Binoculars - what do these mean?

[abstibus]

Can someone please explain what 20 x 50 and Field 3° mean, please?
I have come across an old pair of binoculars by Mark Sheffel and am just curious.
Thanks

[mibn2cweus]

Feel free to skip to the relevant sections of interest.

http://www.chuckhawks.com/binocular_basics.htm

[Buenchico]

'20' is the magnification. (It's quite a bot bigger than most 'everyday' binoculars, which means that it will be harder to hold them steady but, of course, the image will be bigger).

'50' is the diameter of the objective lens. (The bigger the better, as the size affects the brightness of the image. '50' is quite good).

3° indicates the field of view. i.e. what you see will be within a three degree arc when measured from your eye.

Chris

[commoner]

...or to put it simply..20 is the magnification....50 is the size of the lens in mm and 3 degrees is the field of vision ......

[commoner]

sorry posted just after you Buen......;-)

[abstibus]

Thank you, everyone - I understand now.
So they were worth my fiver from the charity shop this morning?

[vivandorron]

Certainly worth a fiver. However, as indicated by Chris, it's very very difficult to hand hold steadily such high magnification as 20. I think you now need to see if you can get a cheap tripod on which to mount the binoculars.

Ron.

[abstibus]

Thanks for that suggestion, Ron. I will get a tripod - I suppose Argos or somewhere like that would be the best place to look?
Any advice welcome.

[Buenchico]

The best place to look would probably be another charity shop!
(Tripods turn up quite often).

Otherwise a Flexi-Pod, from Jessops, might do the job:
http://www.jessops.co...ducts/16669/show.html
(See the left-hand panel for 'proper' tripods).

However it would be a good idea to check whether your binoculars have actually got a tripod bush so that you can attach them to a tripod. Not all of them have!
(If the bush is the wrong size, Jessops can sell you an adapter).

Chris

[abstibus]

Chris
What is a tripod bush? The binoculars to not have any extra 'bits'.
I would have to order online from Jessops - what should I ask for?
Thanks very much for your help.

[Buenchico]

The 'bush' is where the screw goes. If there's no threaded hole (for the screw on the tripod to fit into) you'd have to get a tripod adapter. It would be best to get that from a shop, where you could take your binoculars in (to ensure that the adapter is suitable), rather than online.

The staff in Jessops usually know their stuff (and they're the only national high Street retailer I can think of which sells binoculars and tripods). Store finder here:
http://www.jessops.com/Storefinder

[abstibus]

Thanks so much, Chris - you have been more than helpful.
I have found 3 Jessops stores here in NI (I didn't think they had any) so I can go next week (nearest about 60 miles).
I'm like a dog with a new bone.