h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I'll be going to a bunch of shows in the future, am thinking of picking up a pair inexpensive of opera glasses. As I was googling I saw binoculars for similar low prices, and some don't look as if they're too huge. What's the difference between the two? Would binoculars be more functional for other uses, like taking on adventures? Though I don't want something ridiculously bulky, I'm not so fashion-conscious that I prioritize svelte, stylish and cute over useful.

Opera glasses do not have such a high magnification as binoculars designed for say bird watching or long distance work. Look at the specification and it will say something like 10 x 30.

10 is the magnification and 30 is the size of the object lens. The bigger the object lens the better as it lets is more light but is of course more expensive.

Once you get above a magnification of 8 then hand shake may become a problem. Opera glasses usually only have a magnification of 3 or 4, whereas a good pair of birdwatching binoculars will have a magnification of 10 or more. Anything above 10 and a tripod may be required. Not something you can use in a theatre.

http://www.opticsplanet.net/bintheat.html

Donald

I'll endorse that.

I'd say around 6x to 8x would be fairly useful general purpose binocs for theatre & sightseeing.

The other thing to consider is that the higher the magnification, the less you'll be able to see in the image at a time. This is perfect for looking at one bird, or one singer who is singing an aria while stationary on the stage. But if you want to be able to take in the whole chorus, a lower magnification is needed. If you want to use them in the theate, certainly don't go about a mag of 8.

*Now has the image in his head of sombody setting up a tripod and high-powered binoculars while wearing evening dress.*

Well the above, just about covers it, but i would add that i've always found opera glasses to be very poor quality optically-even the expensive ones. They do not contain prisms as binoculars do, resulting in a 'looking through a smarty tube effect'. They have no eye relief (rubber eyecups to keep your eyes the correct distance from the lens) so you have to hover them at the right distance, and they cause me eye strain

I would recommend you buy a compact pair of binoculars, below 8x as mentioned above. Another possibility is a monocular- these tend to be small and are often lower powered, but the downside is that many people find it uncomfortable to only use one eye for an extended period of time. Best thing to do is to try some out in a shop.

Expect to pay at least £70 for a half decent pair of binos, and a similar amount for opera glasses. Although cheaper ones are available, as with most things -you get what you pay for. The best quality compact binoculars will cost £3-400.

Thanks to all of you for your responses! I'm leaning towards binoculars, will sacrifice excellent quality for affordability, though. Comfort is a must, and I can glue on some rhinestones if I want to make 'em more elegant.

You should buy a pair of Tony Curtises.

TC

You can get reasonable binocs for around £30 - £40. If they're not too expensive you won't worry so much about dropping/losing them.

Just DON'T buy zoom binoculars, no matter how great the shop/ website says they are! They are *always* vastly inferiour in optical performance (mainly field of view and brightness)to standars fixed magnification models. And if you drop them they will be uneconomical to repair- most repair shops won't touch zoom models at all.