OpticsBlog – Thoughts and reviews of binoculars, telescopes, scopes, sights, and much more - birdwatching, astronomy, target shooting - pretty much anything related to optics, nature, and life!

Wish I could get film cameras out of my system and be a good little girl and go with digital cameras, like the rest of the world. I don't regard the digital camera empire as the source of some conspiracy to eradicate all film camera and film camera lovers from the face of the earth, but it is becoming ever hard to stay with film, especially old film cameras. Furthermore, I think it is right to be concerned about the effects of film processing chemicals and how could I argue with getting rid of mercury in camera batteries, even though the battery folks have not come up with a good alternative to the old button cell mercury batteries used in 70s vintage manual SLR cameras? Still, there are lessons to be learned from those old film cameras, many of which are still around and quite useable after 30 plus years. How many digital cameras will age this gracefully? How many of today's hot digital products are made to last even three years, let alone thirty? Exactly.

By now, most people know that the rumor about Mars appearing as large as the full moon, this month, is a total hoax. (Well, not everyone. I just got off the phone with a very nice and very grateful lady on this very thing.) Be sure to check the NASA site which exposes this rumor for the nonsense it is. On the other hand, I don't want people to stay indoors on these beautiful August evenings, not when there is so much to see with a binocular or telescope. In fact, a lot of us telescope and binocular users have been waiting for the month of August, but not for Mars. We've been waiting for Jupiter. Even in a low power birding binocular, Jupiter will appear as a tiny disc and those little "stars" you see next to it are some of Jupiter's brightest moons. Pull out the telescope, any size telescope, and Jupter will show you some of its cloud belts and you may even be able to discern some color. In a big telescope, Jupiter will reveal a wealth of detail that puts Mars to shame, even when Mars is at its best.

Ball head, pistol grip ball head or standard video head on a tripod for spotting scopes? I have used them all and, day in, day out, I'll take a video head, such as the Bogen 128RC (the old 3130) Lot's of reasons. First the video head keeps the point of balance low and centered right over the tripod legs. This gives you the most of that all important and essential stability. Ball heads and, even worse, pistol grip tripod heads raise that balance point higher over the legs and make balance more precarious. Yes, I have seen some expensive spotting scopes plus tripod tip and fall when the user got a little negligent. Second, dollar for dollar, the video head will be smoother. It takes a very, very expensive ball head to match the smoothness of a fluid filled video head. To match the smoothness of a video head priced around $100, expect to pay $300-500 on a good ball head and I have yet to see a pistol grip head that even comes close in smoothness. Lastly, out in the field, it is darn hard to keep dust, dirt and grime out of a ball head and that really hurts when you paid the big bucks for one. Video heads do not have exposed bearing surfaces, so, for the most part, they avoid this problem. Okay, I know what you are saying: a ball head or pistol grip head is faster. Maybe a bit, but with a little practice, a video head is plenty fast, if it is good fluid filled model. Of course, I am not about to tell you are wrong if you like and use a ball head or pistol grip head on your tripod. They will all work with a spotting scope, but make mine a good video head when using a spotting scope.

If you've been trying to choose the right telescope because you've heard a rumor that the planet Mars will be as large as the full moon, later this month, be sure to check the NASA Mars Hoax bulletin before you buy a telescope. The Mars Hoax email has been making the rounds, again. Does this mean you should not buy a telescope? Does this mean you can't use a telescope to see good views of planets this month? Certainly not. Jupiter is well placed in the souteast in the evening this month and Jupiter will always show more detail than Mars, even in the best year for Mars. Then, too, most begiiners get drawn into astronomy to see the planets, but the fact is, there is so much more to see in the night sky than planets and that, alone, is reason enough to buy a telescope and that is no hoax.

Had a visit from the folks from Zeiss to go over some of their new products and, as always a real treat to get our hands on that premium selection of Zeiss binoculars, Zeiss riflescopes, Zeiss spotting scopes and Zeiss laser rangefinders. We were particularly impressed with their new Victory RF laser rangefinder binocular. My only criticism was the weight, but optics are the usual Zeiss Victory FL terrific and the laser rangefinder was easy to use and quick to give us a readout. The venerable and, formerly untouchable, Leica Geovid will now have a run for its money. Rich Moncrief, the training manager for Zeiss also told me that Zeiss has no plans for an open bridge design binocular to follow suit with the Nikon EDG, Steiner Peregrine XP and, of course, the Swarovski EL, but it is hard to argue with the success of the current Victory FL, anyway. Open bridge design or not, the Zeiss Victory FL binocular is right at home with the world's very best birding binoculars. I still miss those old Zeiss Classic 10x40s and 7x42 roof prisms, but have to admit the Victory Fl binoculars take the optics to the next level.

This was not a good year for observing Perseid meteors, due to the presence of the moon and, as always, the severe light pollution in my area. Still, I walked over to a local park where I had a good view to the northeast and actually managed to see one or two. I suspect I went just to say I did it and also to honor some of the superb Perseid sessions I have had over the years. I enjoy meteor showers for many reasons, not the least of which is the break from my telescope or astronomy binocular. You don't need a telescope or binocular for a meteor shower. Just get out under a dark sky, the darker the better, since many meteors will be very faint. Bring the lawn chair, your favorite beverage and enjoy. It's a free show!

We now carry some bike lights on our website via the very affordable Dorcy bike light combo and Nite ize accessories, but, since I ride my bicycle in the worst winter weather, I have been looking for a bike light that is a bit more rugged and weatherproof. I'm talking mostly about a bike light that allows me to be seen, rather than a bike light to actually see, but it must be able to survive extreme cold and moisture conditions. Most bike lights last me no more than a year of hard use and it is usually nasty weather that destroys them in the end. I guess most bike riders aren't as crazy as me. The good news is that I have found a waterproof model in the Princeton Tec Apex Headlamp, which I will probably just tape to my bike helmet for the winter. Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

If you like just getting out in the field a getting close-up views of the little things - rocks, twigs, insects, spiders and so on - the traditional optic is a handheld magnifier, such as the excellent Nikon 8D. However, there are just times you need more magnification. Most naturalists, therefore, carry a pocket magnifier with hgiher magnification, such as the10x Zeiss D40. You will notice, right away, though, that as magnification goes up in a magnifier, lens size decreases, rapidly. No way around it. By the time you get to 10x, you have a tiny lens about half an inch wide. These are not fun to use. The solution? I absolutely love the little Nikon Mini field portable stereo microscope. This little microscope is super compact and portable. It evens folds up, but when it is ready to go, you get a full field view at 20x using both eyes! Now, if you really want to start counting veins in that insect wing or get a close up view of tiny grass flower parts, you have your microscope with you, right in the field.

Have been getting some customers who have been taken in by the Mars hoax email that just won't seem to die. Okay, I do inform them about the hoax - how could I not? - but I also do everything I can to convince them that astronomy is still a great pursuit, with or without the Mars hoax. In fact, I tell them the sky is full of things that I consider to be even more spectacular than what a hoax can imagine and that many of these things can be seen in astronomy binocular, not to mention a telescope. I am happy to report that most of my customers proceed with their plan to purchase a telescope and are happy to do so. I suppose, in some backward sort of logic, that I should be grateful to this hoax for bringing another person to astronomy, but I can't help but think I would strangle the originator, first, and then maybe say thanks.

These days, if you are shopping for a tripod, you may run across a model labeled as a digi tripod. What is a digi tripod? A digi tripod is a lightweight tripod, both in terms of tripod weight and tripod load capacity and it is a tripod designed to be used with today's ever popular small point and shoot digital cameras. These pocket sized digital cameras do not need the size and weight of a traditional tripod used for larger digital SLR cameras, hence the "digi" tripod. Keep in mind that digi tripods are not designed for heavy use or heavy binoculars, spotting scopes or large cameras and you won't go wrong.

Now and then I get a call from a customer who is concerned about those lines you sometimes see when you look through the eyepiece of a reflecting telescope - the thin lines that extend across the field of view. I explain that these lines you see in a reflector telescope are caused by the shadow of the "spider" or the arms that hold the small secondary mirror in place at the top of a reflecting telescope. Okay, it seems a bit annoying at first, but after awhile, you don't notice it and it really does not affect performance to any real extent. In fact, most of the time, you won't see these lines at all. Overall, it is a very small price to pay for the many advantages of a reflecting telescope, such as largest size for the dollar, color correct images and affordability. These are a few of the reasons that the venerable reflector telescope remains one of the most popular telescope designs in use, today, by both amateur and professional astronomers.

I get a lot of beginning birders and astronomers that want to jump in, right away and start taking pictures when they start their new hobby. I am always glad to help a beginner, but I usually warn folks that any kind of bird photography, including digiscoping, and astrophotography are not beginner's photography, due to the magnifications involved. When you kick in magnification with a camera, regardless of what instrument you use to get that magnification, be it a long telephoto lens, a spotting scope, a telescope or a microscope, you seriously escalate the challenges, not just in terms of equipment, but also technique. What so many do not understand is that for every good bird pic or astronomy photo, even the best photographer with the best equipment takes literally dozens and sometimes many dozens of pics that will be deleted and rejected. It is a numbers game, all the way. Indeed, the quest for that perfect pic is never ending. It may well lead you to spend enormous sums of money on ever better equipment. It's that addictive and consuming. If you don't know the basics on photography, I strongly recommend you buy a good book or enroll in a basic photography class if you are serious about good bird pics or get out there and learn by doing, keeping careful notes along the way, as I did. I'm not trying to discourage, at this point; I'm simply trying to help you form some reasonable expectations. The best plan is to buy equipment that is capable of photography, down the road, but go slowly until you know how to use your new telescope, spotting scope or microscope before adding a camera.