Gary is a bird watcher and amateur astronomer. This means he's set up several bird feeders in his backyard and likes looking at the night sky when the weather is warm. To those ends, he uses optics appropriate for those avocations.

Best Spotting Scopes Under $300 and $500: Quality, Yet You Keep Your Limbs

There are many excellent spotting scopes available in the market today. Finding the best spotting scope for your purposes can be quite a chore, so I’ve tried to narrow your choices a little while still giving you some options from which to select. Update: I’ve updated this list (for 2023) and included more pricing levels …

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The Best 8×42 Binoculars for Every Price Range

Binoculars of the 8×42 size could arguably be considered the standard size for this optical instrument. The best 8×42 binoculars, therefore, are also arguably the most sought-after binos of all. Yes, you could just as easily argue for 10×42 binoculars or any of a few other sizes, and I wouldn’t have much, if anything, to …

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Opticron Binoculars – “Smaller, Lighter, Brighter, Sharper”

“Smaller, lighter, brighter, sharper” is Opticron binoculars’ mantra. It’s a fine phrase, but personally I think it would be more memorable if they made it rhyme by putting “lighter” and “brighter” in the 2nd and 4th positions. In any case, it seems that Opticron binoculars do hold true to their catch phrase. Before I jump …

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Swarovski Binoculars – Start Saving Your C-Notes

I’ve written before about the Swarovski CL Pocket binoculars and the popular EL 8.5×42 binoculars. Apparently back then the manufacturer was more forthcoming with details about the construction of Swarovski binoculars. For the price you’ll pay for any of their binoculars models, you should expect that they have the best lenses, prisms, tubes, coatings, mechanisms, …

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