What type of binoculars should I get for sporting events?

Comments

1. muncie birder says:

   April 24, 2010 at 6:00 am

   I have never attended a professional basketball game, so I do not know exactly what distances are involved. But I do know that you will want a pair with a wide field of view so you can see everything going on on the court. Do you wear glasses? Some binoculars are better suited to those who wear glasses than others. From a photo of the stadium, it does not appear that you could possibly be more than about 70 to 80 yards from the furthest action. A compact pair would be easier to carry around. They do not prove satisfactory though for people wearing eye-glasses. You have to take your glasses off to use them. Very inconvenient. At 100 yards an 8 power pair will provide a field of view of about 30 to 35 feet. That will allow you to see almost 1/2 court–not quite but almost. If you were 80 yards away then the participants would appear to be 10 yards away about. That might be too much power for a basketball game. I do not believe that compact binoculars come in 6 power, but I do think that would be a better choice in this particular case. Leopold makes a pair of 6×30 binoculars that has a very wide field of view. You would be able to see a 42 foot field of view at 100 yards. 6 power would make those 80 yards away appear 14 yards away. They are suitable fore eye glass wearers too. Here is a link

   http://www.eagleoptics.com/binoculars/leupold/leupold-yosemite-6×30-porro-prism-binocular-black

   I think this pair would be the ones I would choose for this particular application or ones like them. I suspect you can find a similar pair in a discount store for maybe $35 but check the field of view. It is very important. 6×30 generally have a very wide field of view.

   Here is a compact pair that is about similar

   http://www.eagleoptics.com/binoculars/pentax/pentax-papilio-6-5×21-binocular