Magnification in any optical instrument is like spices in cooking - a little goes a long way. Nearly all beginners, regardless of whether we are discussing
microscopes,
telescopes,
spotting scopes,
binoculars or
riflescopes, have a fascination, if not a downright obsession about magnification. Joanie's rule of thumb for any optical instrument is to use only as much magnification as needed to get the job done. As magnification goes up, so do your headaches in terms of field of view, image brightness, steadiness and overall image quality. In a binocular, for instance, a steady 7x or 8x beats a shaky 10x or 12x every time. This is especially true for folks like me that are … well, let's just say not as young as I used to be. Ha!
