What are good binoculars for hunters?

While hunting you need to be able to see wild animals that are located far away. Even at twilight. As a result you might be inclined to select binoculars with a high magnification factor. But please note; binoculars with a magnification higher than 10x are great when out in an open field, but won't work as well in wooded areas. In general a magnification of 8x or 10x is enough. To also end up with a high twilight factor and a large exit pupil (to also see enough at twilight) you often find yourself looking at binoculars with larger objective diameters of, for instance, 56 mm.

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What do you need to pay attention to when purchasing binoculars for hunting purposes?

Magnification factor of the pair

To properly spot wild animals it is best if you choose binoculars with a 8 or 10 magnification. A magnification larger than 10 will leave you with a very narrow field of view and an image that is difficult to keep stable. Binoculars with a magnification smaller than 8 will, obviously, not bring the image close enough.

Exit pupil

The concept exit pupil can directly be derived from the magnification factor and the diameter of the front lens of the binoculars: the diameter divided by the magnification factor. The exit pupil is in fact the circle of light that is produced by the binoculars and should be captured by the eye. The pupil of the eye becomes bigger when it gets darker in order to catch more light (compare this to the diaphragm of a camera). If the exit pupil of the pair is larger than the pupil of the eye, it is easy to position the eye behind the binoculars. If the exit pupil is smaller you will notice that it is much more difficult to get a good image. You will notice that you are constantly looking for a good position of the binoculars. And the eye captures less light than it would prefer to see. As such this is definitely something to take into account!

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