What You Need To Know Before Getting A Pair Of Binoculars

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION BASICS What Do The Numbers On Binoculars Mean?

Magnification and Objective Lens Size

All binoculars use the same method to define their technical specs. So for example a pair of binoculars may be described as 10 x 50. So what does this mean? The "10" refers to the magnification power of the binoculars. This basically means that objects viewed will appear to be 10 times (10x) closer than when viewed with the bare eye. The second number (in this case "50") indicates the diameter of the objective lens (the light gathering lens at the front of the binoculars); this is measured in millimeters. Note that the diameter of the lens is directly related to the size of the binoculars--the larger the objective lens, the larger (and normally brighter) the size of the binoculars. Field Of View When you look through your binoculars, the widest dimension you can see is known as the field of view. So for example a field of view of 390