Great binoculars for the casual user

Intro
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I decided I needed to purchase a pair of binoculars for my cruise to Alaska. I spent about two weeks researching different binoculars and familiarizing myself with what the numbers in the specs for binoculars meant. I went to a few stores trying out the different brands such as Bushnell, Canon, Olympus, etc. Also, I tried a wide variety of magnifications (8 - 24) and objective lens sizes (25 - 50). The Bushnell H20 10x42 is the one I ended up choosing for a variety of reasons.


Contents
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1 pair Bushnell H20 10x42 Binoculars
1 soft leather carrying case with strap and belt loop
1 neckstrap for the binoculars
3 lens covers (2 for the back lens and 1 covering both in the front)
1 lens cleaning cloth


Specs
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Magnification x Objective Lens: 10x42
Focus System: Center
Prism System: Porro
Field of View: 346 ft @ 1000 yds
Exit Pupil: 4.2 mm
Extended Eye Relief: 16 mm
Weight: 27 oz
Adapt for Tripod: Yes
Waterproof/Fogproof: Yes


Features
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Setting up the binoculars for my eyes was a fast and easy process. Like a lot of other binoculars, these bend in the middle, which allow you to adjust the interpupillary distance (distance between your eyes) to match your eyes. There is also a diopter setting on the right lens to adjust the binoculars to your eyesight.

These binoculars use a center focusing system, which basically is a knob in the middle of the binoculars that allows you to focus the binoculars. I found that the knob was very easy to use while looking through the binoculars. It was not overly sensitive and I could always get the focus I wanted very easily.

These binoculars also feature roll-down eyecups. If you are wearing glasses or sunglasses, you can roll down the eyecups to have an easier time viewing things through the binoculars. With an extended eye relief of 16mm, it was easy viewing with my sunglasses on. The other type of eyecup is the twist-up eyecup, which is easier to adjust back and forth, but I much prefer the roll-down ones when not wearing glasses because it feels more comfortable and steady.

An additional great feature of these binoculars are that they are both waterproof and fogproof. So, whether you're out kayaking or getting stuck out in the rain, you don't have to worry about your binoculars getting damaged.


Conclusion
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Getting the binoculars with a 10x magnification had me a little worried about how shaky the image would be, especially on our cruise ship. On land, I felt that the image was a little shaky, but definitely clear and viewable. With a higher magnification I felt that the shakiness made the viewing uncomfortable, and with a lower magnification (8x) I felt that the shakiness wasn't too different so I might as well get the 10x one. Now, using my 10x ones on the cruise ship, I also felt that the shakiness was pretty minor. I also went on a smaller boat to go whale watching, and again the minor shakiness didn't bother me at all. I just wished my camera also had a 10x zoom so I could have taken pictures to capture what I saw through the binoculars! Overall, every potential binoculars buyer needs to try and see which magnification is best suited for them.

For objective lens size (size in mm of back lens), I couldn't tell much of a difference between 42 and 50 with my inexperienced eyes. A larger objective lens size improves the performance of the binoculars under low lighting circumstances. A smaller objective lens would most likely result in smaller/lighter binoculars.

The weight/size of the binoculars was about what I expected. I would of course like a pair that was lighter and more compact, but you sacrifice the viewing quality. To me that wasn't worth it.

My budget for buying a set of binoculars was set at $200. This Bushnell binoculars allowed me instead to buy one for myself AND one for my wife so we wouldn't have to swap them back and forth! Of course, if I had no budget to work with I'd probably have gotten one of those Canon 18x50s with Image Stabilization!