” binoculars are more compact are an option again if you can afford it.

• Field of View

Field of view for binoculars is most often expressed as ‘X’ number of feet at 1000 yards. The higher the magnification the smaller the field of view will be. You can improve field of view for a given magnification with more expensive “wide angle” binoculars. For birdwatching or Astronomy 300 to 400 feet at 1000 yards will be acceptable. It is a challenge for 10X magnification binoculars to be above 300 feet at 1000 yards.

• Optics (lens, prisms, and coatings) Quality

• Ideally you want to avoid poor quality optics , start with good quality, and then decide later if you want to move to superb quality optics. There is no point to buying bargain basement binoculars or poorly maintained used binoculars as your experience will be disappointing. Preferably all optics are coated and better still multi-coated. Coated optics improve light transmission. Look for the phrase “multi-layer coated optics” and be wary of the phrase “fully coated optics” as this might mean that only external air to glass surfaces are fully coated but other internal lens and prisms may not be. Light transmission loss occurs at all surfaces without anti-reflective glass coatings. I will explain how to visually check for coatings in a later post.

• Resolution – High quality lens provide good color fidelity, are free of optical aberrations, and provide excellent detail.

• Stabilization

Expensive electronic ‘gee-whiz’ adjusting system that noticeably improves the view, especially in hand held use targeting moving objects. An interesting experiment is to take a ‘value priced’ pair of binoculars and look at the moon holding them as steady as you can. Then mount the same binoculars on a steady camera tripod and look at the moon again. You will be shocked at the extra detail that you can see due to stability.

• Rugged, Waterproof, Fogproof,

Having rubber overmold on the binocular body does not always mean they are rugged. Search for drop specifications if rugged is important for how the binoculars will be used. Waterproof is important for hunting and marine use as well as fogproof. Waterproof is specified usually in a JIS or IEC 529 rating (click on the link to understand more about waterproof ratings). An IEC rating of IP64 will suffice or look for IP67 if you want to take your binoculars swimming. Fogproof binoculars have the air inside replaced with a gas such as Argon or Nitrogen.

• Porro prism vs Roof prism

Binoculars you are most likely to be familiar with are porro prism with a prism system moving the two light paths from the objective lens closer together on the way to the two eyepieces you look into. “Roof” prism binoculars are “straight through” looking. This lens system is more expensive but has the advantage of allowing for smaller compact configuration and storage. They also look better as a fashion statement if that is important.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Information on the Kowa TSN 883 Prominar scope from Binoculars.com.

Features:

Bookmark It

Hide Sites