question regarding strenth of binoculars

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I ordered a fuginion 14x40 last night. Thanks for all the input.
 
I have a monocular. Difficult to hold steady. I do not use it on the boat. I use 7x50’s I have had them for thirty years. I cannot recall the brand, but they have been all over land and sea. I think that I got them from B&H.
 
Does anyone use night vision binoculars. I have only come into marinas in the dark a few times, but it was very dark. We did ok, but I was thinking that it might be easier with night vision goggles. Hard to find your way through mooring fields in the dark. I prefer to come in daylight, but it does not always work our that way.
 
Pete Meisinger said:
7 X 50, nothing stronger. I have a pair of "Steiners" which I LOVE, they are great. I also have a pair with a compass , I think they are West Marine. Nice but quite heavy.

Save your pennies, get stabilized with a compass from Steiner. The price is slowly dropping.

DON'T BUY CHEAP BINOCULARS!!

pete
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Agree 100%. I have the techno-stabi from Fijinon. They are stabilized 14x40 and are much better than 7x50. Since the image is completely fixed, the eye can accumulate the image in low light conditions. I have been able to read navaid info even in low light conditions.
After four binoculars, I decided to get stabilized binoculars. It is the only kind that works for boating. Any binocular not stabilized is not useful in boating.
 
"Any binocular not stabilized is not useful in boating",


I cant go along with this at all. Everyone got along just fine without the newest and greatest for many years. Not saying they might not be a good option, but your statement is just not logical. After all, any binocular is better than none, at least for short periods. Lousy binos will surely give one a headache pretty quick though. My 35 year old Nikon 7x50's work just fine now as they did when I was sailing professionally. No plans to upgrade.
 
Whatever you buy, buy something good. My 25+ year old 7x50 Fuji’s still make me happy and are still the binocular I often reach for. It’s a great balance of magnification, depth of view with little focusing and wide vision. I long ago stopped caring about the money I parted with to buy them. Never once had buyers remorse.

Last year I treated myself to some stabilized Fuji 14x40’s. They are a joy and I can actually read boat names and vhf channels and other things. But for a quick and immediate scan around the vessel, the 7x50’s are still quicker and I’m at a loss for how anyone would say they are now obsolete.

I use both and each is a great tool in its own rite and each has its place. I feel very spoiled to now have both.
 
Since unstabilized binoculars were the standard 50 years ago that doesn’t mean that something better has not come along and the old standard isn’t anymore. Do you still buy unsliced bread? Do you still watch B&W TV? Probably not, so please stop saying that 7x50s are the standard or stabilized is not the way to go. Stabilized binoculars do perform better on the water. My wife was a prime example of someone that didn’t want to use stabilized binoculars since they are too heavy and too complicated, until I sorta forced her to use mine. Now she never picks up her 7x50s. Most of the people who argue against stabilized binoculars have not used them, or used them enough to be good with them.
 
I have used stabilized, heck I helped field test stabilized Fujinons when they loaned them to the USCG in the 1980s. And have used all kinds of cool optics since then, even made a presentation to senior officers on the direction they should put research and development money.

They ARE great, cool, expensive....but NOT necessary. Even 7X50s are barely necessary. But they do meet the minimum requirements well enough.

Does that mean if you can afford a set of stabilized you should pass? Heck no if you will use them worthy of their price tag.

But it's an interesting arguement for people who could and should beef up their safety equipment first, or take docking lessons and what they save in dock crashes they can afford any binocs, or buy boating items that they really need more than something that is great, cool, expensive ( unless you have lots of discretionary cash).

Many times I have raised my unstabilized binocs and have been unable to clearly see something .....but did that really alter what I was doing or affect safety? Well if it did, I cant remember one instance boating...maybe on a rescue mission it changed things....but we rarely flew with them as they never became standard equipment on helos....but maybe cutters.

After a 2 professional careers of looking for things on the water, if I felt they were NECESSARY, I would have them. Even my employers never felt that way....but yes they work and if you really want a pair...go for it.
 
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I have 2 Flir cameras. The aft camera is fixed. The fwd camera can swing right, left, up and down. They can go X2 which along with the night vision make night travel pretty nice when searching unlighted nav aids.
 
You said, "...After all, any binocular is better than none, ..." Not in boating, no way. There are several vendors of 7 X 50 binoculars under $50. Not for boating. Under the conditions where the function of a good pair of binoculars is most valuable and critical in boating, one may barely be able to hold steady while holding the binoculars with one hand. In such a situation, rocking and motion of the boat render useless any non-stabilized binoculars.



Naval binoculars are not instruments for bird watching. They are for reading floating navaid markings, man overboard situations and coastal features that are critical for navigation while possibly under very unstable and moving conditions.



In my experience, using non-stabilized binoculars ended up being more dangerous than none at all as they demanded a level of concentration that compromised the attention required by other aspects of the watch while navigating and piloting the vessel.



Allow me to insist that given the amounts of money spent for safety in boating, not spending a few hundred dollars more for a set of stabilized binoculars is foolish.


I invite you to imagine one of my experiences, 15 mph cross winds, choppy seas when returning trying to identify the legend of a navaid to remain in the channel while fighting the wind. With the stabilized binoculars you get a chance to pose your eyesight for the 2 or 3 seconds necessary to read and interpret the markings. With non-stabilized binoculars, forget it.


In a nutshell, non-stabilized binoculars in the marine environment are effective only under the kind of benign conditions that render them unnecessary in the first place. Why bother then. Get the real stuff. Get stabilized binoculars. One time you use them under realistic boating conditions and you will agree with me.
 
Now here is a strong opinion. Here is another. I had both, Fujinon 7x50 and Techno-Stabi 14 power. Sold the Techno's. Never found them of much use. Field of view far too narrow.
rolomart3 said:
You said, "...After all, any binocular is better than none, ..." Not in boating, no way. There are several vendors of 7 X 50 binoculars under $50. Not for boating. Under the conditions where the function of a good pair of binoculars is most valuable and critical in boating, one may barely be able to hold steady while holding the binoculars with one hand. In such a situation, rocking and motion of the boat render useless any non-stabilized binoculars.



Naval binoculars are not instruments for bird watching. They are for reading floating navaid markings, man overboard situations and coastal features that are critical for navigation while possibly under very unstable and moving conditions.



In my experience, using non-stabilized binoculars ended up being more dangerous than none at all as they demanded a level of concentration that compromised the attention required by other aspects of the watch while navigating and piloting the vessel.



Allow me to insist that given the amounts of money spent for safety in boating, not spending a few hundred dollars more for a set of stabilized binoculars is foolish.


I invite you to imagine one of my experiences, 15 mph cross winds, choppy seas when returning trying to identify the legend of a navaid to remain in the channel while fighting the wind. With the stabilized binoculars you get a chance to pose your eyesight for the 2 or 3 seconds necessary to read and interpret the markings. With non-stabilized binoculars, forget it.


In a nutshell, non-stabilized binoculars in the marine environment are effective only under the kind of benign conditions that render them unnecessary in the first place. Why bother then. Get the real stuff. Get stabilized binoculars. One time you use them under realistic boating conditions and you will agree with me.
Click to expand...
 
rolomart3 said:
You said, "...After all, any binocular is better than none, ..." Not in boating, no way. There are several vendors of 7 X 50 binoculars under $50. Not for boating. Under the conditions where the function of a good pair of binoculars is most valuable and critical in boating, one may barely be able to hold steady while holding the binoculars with one hand. In such a situation, rocking and motion of the boat render useless any non-stabilized binoculars.

In a nutshell, non-stabilized binoculars in the marine environment are effective only under the kind of benign conditions that render them unnecessary in the first place. Why bother then. Get the real stuff. Get stabilized binoculars. One time you use them under realistic boating conditions and you will agree with me.
Click to expand...


I now wonder, how I managed to safely sail the seven seas for the last decades with only my Zeiss 7 x 50 at hand ...
 
I often wonder..... when strong opinions countering very experienced boaters/professional mariners are expressed so matter of factly with no room for debate......hmmmmmm.
 
I've always got by with 10 x 50 Steiners.

That said, we had some of the stabilized binoculars at work, and they were pretty cool to use out on the water.

Funny thing was, I took a pair of the stabilized binoculars up in a plane one day, looked through them for 45 minutes, and got air sick for the first and only time my life!
 
catalinajack said:
Now here is a strong opinion. Here is another. I had both, Fujinon 7x50 and Techno-Stabi 14 power. Sold the Techno's. Never found them of much use. Field of view far too narrow.
Click to expand...


That's a good point. With high magnification binoculars, I'd want a set of lower magnification in reach as well. You can see an object better with the higher magnification, but that doesn't apply if you can't find the object. And for that, a bigger field of view is helpful, especially when you can't see the object with the naked eye yet.
 
psneeld said:
I often wonder..... when strong opinions countering very experienced boaters/professional mariners are expressed so matter of factly with no room for debate......hmmmmmm.
Click to expand...


Yeah, I don't do all that well with "dogma" either... I'm much better with "different strokes" and "it depends"...

OTOH, I also think it's great when somebody knows and is willing to say what works for them.

-Chris
 
rslifkin said:
That's a good point. With high magnification binoculars, I'd want a set of lower magnification in reach as well. You can see an object better with the higher magnification, but that doesn't apply if you can't find the object. And for that, a bigger field of view is helpful, especially when you can't see the object with the naked eye yet.
Click to expand...

This is why the optics makers developed zoom binoculars. Now the next frontier is to incorporate the zoom feature into a stabilized platform. This would be the holy grail of handheld optics: high and low power in the same device with the steadiness to use both under all conditions!
 
Something I leaned in the Navy. When searching for something, dont concentrate on the center but rely on your peripheral vision. Once found, then look more closely.
 
This is a very interesting thread from my point of view. I have Off Shore 7x50 binocs and have used them for years. About 10 years ago I developed a condition that was diagnosed as an "essential tremor" (I thought it was the initial stages of Parkinson's) and could not hold non stabilized binocs steady for 2 seconds. I splurged and bought Canon Stabilized binocs and still cannot believe the difference. They are without a doubt the best binocs I have ever used and I take them everywhere. Easy to focus, push the button and the image is frozen! I agree with those who think that stabilized binocs are superior to non stabilized.
 
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While new technology is great and often very useful its mere availability does not automatically relegate what was previously thought to be useful and standard to the scrap heap of history. Its a stupid argument. Like saying a 2020 Ford sedan makes a '64 Ford Galaxie worthless.
Are the new stabi binos great, superior? Probably. Those who like them should buy them and leave the others who like their conventional binos with what they prefer. Many of us used them thruout a maritime career and continue to use them with complete satisfaction to this day.
 
A 2020 Ford sedan does not make a ‘64 Galaxy worthless, but driving them both the same day shows what 56 years of technology gives you. One is fun for a short Sunday drive and the other is smooth, clean, economical, quiet and safe. But if you never stopped driving your ‘64 and you never drove a modern car, you would wonder what all the fuss is about. The same with optics, the same with navigation and damn near everything else today. If you never try anything modern you’ll never know what you are missing and some people are happy to live their lives like that.
 
And there is NOTHING wrong with that. Its not a crime to be old fashioned. Not everyone wants to embrace all the newest geegaw and foofaraw. Especially when what they have been using still works just fine, like it always did.
 
Sure, but there is nothing wrong with using the latest and greatest either. Replying to threads asking questions about new or even current tech by stating that you are doing just fine with a folding spyglass, a sunstone and an astrolabe is not really being helpful, is it?
 
Nor is the constant upbraiding and insulting of those who don't care about stabi binos! Good grief! Spyglass? Sunstone? Really? That's a bit much don't you think?
 
78puget-trawler said:
Common usage doesn't mean it isn't redundant. Plenty of things in use everyday that are incorrect. Example, "I could care less". That's just dumb, it should be I couldn't care less, obviously. Another more recent one is "on accident", instead of by accident. These things are pet peeves of mine. And Pair of binoculars is still redundant. Just like a pair of bicycles would be. Or a pair of anything that starts with BI.
Click to expand...

...or a hot water heater.
 
The OPs question was about power, not what "best" ......also urrently owns a stabilized binoc......always "best" to know what's really going on before slinging it.

If getting from point A to point B is the requirement, then a Ford Galaxy works, so does a modern car, so does a bicycle...even walking. All have advantages, disadvanages.

Just because one likes something that does "some things better".....so what?

Plus as been posted....some of us have experience with optics many others haven't and we still use 7X50s and aren't in any rush to buy stabilized. Again....big deal!?!?!?

There all kinds of boaters here with different styles and needs. Some feel the "need" of the features that stabilized provide..some of us with a lifetime career on the water just dont see it (wonder why?).

Never try anything modern......what an imagination.....:rofl::rofl::rofl:
 
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