Binoculars

Bogie is in need of binoculars: Hers broke! Instead of putting the following into an email, I decided to post it. Those with little or no interest in binoculars are surely intelligent enough not to waste their time in reading this posting!

For a year or so, in the mid-1950s, I borrowed a pair of binoculars from Esther O'Connor who belonged to the Burrough's Nature Club in Kansas City MO, to which club Elder Brother and I belonged. She was a real sweetheart and you can imagine how badly I felt when the hinge of her binoculars gave out and I learned that the binoculars were so old that replacement parts were unavailable. Bummer! Esther took it in good graces assuring me that she had accepted the "risk" when she offered the loan to me. She always took care of us youngsters that way, not having had any children (thus, no grandchildren) of her own.

In 1955, as a high school graduation present, my parents bought me my first pair of binoculars - photo, above. I had learned from Esther (and her roommate, Rilla Hammet) that, while most men bought 7x50 binoculars for bird watching, most women went with smaller, lighter 7x35s. I paid attention to them. My greatest challenge in finding acceptable binoculars, then and now, is that my eyes are so close together that most binoculars won’t adjust so that I can see out of both sets of lenses properly. Fortunately, my folks and I were able to find the 7x35 Bushnell binoculars that did, indeed, adjust for me - closeup, below.

I used those binoculars for many, many years - my next pair having been purchased in 1989 or 1990 when I was working in Silicon Valley. Browsing through a Macy's clearance store, I happened upon a pair of 7x35 Leitz that was on sale for $xxx. (Prices will be given in this form to allow comparisons.) Knowing that Elder Brother had a few years previously purchased a pair of 7x50 Leitz binoculars for what he claimed was a steal of a price, I offered that amount (= $xxx/2) for the pair that Macy's had. They had to check with management, but I got those binoculars. Eventually, I gave that pair (photo, below) to Hunky Husband. Most "modern" binoculars have an easy, built-in way to adjust the eye cups to give the proper eye relief. As can be seen the in photo, the (rubber) eye cups have been folded back because both HH and I wear our glasses when using that pair of binoculars. The pair sits on the ledge next to our breakfast table to give us quick access for seeing birds in our back yard/woods.

On a trip to visit Hunky Husband in the late 1980s, I stopped into our favorite camera store and saw that they had a darling little pair of 8x26 Leitz binoculars (with the lens barrels wrapped in snake skin) that, lacking a case and having been slightly damaged (cosmetic) in a recent theft in the store, was on sale. I don't recall the asking price but I did, again, offer $xxx/2 - which price was accepted.  Unfortunately, a few years later, they were stolen from my car in Wichita KS after I had moved back in 1990. (That is another story in itself; but, the cops thought it was a bunch of teenagers wanting to joy ride in my huge, 1972 Buick Electra. They were able to break into the car, but weren't smart enough to jump the ignition and they bummed up the ignition key slot so badly that even my key would not work.)

Needing to replace the little binoculars, and having received money from my car insurance claim, I went to a store that carried good binoculars in Wichita. They didn't have the "opera glass" sized binoculars, but the owner did offer me a pair of 8x32 Leitz Trinovids that he had tried out, himself, for a few months or so. We settled on a price of 2.66($xxx/2), and I still have those binoculars. In fact, that pair of binoculars has for the past 20-25 years been my primary pair (photo, below). For the photo, I turned the eye cap up on one side - to illustrate the difference between the eye cap position for using the binoculars without eyeglasses (on the left in the photo) and with eyeglasses. This pair of binoculars sits on a table in the living room - next to "my" chair to facilitate watching birds in our back yard and woods when HH and I are having our quiet time before dinner each evening.

 

The saga continued when, in December 1997, Hunky Husband gifted me with a pair of image stabilized binoculars - 10x30 IS Canon (photo below). The binoculars require that two AA cells be inserted if the image stabilization is to be used. Most times, I can't really tell that much difference between the shake with and without stabilization; but, it does come in handy, at times. This pair of binoculars rests on the ledge of my "window on the world" - the small bay window in our kitchen. Again, this is handy in watching birds in our back yard or in the woods.

I believe that I posted about buying an inexpensive pair of binoculars in about 2016. They were to stay in my car so that when I took Elegant Friend bird watching with me she would have a pair of binoculars: we wouldn't have to share my Leitz binoculars. They are 8x26 Alpen binoculars (photo below) that were about 1.25($xxx/6). On the spur-of-the-moment one day, I gave those binoculars to Next Generation 1, thinking that he could try them out to see if he would like a similar pair. Well...a year or two later, Wonderful GrandDaughter brought them back with the request that I teach NG1 how to use them. Then...COVID-19 hit; so, the binoculars reside in the glove compartment of HH's car. (HH keeps a small pair of binoculars in the console of his car, himself.)

In the absence of the Alpen binoculars, I purchased another pair of inexpensive binoculars to carry in my car - 8x26 Vortex (photo below).

I have been very pleased with the performance of the inexpensive optics. Of course, no 8x26 is going to give the brighter image that those of us with lots of floaters (and/or other eye issues) want. It certainly beats the heck out of having no binoculars available when away from the house.

What this household needs is another pair of binoculars! For anyone who does need to purchase a pair of binoculars, advice for bird watchers may be found at the following URLs:

https://www.birdwatching-bliss.com/binoculars-for-bird-watching.html#top-binoculars

https://www.birdwatching-bliss.com/image-stabilized-binoculars.html

 

Comments

[Ole Phat Stu]

Wow, I'm envious!
You certainly have a large selection of binoculars!
But I have a pair of nautical binoculars with a built-in compass, so you can read off the magnetic track to whatever (landmark) you are looking at :-)
With 2 targets, you can do triangulation to get your position on a map.

[Cop Car]

Stu--Cool! I don't recall ever seeing nautical binoculars let alone using them. How did you come to be in possession? (Doubtful it is that such binoculars would adjust to my 52mm interpupillary distance.)

[Ole Phat Stu]

52? Wow! Mine is 78 :-)

[Cop Car]

Stu--Your depth perception is undoubtedly far superior to mine.

[bogie]

Funny that you mentioned your eyes being close together - I thought it was just me. The binoculars that broke barely get close enough (I would actually like a little closer). However, not being a birder, they were plenty good enough for my use.

Your pictures on the eyecup positions made me realize that at some point I lost the left cup. But I rarely ever use with glasses, since my contacts help reduce other vision challenges I have besides the distance thing. Heck, I might have taken that eyecup off since my left eye corrected, at times, is much worse than my right eye corrected (vision acuity in both eye changes many times thru the day), and maybe that gave me just enough "extra" that was needed.

I am amazed at the count of binoculars you've owned. I have only owned the 1 pair.

[Cop Car]

Bogie--I take it as my responsibility to assure that all members of our family are equipped with working binoculars. Please see the comment that I left on your blog.

Something that I failed to mention in the above posting is that in the early 1990s, I took my "graduation" binoculars in for cleaning and servicing - for the first time since I received them in 1955. This was previous to the time that the same guy had sold me the 8x32 Leitz. He had previously chided me for my "bad" habit of cleaning off the lenses by huffing my breath and wiping with a tissue. He assured me that the acid in my saliva would etch the lenses (of course, the binoculars were 30+ years old at the time.) When he took them apart to clean my binoculars, he found the lenses in great condition - pristine, he called it. I still huff on lenses. However, the whole point of this paragraph is to say that he told me he could no longer get parts for my binoculars. Within a couple of years the focus mechanism seized and they've not been used since.

[Ingineer66]

Nice collection. I have several friends that are pleased with their Vortex optics. They are a good medium price product.

[Cop Car]

Thanks for the input, Ingineer. I think that Vortex puts out a wide range of products. My own pair of Vortex cost what I would subjectively label inexpensive, being well aware that my judgement is swayed by how much I prize binoculars. If I had to buy a baseball bat, I would judge anything over $10 expensive - lol.

I checked the website for birders for which I gave the link at the bottom of the posting. They divide binoculars into price ranges as follow: Economy (Under $200); Mid-Priced ($200-$500); Top-Affordable ($500-$1,000); Best of the Best Over $1000. The particular Vortex binoculars that I bought fall slightly above the middle of economy class while all of my Leitz binoculars have fallen in the best of the best class - not that I paid full price on any of my Leitz binoculars. I got powerfully good deals on them.

[Ingineer66]

That is funny. Yes everything is perspective. Based on the other brands that you purchase, I was thinking Vortex might be inexpensive, but I didn’t want to offend anybody and compared to my standards they are middle of the road. I have a cheap pair of Nikons in my boat, but my rifle has an ACOG scope on it for nothing more than punching holes in paper or killing the occasional soda can.

[Cop Car]

Ingineer--My late sister-in-law loved her Nikon binoculars. I don't know what model/price range she bought; but, Nikon doesn't put out junk, so I suspect that your cheap pair of Nikons is good. I'm not familiar with any scope, let alone an ACOG, but please take it easy on paper and aluminum - endangered species - NOT.