Cruisers Forum
 


Reply
  This discussion is proudly sponsored by:
Please support our sponsors and let them know you heard about their products on Cruisers Forums. Advertise Here
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Rate Thread Display Modes
Old 17-08-2020, 12:58   #46
Registered User

Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 2,035
Re: Binoculars - with or without built-in compass

Quote:
Originally Posted by NaClyDog View Post
Not seeing any Nikon 7x50 binos with image stabilization. Would you have a model number?
My binoculars were made before image stabilization.

One day, we will get a new binoculars with image stabilization, but for now, we will have to use the old technology. Image stabilization is the way to go if one has the budget.

With stabilization one might/should be able to us a magnification above 7.

Later,
Dan
dannc is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 17-08-2020, 12:59   #47
Registered User

Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Virginia
Boat: B24
Posts: 786
Images: 62
Re: Binoculars - with or without built-in compass

What CaptTom said...

I've had a pair of non-descript 7X50s for several decades (don't think they are "marine" but I don't throw them about and they stay in their case unless I'm actually using them), and although I have a hand-bearing compass, there are times (usually lowlight sights near dawn/dusk) where having the compass in the optic would be nice.
__________________
Larry
dcstrng is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 17-08-2020, 13:02   #48
Registered User

Join Date: Jul 2018
Location: SF Bay Area
Boat: Other people's boats
Posts: 1,172
Re: Binoculars - with or without built-in compass

I ended up with up a pair of the Nikon OceanPro 7x50, with the global compass but no stabilization. I thought the price was good, but would like to compare them to a stabilized view at some point. Certainly for distant objects it's much easier to work with than a hand compass, particularly when something is just a dot or smudge on the horizon.

UV damage? Hopefully people aren't leaving them out in the sun! For proper care and use I think the recommendations in this video (~3:38 to 6:00) are still current. The rest may be interesting either from historical interest (red/green bearings) or practical (scanning methods).
requiem is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 17-08-2020, 13:10   #49
Marine Service Provider

Join Date: May 2011
Location: Cruising Mexico Currently
Boat: Gulfstar 50
Posts: 1,981
Re: Binoculars - with or without built-in compass

I think that you need 3 sets of binocs.

We have a high end pair without compass (Fuji FMTR-SX) that is used when we really need to see something through the haze. And for a little sky viewing.

Then we have the everyday use binocs which are most useful with a compass for the reasons noted. We have a West marine pair (that does not have a compass). With research you may find that some of these are made by high end companies for WM.

Lastly you have the el-cheapos that you let guests use. Something that you will not even pause over when they bounce off the boat and into the water.
evm1024 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 17-08-2020, 13:46   #50
Registered User
 
admiralslater's Avatar

Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Toronto summer rest somewhere else
Boat: Outremer 45/pdq36
Posts: 1,170
Re: Binoculars - with or without built-in compass

Go for the compass . I have 30 year old Bushnells with compass and love them . The compas is one degree and beautifully damped . I sure would like stablization though.
__________________
“Growing older but not up”
admiralslater is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 17-08-2020, 13:46   #51
Moderator
 
Jammer's Avatar

Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Minnesota
Boat: Tartan 3800
Posts: 5,375
Re: Binoculars - with or without built-in compass

Quote:
Originally Posted by NaClyDog View Post
I've been looking at getting some actual "marine" binoculars and the most interesting model I've found comes with or without "built-in compass".

Is that a gimmicky thing or something that is truly useful to have for a bluewater / liveaboard cruiser?
It's really a broader question than "is the compass useful" but rather a question of what kind of binocs you're going to get and how you're going to use them.

Traditionally, marine binoculars are 7x50 porro prism binocs, and for good reason, since these have the best ease of use on a moving vessel of any widely available binocs (aside from those with image stabilization), and because they also have the best performance at night. I have a pair of Fujinon Polaris binocs in this size and have nothing but good things to say about their performance, though I imagine that Steiner and others are just as good. They're waterproof and rugged and have a lifetime warranty. As an aside, they have a compass.

The problems are that they're big, heavy, and expensive. Those problems are serious.

As a result, I also have a pair of Fujinon KF 8x32 roof prism binocs. They're compact, light, waterproof, and cost around $100. But the exit pupil is small so you have to hold them up to your eyes just right, which makes them slow to use, and the field of view is narrow and they're not very good at night. As far as I know there aren't any binocs in this size range that come with a compass.

Anyway, ultimately, if you're looking at anything other than a good pair of 7x50s porro prism binocs, you might want to rethink that, not because of the compass but because 7x50s porro prism binocs are the best binocs for the marine use. (There are some excellent roof prism binocs in 7x from Leica and a few others but they are twice the price and not as good at night due to light losses in the prism)

As a final aside, I'm also experimenting with a monocular as a small, light, and less expensive alternative to the 7x50s.

Having the compass in the binoculars means that you don't also need to have a hand-bearing compass at hand when navigating. The compass in the binocs is a little more accurate. I have both and have compared them. I can reliably get within a degree or two with the binocs and maybe twice that with a hand compass with a mirror. It is rare that the extra accuracy is of any practical use though.

Bottom line, I would say that the compass itself is useful but not an absolute requirement -- but if you're looking at binocs that don't come in a compass version, you're probably looking at the wrong binocs.
Jammer is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 17-08-2020, 13:51   #52
Registered User

Join Date: Jun 2019
Location: Rochester, NY
Boat: Chris Craft 381 Catalina
Posts: 6,870
Re: Binoculars - with or without built-in compass

The weight factor is one reason I keep the cheaper Fuji Mariner 7x50s as my primary pair to grab. They're big (like any 7x50), but they're not all that heavy, so they're easier to grab quickly to take a glance at something. There are times a set of high magnification stabilized binoculars would be nice, but I wouldn't replace the 7x50s with them, they'd be a second pair. The low light performance of 7x50s is good enough that at dusk, things will often appear brighter through the binoculars than without them.
rslifkin is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 17-08-2020, 14:17   #53
Moderator Emeritus
 
a64pilot's Avatar

Cruisers Forum Supporter

Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Jacksonville/ out cruising
Boat: Island Packet 38
Posts: 31,348
Re: Binoculars - with or without built-in compass

First use I had with the Steiner 7x50 was Scout track training in the OH-58 helicopter. US Army uses those bino’s for ground and air scouts.
It’s really hard to look through Binoculars in a helicopter without getting air sick though.

However the AH-64’s TADSS is 126 power gyro stabilized so we never flew with the scouts, modern technology has its uses.

Used to be if money was no object, Zeiss glass was the worlds best, By money being no object I’m talking SR-71 or satellite spy camera lenses etc. billion dollar optics

However Zeiss has lost some of their lead and the Japanese have excellent glass, and Steiner I’m relatively certain manufacturers their own lenses, but I wonder if it’s not Zeiss glass?
Zeiss has pretty much been the best there is for 200 years, yes about as long as the United States have existed, Zeiss has made the best optics there are.

But Steiner I believe are more ruggedized and Marine tolerant?

Point I guess I’m making is there really honestly is a difference between optics with exceptional glass and lesser ones. Glass means both the lenses, prism’s and the actual raw glass itself.
a64pilot is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 17-08-2020, 14:21   #54
Moderator Emeritus
 
a64pilot's Avatar

Cruisers Forum Supporter

Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Jacksonville/ out cruising
Boat: Island Packet 38
Posts: 31,348
Re: Binoculars - with or without built-in compass

Seems Steiner uses Japanese and or German glass, but not Zeiss.
I assume Zeiss won’t supply it?
https://www.bestbinocularsreviews.co...-steiner-2-03/
a64pilot is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 17-08-2020, 14:23   #55
Registered User
 
CaptTom's Avatar

Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Southern Maine
Boat: Prairie 36 Coastal Cruiser
Posts: 3,346
Re: Binoculars - with or without built-in compass

Bulkier? Not at all!

The only way you can tell mine have a compass, without looking through them, is to note the little translucent window on the top which lets the light in to illuminate the compass. I only know that's what it is because if I wear a hat with a brim, I end up shading it and the compass goes dark.
CaptTom is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 17-08-2020, 14:37   #56
Registered User

Join Date: Dec 2018
Location: Currently Northern Spain
Boat: Najad 400
Posts: 265
Re: Binoculars - with or without built-in compass

Some good comments here. It looks like if you don't already take bearings as a matter of course then a built-in compass is not going to be much advantage.


Is there a binocular that has image stabilization and a proper night vision capability? Those two functions would be useful.
goeasy123 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 17-08-2020, 14:47   #57
Moderator
 
Dockhead's Avatar

Cruisers Forum Supporter

Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Denmark (Winter), Cruising North Sea and Baltic (Summer)
Boat: Cutter-Rigged Moody 54
Posts: 35,035
Re: Binoculars - with or without built-in compass

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jammer View Post
. . . As a result, I also have a pair of Fujinon KF 8x32 roof prism binocs. They're compact, light, . . .

I think that's sensible. For the very same reasons I have a pair of 8x20 Leica Trinovids, which fit in a pocket, and are quite ok in daylight (not at night).


I also like to have some binos on me when I go on shore, and something like this is great as you can carry without noticing.
__________________
"You sea! I resign myself to you also . . . . I guess what you mean,
I behold from the beach your crooked inviting fingers,
I believe you refuse to go back without feeling of me;
We must have a turn together . . . . I undress . . . . hurry me out of sight of the land,
Cushion me soft . . . . rock me in billowy drowse,
Dash me with amorous wet . . . . I can repay you."
Walt Whitman
Dockhead is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 17-08-2020, 15:26   #58
Moderator
 
JPA Cate's Avatar

Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: aboard, in Tasmania, Australia
Boat: Sayer 46' Solent rig sloop
Posts: 29,769
Re: Binoculars - with or without built-in compass

We've always relied on a series of HBCs. We have never owned binos with a built in compass.

I'd love to have good quality binos with a built-in compass. I think it would be quicker for me to get the bearing that way, raather than messing around with waking up the flux gate HBC. Yes, we take a lot of bearings. It's part of piloting.

Incidentally, HBCs, like the ship's compass, are affected by where you are: so our northern hemisphere one actually hangs up in the southern hemisphere, doesn't float freely. You will probably want 3, with balance for northern hemisphere, equatorial, and southern.

I really like our Fujinons for light gathering capability. However, the image-stabilized old Canons are light weight, and easy to use one handed, and they get used more often than the Fujinons, because of the latter's weight.
Ann
__________________
Who scorns the calm has forgotten the storm.
JPA Cate is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 17-08-2020, 16:36   #59
Registered User

Join Date: Jan 2020
Posts: 45
Re: Binoculars - with or without built-in compass

I have 25+ year old fujinon binocs that were top of the line when I bought them. They are still incredibly sharp, but if I were buying now, I would go for image stabilization and compass as I like to do coastal nav.
radsailor is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 17-08-2020, 16:55   #60
Registered User

Join Date: Feb 2015
Boat: Land bound, previously Morgan 462
Posts: 1,995
Re: Binoculars - with or without built-in compass

Any skipper of a boat should know how to plot an LOP on a chart using visual references.

Taking a magnetic bearing on another vessel, checking for it being constant or changing, is a basic basic collision avoidance skill and is absolutely necessary either in or (especially) out of sight of land.

I have used hand bearing compasses a lot, but then we got a pair of binoc's with the compass built in.

I find it useful, but not really better than a hand compass. At sea you are being tossed around and it's hard to maintain the heavier binoculars on your sighting. Also I have to hold the thing just so, before I can see the object and the compass at the same time. And since any binoculars has a limited field of view compared to the naked eye, in jumpy conditions you tend to lose the object to be sighted.

If my hand compass tritium light had not burned out, I think I would just use the hand compass instead of the binoc's.

__________________
No shirt, no shoes, no problem!
waterman46 is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
compass

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes Rate This Thread
Rate This Thread:

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Compass Binoculars Dockhead Navigation 20 11-08-2017 10:24
For Sale: West Marine Binoculars with Compass Blues_Harp Classifieds Archive 3 24-04-2014 12:35
For Sale: Bushnell Marine 7x50 Binoculars w Compass NEW $125 Conchfritterz Classifieds Archive 3 16-01-2013 19:35
Binoculars with Compass unbusted67 Product or Service Reviews & Evaluations 49 11-08-2010 20:53
compass calibration on steiner commader binoculars templequeen Product or Service Reviews & Evaluations 9 29-08-2008 10:31

Advertise Here


All times are GMT -7. The time now is 12:37.


Google+
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Social Knowledge Networks
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.

ShowCase vBulletin Plugins by Drive Thru Online, Inc.