Binoculars get you up close and personal with birds, revealing their true colours, movements, and expressions, that we don’t usually see from observing with our eyes alone.
Once you know how to use binoculars properly, you can experience the full excitement of birdwatching.
In this article, Neil gives some tips on how to use binoculars for birdwatching, which he also explains and demonstrates in detail in the video below:
If you’re new to birdwatching, or just want to learn more about how to use binoculars, this is the blog post for you! This article is best to read together with Neil’s other binoculars guide on selecting your first pair of birdwatching binoculars.
How To Care For Your Binoculars
Binoculars are amazing tools. When taken care of properly, they can last for a very long time. Caring for your binoculars is fairly simple. First, you must always keep your binoculars somewhere clean and dry, such as the cases they come with when you buy them.
How To Adjust Your Binoculars
Another great thing about binoculars is their ability to adjust to your face shape. . The two barrels of binoculars pivot in the centre where the pivot wheel is located. You can adjust this part and improve your view by bending them until both barrels are perfectly aligned with your face.
Tips For How To Use Binoculars If You Wear Eyeglasses
Eyeglass wearers will want to make sure they have their eyes see the best view possible while using binoculars. The cup that comes with an eyepiece can help.
When wearing glasses, you can have the eyepiece closed. Just hold down the rubber eyepieces that extend outward from the ocular lenses. This lets you position your eyes closer to the lens. If you’re not wearing glasses, set the cups out, as Neil demonstrates in the video above.
How to Calibrate Binoculars Correctly (Video Available)
Some may not know this, but it’s highly likely and completely normal that one of your eyes may have better vision than the other. It is a very common fact for those who wear eyeglasses.
The good news is, binoculars can easily be adjusted to compensate for such differences. Here’s a step-by-step guide to doing this, which Neil also demonstrates in the video above.
- Close your right eye and look through the binoculars.
- Adjust the Focusing Ring and focus on an object about 8 – 10 meters away (approx 30ft) until it becomes sharp.
- Open your right eye, look at the same object and turn the adjustment ring in the right barrel until you are also clearly focused on it.
- Look through the binoculars with both eyes open, and you should have a clear, crisp view of the object.
Note: Once done, the binoculars will be perfectly calibrated to your eyesight.
Using binoculars is easy, and it is one of the most helpful tools you can have if you want to get into birdwatching. If you’re interested to know where the best birdwatching spots in Australia are, or simply want to learn more about birdwatching, check out my upcoming safaris on the website, and subscribe to the Neil Hermes YouTube channel.
