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With compass binoculars, as with most accessories, you often get what you pay for. But on the water, it can be prudent to put up with a slight loss of optical quality in favor of overall value. You might even question the concept of compass binoculars, because for the same money you can buy a superior pair of standard binoculars that can be used with a hand-bearing compass. However, compass binoculars can help you get a more accurate bearing on a landmark or marina entrance. Many compass binoculars also include a graduated vertical scale for range finding. There are a number of compass binoculars on the market, but for this test, I chose seven popular models. To test this group of binoculars I enlisted Myra Hobbs, who owns a boat, and Dick Everitt, who's spent 30 years on the water in boats from eight to 80 feet. Myra's small hands made some of the binoculars feel massive to her, while Dick was able to evaluate the binoculars from the point of view of an eyeglass wearer. My "normal" vision provided a benchmark. Different hands will find different models more comfortable to handle. People who wear glasses usually need to fold back or retract the eyecups to obtain the correct spacing between the eyepiece and the eye. Some noses present a problem. Designs from the Far East, for instance, often set the eyepieces close together. To conduct the test, we went out on a fairly calm day and tried to locate and take bearings on objects ashore, assessing the optics, compass and ergonomics of each pair of binoculars. As night closed in, we tried the models with illuminated compasses, looking out over the water at various lights and marks. Here's what we found. Binoculars Fujinon Mariner 7x50 WPC-CF $400
Fujinon Mariner 7x50 WPC-XL $320
Bushnell Marine 13-7500 $220 Swift Sea King $399
Rating: Optics (   ) Compass ( ) Night ( )
Nikon OceanPro 7x50 $429
Steiner 7x50 Observer $449
Konus Blue Cup 7x50 $219
Center vs. Fixed Focus
As people age, the focusing range of their eyes diminishes-hence their need for reading glasses. For older boaters, center-focus 7x50s make sense. Dick found he had to continually re-focus the individual eyepieces of fixed-focus binoculars, but with the center-focus models he was able to tweak both at once. For users with "normal" vision, the center-focus has no effect at distances greater than about 50 meters as the binoculars remain permanently focused at infinity, but are useful for close range work, such as reading the names of nearby boats. One interesting effect is that the compass drifts out of focus when not working at infinity-but by the time you're within 50 yards of an object, you're probably past worrying about its bearing. Which Compass?
Unfortunately, the size and cost of 45mm compasses makes them a rare find in low- to mid-range price categories. Of the binoculars we tested, only the Steiner Observer featured the larger size. In our test, however, all the binoculars gave the same results to within three degrees. Getting the Range
What Can You See?
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Conclusion
Try before you buy. Older people may find a center-focus model more desirable and may also need higher-quality optics. Younger eyes may be content with less expensive models. Eyeglass wearers may base their decisions on eyecup size. Some people value compass clarity over optical excellence, while others are most concerned with nighttime operation. Whatever your needs, make sure you're satisfied with your final choice. Adapted from "Compass Binoculars On Test" by David Pugh for Practical Boat Owner, a publication of IPC Media. www.pbo.com |
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On gazing through these, Dick's initial reaction was, "They're so clear!" There were no complaints about the image quality of these center-focus binoculars, which were among the best we tested. The compass is well lit in daylight, stabilizes quickly and is easy to read, although the range-finding lines and lubber line are quite thin, making them hard to see in poor light. Dick had to fold back the deep rubber eyecups for viewing with eyeglasses, which expanded their size significantly and caused them to grip his nose. Side-mounted strap brackets are awkward for small hands, and separate eyepiece caps are likely to be lost. At night, the battery light was even, with little flaring, but the thin lubber line was hard to resolve. Nikon also offers fixed-focus compass binoculars.
The stubby Observer fits larger hands comfortably, but to Myra's hands they felt insecure. The big 45mm compass can force fingers off the binoculars so they obscure the right-hand lens, but once you're used to them, you'll appreciate their engineering. The optics are above reproach, and the Observer dispenses with the more common range-finding scale lines and lubber line for a big, triangular marker that tracks along the bottom of the image like a tank's gunsight, pointing at both the object of interest and the rock-solid compass. The button for the battery nightlight protrudes inelegantly from the side of the compass, but is easily accessible to hands of any size, while plenty of nose clearance ensures that these will fit faces of all shapes. At night, the big lubber line is easy to use, although the light is brighter than ideal.
The first thing that strikes you about these binoculars is their light weight. For people with small hands, they're ideal. They're comfortable to hold, and the light button is easy to reach. The range-finding lines are clear and the picture sharp, although significant shadowing of both the compass and the image occurs. The eyepiece cover only clips to the neck strap, rather than attaching to a permanent loop, and can fall off. The compass is easy to read and moderately well stabilized, taking about half a second to come to rest. At night, the red compass light makes reading the compass straightforward, but flare into the main image is obtrusive.
