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Three tips when shopping for binoculars
When choosing binoculars, think about what you want to see and where you'll be viewing from:
Hand-held spotting scopes are great for birdwatching during walks or boat trips. They're easy to carry around and you can see things up to 40 metres away. Mini scopes are perfect for hiking or theatre trips as they're lightweight.
A tuboscope requires a stand but you can see things several hundred metres away. It’s perfect for stationary activities, such as birdwatching in a field.
If you’re new to birdwatching, you might need a few more tips on how to get started.
Binoculars are marked with two digits, such as 8x42, where the first digit represents magnification. Hand-held binoculars typically have 8x or 10x magnification, though some go up to 15x. While higher magnification means greater detail, it can also result in shakier images, making it difficult to see from, for example, a rocking boat.
For beginners, 8x magnification is ideal. To put it into perspective, 10x magnification makes a bird 100 metres away appear 10 metres away. For those using a tuboscope, the zoom eyepiece can magnify up to 60x.
The second digit in the label denotes the diameter of the lens in millimetres, which affects the image brightness. A larger diameter allows more light to enter the scope. For daytime use, 32 millimetres is usually adequate. For low-light conditions, like hunting, we recommend 50 or 56 millimetres.