Nikon Monarch Binoculars – Birding Watching Takes The Right Equipment

Bird watching takes the right equipment to make the difference between a fun, relaxing hobby and an exercise in 
frustration. Birding binoculars make all the difference and allow you to not only get out in nature but to 
birdwatch up close and personal.
The usual choice for most birdwatchers is 7, 8 or 10x magnification in overall use. You don’t want to have too much 
power because it will give you a smaller field of view, as well as less light entry and poor image quality. The 
binoculars will also be heavier and harder to manage and thwarting shaking will be more of a challenge.
Lens coatings let more light through which results in a high quality image with the best coating being a fully 
multicoated lens. A water repellent coating will also enhance your birding binoculars, which will help with light 
rain and fog conditions.
Birding binoculars is one of the essential pieces of equipment for successful bird watching because they will not 
only bring your images to life, but allow you to catch a load of sightings that would otherwise be restricted with 
the naked eye.
It can be a good idea to go for the more expensive binoculars, which will give you a higher quality image. You 
don’t have to go for the most expensive, however, as the best birding binoculars are usually in the mid-price 
range.  
Basically, binoculars are made from two telescopes connected together. The lens closest to the object is called the 
objective lens, and the lens closest to your eye is the eyepiece. The object becomes bigger, but upside down and 
backwards. In order to straighten out the object, a prism is needed. A prism is like a mirror but it doesn’t have a 
reflective back, it is just a piece of glass that acts like a mirror when light hits it at a certain angle.
Porro Prism binoculars were very popular until the 1950-1960’s when roof prism binoculars were made available. Roof 
prism binoculars automatically shorten the distance between the lenses making roof prism binoculars lighter and 
smaller. Roof prism binoculars require precise handling of equipment because they require a more complex light path 
to work. The Porro prism binoculars are a lot cheaper and easier to use, but roof prism binoculars are considered 
the industry standard.
A wide range of binoculars can be used for nature study and bird watching. However an 8x 21 maybe all right for 
watching a blackbird in your garden on a bright, sunny day, but they would not be the best binoculars for birding, 
if you were in a shaded woodland area. Here you would need birding binoculars with a bigger objective lens, to 
allow in more light, and therefore enhance your view.
Eyecups are an important consideration for the bird watching enthusiast. Often cheaper binoculars have folding 
eyecups. These can be difficult to move, leading to the bird flying away, before you get them in place. Look for 
birding binoculars with eyecup that twist up, or slide in and out.