Boating New Zealand — December 2017

116 Boating New Zealand

BEST MAGNIFICATION FOR MARINE BINOCULARS

It may be tempting to go for the highest magnification you

can find – at sea you will most often be looking for things

close to the horizon. The distances are likely to be greater

than when on land, and the larger the magnification, the

better your view will be. But be careful.

Boats bounce around, and the higher the magnification

the harder it will be to stabilise the image. There is no point

in looking at a big image that bounces around so much

that you cannot see it, and for this reason most marine

binoculars have a magnification of around seven times (7x).

This will give you enough power to view your images

without causing any stabilisation problems.

STABILISING BINOCULARS?

If you really do want a higher magnification, it’s possible

to purchase image-stabilised (IS) binoculars, which combine

optics with electronics to subtly move the lenses and stabilise

the image. Adopting the same technology used in high-end,

image-stabilised camera lenses, these can dramatically reduce

shake and permit higher magnifications, to as much as 18x.

But you are adding a delicate electronic mechanism into

the mix. These units become considerably more expensive

and less robust than a non-stabilised pair. Although water-

resistant models are available from manufacturers like

Nikon, Canon and Fujinon, none of these are completely

immersible and are considerably less tolerant of being

dropped or bumped.

RIGHT An
infrared option
is very useful
for navigating
in the dark.

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