A good pair of binoculars are often invaluable to photographers. There are many important things to learn about buying them. Here’s what led me to the OM System Olympus PRO binoculars, why they are my perfect choice, and why my old ones were a mistake.
Why My Old Binoculars Were a Mistake
My binoculars were showing their age. I bought them around 20 years ago, shortly before I moved to Tanzania. They were small, light, and easy to carry around, which I needed back then. But they had shortcomings. I know now I made the wrong decision when I bought them.
Those old Steiners were 10 x 26. That first number refers to the magnification and the second to the diameter of the objective lens. Back then, I found the 10x magnification was more than I needed for the large animals I saw in Africa, and I could often not fit the entire creature in the frame.
The second number refers to the objective lens’ size. 26 mm is small, so the light transmission through them was not great; think of a camera lens with a small aperture. In the bright light of the savannah, that smaller objective lens was less of an issue. However, here in the often cloudy and dull North of England where I live now, it is. Furthermore, I am no spring chicken. Their low light-gathering capacity meant that, although I see things 10 times bigger, the image was dull and lacking detail, and I gained little from using them. Everyone’s vision gradually deteriorates with age, and a dark image isn’t what I need.
Consequently, although they fit in my pocket, I rarely take them anywhere. If only I knew then what I know now, I would have invested in something better.
What I Needed From Binoculars
Since then, my appreciation of how bigger and better-quality lenses make a huge difference in image quality has grown. If I photograph using the M.Zuiko PRO lenses I own, I can see a sizeable increase in sharpness compared to standard lenses. I concluded it must be the same with binoculars.
So, I wrote down my requirements based on avoiding the mistakes I had made in the past, plus my needs now. Firstly, as I said, the image had to be as sharp as possible to pick out the fine detail of the subject I was watching. I also want greater light-gathering capacity, showing those details even in the shadows. Additionally, I needed sufficient magnification; most wildlife here in the UK is not as big as the animals I saw in Africa. I also needed them to be robust and comfortable to use. Finally, I wanted them to be robust but light and ergonomic.
My Choice of Binoculars
I know that my OM System camera lenses are known for being hypodermic needle-sharp. A search of many different review websites also rated that brand’s binoculars as exceptionally good. Furthermore, I know it is a brand I can trust. But, even so, I wanted to put them to the test to be sure.
OM System produces three grades of binoculars – Compact, Standard, and PRO – still sold with the Olympus branding. I went for the PRO version mainly for its increased clarity of image, durability, and because they are waterproof. So, before buying, I trialed a pair of mid-sized OM System Olympus 10 X 42 PRO binoculars.
My First Impressions of the Binoculars
On unpacking them, I found the binoculars were pleasant to hold. The rubberized grip was warm to the touch. The focusing ring was large and easy to reach with my forefinger and thumb.
Importantly, its focusing action was smooth, with just the right amount of resistance to focus quickly and accurately. Many pairs I tried over the years are too tight and jerk when you start to turn them, and others are too loose. But not these. They fit in the Goldilocks zone.
The hinge between the two barrels is tighter, which is excellent. Once set to the correct distance between my eyes, they stayed there.
They weighed just 665 g (1.46 lb).
It took a few moments to set up the binoculars. The eyecups unwind and extend; you don’t do this if you are wearing glasses. Then, you focus on a subject using your left eye only. Once that is sharp, swap over your eyes and use the diopter adjustment on the right eye to tweak the focus. It’s worth spending a little while to get this right.
Putting the Binoculars to Use
On my outing with the binoculars at a bird conservation workshop, I could spot and clearly identify small shorebirds, like avocet and redshank, 260 yards (approximately 235 meters) from where I was standing. They also have a close, 5-foot (about 1.5 meters) minimum focussing distance, making them ideal for observing butterflies in fine detail.
The bokeh was nice and creamy looking. Even looking at a subject a reasonable distance from me, the background smoothly blurred, thus isolating the subject from its environment.
Just as you find with long camera lenses, that shallow depth of field gave great separation between the subject and the out-of-focus foreground and background. The result is a hyper three-dimensional look, not dissimilar from watching a 3D movie in an IMAX cinema. I actually said, “Wow!” out loud when I first focused on a bird flying over the estuary.
Image Quality of the OM System Olympus 10 x 42 PRO Binoculars
My previous binoculars, convenient though they were, lacked good light-gathering capacity because of the small objective lens. In comparison, the 42mm lenses on the Olympus binoculars are far larger. Consequently, the image is much brighter. As one would expect with binoculars in this class, the image was superb.
How the optics are put together means that the maximum possible light would reach my eye. The nine elements in three groups, including the extra-low dispersion (ED) objective lens, the phase-correcting and dielectric coatings on the BAK4 prisms, and the anti-reflection fully multi-coated optics gave me clean, sharp, high contrast views of my subjects.
The colors were accurate, and I could detect no distortion, ghosting, or fringing.
That high performance is partly due to having the same Olympus’ ZERO coating found on their camera lenses to reduce flaring and ghosting. In fact, these binoculars transmit over 95% of light in the visible spectrum (400 to 700 nm), better than the equivalent Swarovski EL 10 x 42 E B binoculars that cost nearly five times as much.
Understanding Magnification
This is a gross over-simplification, but 10 times magnification is approximately what you get when you look through a 440-500mm camera lens. But it is far more complex than that because you are not projecting the image onto a sensor. There is also a far wider field of view with binoculars.
Choosing the correct magnification for you is essential. If you can handhold those focal lengths on a camera without image stabilization, you should be able to handhold 10x binoculars. If you struggle to do that, or cannot keep a moving subject within the frame, then slightly less powerful binoculars may be a better fit for you.
When I have been sailing at sea, with the boat’s movement, 8x magnification is far easier to manage. I bought some 16 x 50 mm binoculars in my teens, believing that more magnification was always better. I was wrong. They were difficult to hold on to a subject and nearly impossible to use on my boat. I rarely sail now, so that wasn’t a consideration.
Lower-magnification binoculars can be brighter, too. Thinking of it in camera lens terms, it’s a shorter lens with the same aperture diameter, so a lower f/stop. Nevertheless, I was confident that these binoculars would be fine. They were.
Whereas those antelope and elephants in the Tarangire National Park were huge and sometimes in very close proximity, 10 times magnification was overkill. But most wildlife here is tiny and measured in inches instead of yards. Plus, birds and small mammals don’t want to get too close, and neither do I want to get too close and scare them. I concluded that 10x magnification was the best choice for me. But I was nearly persuaded by the 8x model.
A Note About the Angle of View
There are two angle measurements quoted for binoculars that are related to magnification. The first is the real field of view. This is the angle of view you get from the binoculars. With these 10 x 42s, it is 6.2°, while with the 8 x 42 model, it’s 7.2°.
Then, there is the apparent field of view, a more useful reference. If you imagine walking forward until an object in front of you is 10 times larger, the angle across it would be more obtuse. That’s the apparent field of view. This is 56.9° with 10 x 42 binoculars and 55.3° with 8 x 42s.
Build Quality and Ergonomics
Robustness was also an important consideration. I often clamber over rocks on rugged beaches splattered with sea spray. I wanted something that wouldn’t fall apart with the first knock or have water ingress into the optics.
I always emphasize how important ergonomics is when choosing a camera. Nothing is worse than using something unwieldy and giving you a neck ache. The same applies to binoculars. I wanted a light pair that was a good size for my hands with a wide comfortable strap.
Large, full-sized binoculars are available on the market, but the ergonomic disadvantages of these big, heavy ones were enough to put me off considering those.
The binoculars are rated as waterproof and can be submerged up to a meter for five minutes. The lens coatings are water and oil resistant, so they shed the rain very quickly; it was raining when I first tested them. Their nitrogen-filled body prevents fogging and corrosion.
What I Liked and What Could Be Improved
These are high-quality, professional instruments. The huge difference I noticed using these binoculars compared to anything else I had used before is their brightness. I tried this pair and my old binoculars side-by-side and watched the eider and cormorants on the water and flying. With the Olympus binoculars, I could see details in the shadows that were not visible with the smaller, older ones. Furthermore, those old Steiners seemed to put a slightly muddy cast, whereas the Olympus ones were crystal clear.
Obviously, I can’t show you the actual difference. However, the picture below roughly approximates how the subjects looked to me through the Olympus binoculars on the right compared with the old Steiners on the left. With the old binoculars, I could barely differentiate the eider’s eye from its feathers.
The focussing action was smooth and fast. I could track flying birds and quickly swap between foreground and background subjects. The large, ridged, and rubberized focusing wheel was easily adjusted, even when wearing gloves. Additionally, the slightly sculpted features and the texture of the barrel made them easy to grip. I liked that they were light and, even with their low profile, were comfortable to use with my large hands.
The strap is wide and slightly elastic. I was glad to see that the loops on the body were the same width as a camera strap, so I could fit an even wider strap if necessary. I could also use the binoculars at the same time as my camera on its shoulder strap.
Unlike some binoculars, these binoculars are supplied with lens caps. The objective lens caps can be removed completely, but they are designed to be secured to the body with the caps’ integral rubber loops. Similarly, the eyepiece caps are joined together and tethered to the strap, so you don’t lose them. The binoculars also come supplied with a padded nylon storage case with a belt loop.
I struggled to find anything amiss with these. I enjoy using high-quality precision tools, and this is what they are.
There should be an optional tripod adaptor available for them. However, at the time of writing, I could not find one for sale. However, I have no need for that. There are other generic adaptors on the market, though.
Some binoculars have image stabilization. If you struggle with handholding them steadily, and the extra weight that comes with the stabilization system isn’t an issue for you, and you don’t mind changing batteries, then those might be something worth considering. But it wasn’t something I felt I needed. Canon’s 10 x 42 L IS WP Image Stabilized Binoculars are $1,499 are an example.
Other reputable camera brands also make good binoculars. I looked at other similar high-quality models in a similar price range, including the Nikon 10 x 42 Monarch M7s that retail at around $497, but I discounted those because the grip seemed not as good as the Olympus. I looked online at the Fujinon 10×42 Hyper Clarity Binoculars, and those were far more expensive at $849, but they also seemed not to be rubberized.
Although costing far less than the $3,369 Swarovski equivalents or the Steiners at $899, with a recommended retail price of $499, the Olympus 10 x 42 PRO binoculars seem superb value. It’s worth shopping around and asking for price matching. The Olympus binoculars are currently on offer at a reduced price here in the UK, and you may find similar offers in your corner of the world. However, if that is still outside your budget, I have previously tried some models from the Olympus S range in a camera shop and, although not in the same class as the PRO binoculars, seemed superb compared to much of the similarly priced competition.
Whatever you go for, do choose a known brand, as the build and image quality is miles ahead of the cheap, obscure manufacturers. Those are a false economy.
For openness, I am now an OM System Ambassador, a role I recently took on because of my belief in the OM System’s outstanding quality and my familiarity with and long-term use of its camera equipment. You can read more about what that means here. However, that has not influenced my opinions of these binoculars. I am happy to own them and would gladly recommend them on price, weight, build quality, and, most of all, image quality.
You can buy the 10 x 42s by clicking here and the 8 x 42s by clicking here.
