What are the Most Powerful Binoculars You Can Buy?

 

Powerful binoculars are a little different from standard binoculars because they bring objects much closer to our eyes.

Though standard binoculars with magnification 8x, 10x, 12x and 15x are pretty powerful and satisfy needs of most users of optics, for some people it may not be enough.

I totally understand because sometimes you really need a powerful binocular to be able to see objects at greater details. It may be astronomical and terrestrial observations.

But with so many optical devices available on the market from different brands with different advanced features it may be not so easy to choose the right set of binoculars.

Especially when it comes to powerful binoculars. In this post of mine I will talk about the most powerful binoculars you can find on the market.

Especially I will show what types of binoculars you should avoid at all.

 

 

What are the Most Powerful Binoculars You Can Buy?

In this post I’m going to talk only about the most powerful binoculars you can find on the market.

Some of them are very expensive, others are affordable and some of them are useless. Powerful binoculars start from magnification 20x and higher.

Basically, there are 4 types of high power binoculars:

 

• Reasonably powerful 20x, 25x
• Highly powerful 40x, 50x 90x 100x
• Acceptable zoom high power binoculars
• Useless zoom high power binoculars

 

Let’s talk about each of them so you know which one to choose.

First group is brand binoculars with fixed magnification that are affordable for most people. Though some of them are a little expensive.

Binoculars of this group have magnification 20x and 25x that are pretty powerful. Some of them are relatively lightweight, such as

 

• Pentax SP 20×60
• Vortex Optics Kaibab HD Binoculars, 18×56
• Bresser Spezial-Saturn 20×60
• Porro Nikon Monarch 5 20×56 ED

 

 

     Pentax SP 20×60 WP Binoculars

• Bak-4 Porro Prism
• Magnification 20x
• Eye relief 21mm
• Fully Multicoated optics
• Anti-reflection coatings
• Field of view: 2.2° (118 feet / 1000 yds)
• Waterproof/ Fog proof
• Customer satisfaction 80%
• Suitable for eyeglass wearers
• Rubber armoring
• Tripod adaptable
• Weight 1400g
• Price: $239

 

 

 

 

 

 

     Vortex Optics Kaibab HD Binoculars, 18×56

• Magnification 18x
• HD Water Proof Roof Prism
• Magnification power 18
• Premium extra-low dispersion glass
• Multi-layer prism coatings
• Eye relief 16.4
• Field of view 3.7°
• Weight 1233 gr
• Customer satisfaction: 85%
• Price: $998

 

 

 

 

 

 

      Bresser Spezial-Saturn 20×60 Porro

• Bak-4 Prism
• Magnification power 20x
• Fully multi-coated optics
• Field of view 2.9°
• Weight 1140 gr
• Customer satisfaction: Yes
• Price: $140

 

 

 

 

 

 

      Nikon Monarch 5 20×56 ED Binoculars

• Field of View: 173 feet at 1,000 yards, 3.3° angle of view)
• Magnification power 20x
• Eye relief 16.4mm
• Prism type: ED Glass roof prism
• Dielectric Coating
• Waterproof/Fogproof
• Weight 1235 gr
• Customer satisfaction: 94%
• Price: $899.99

 

 

 

 

These binoculars are bulky but relatively lightweight because objective size is 56mm or 60mm.

This makes them relatively lightweight which means you can use them without a tripod.

Other binoculars with objective size 70mm or 80mm can’t be used without a tripod at all.

These optical devices listed above can be used which makes them popular and in high demand.

The magnification is not big but suitable for general astronomic or terrestrial observations. For terrestrial observations they are not bad.

For astronomical purposes 20x magnification is not enough to be honest.

Binoculars that have objective size 70mm and 80mm are bulky but produce better image quality (brighter and more colorful) thanks to transmitting more light.

Some of such optical devices are:

 

• Levenhuk Bruno Plus 20×80 Powerful Astronomy Binoculars
• Bresser Spezial Astro 20×80
• Gosky Titan 20×80 Astronomy Binoculars
• Oberwerk 20×80 LW Binocular
• Celestron 20×80 SkyMaster Pro High Power Astronomy Binoculars
• Celestron 71454 Echelon 20×70 Binoculars
• Orion GiantView ED 20×80 Waterproof Astronomy Binoculars
• Oberwerk 25×100 IF Deluxe Binocular
• Orion GiantView 25×100 Astronomy Binoculars

 

 

     Orion GiantView ED 20×80 Astronomy Binoculars

• Prism type: ED lenses
• Bak-4
• Magnification power 20
• Fully multi-coated
• Waterproof
• Eye relief 18mm
• Field of view 3.2°
• Customer satisfaction: 100%
• Price: $399.14

 

 

 

 

 

 

     Celestron 20×80 SkyMaster Pro High Power Astronomy Binoculars

• Bak-4 Prism
• Magnification power 20
• Multi-coated optics
• Waterproof
• Field of view 3.2°
• Eye relief 17mm
• Weight 2664 gr
• Customer satisfaction: 88%
• Price: $209.95

 

 

 

 

 

 

     Orion GiantView 25×100 Astronomy Binoculars

• Bak-4 Prism
• Magnification power 25
• Eye relief 18mm
• Fully multi-coated optics
• Waterproof
• Field of view 2.5°
• Tripod adaptable
• Weight 4535 gr
• Customer satisfaction: 77%
• Price: $349.99

 

 

 

 

 

Some binoculars from this group have magnification 25x and are bulky. They must be used with tripod only.

They are a little more powerful and again good for terrestrial observations. For astronomical observations they are not so powerful though not bad.

 

 

Magnification 40x – 100x

Next group of binoculars is highly powerful 40x, 50x 90x 100x binoculars. These optical devices are very expensive and produce image of high quality.

But they are very bulky and come with a special tripod designed for them. They are very powerful and can be used both for terrestrial and astronomical observations.

With such powerful binoculars you can even see Saturn rings or constellations. Cheapest binocular from this group is around $1.000. The most expensive is around $2.500.

 

     BT-70-45 Binocular Oberwerk Telescope 

• Bak-4 Prism
• Magnification power 48
• Eye relief 16mm
• Field of view 4°
• Weight 3855 gr
• Customer satisfaction: 100%
• Price: $995

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

     BT-82XL Binocular Oberwerk Telescope 

• ED Prism
• Magnification power 64
• Field of view 2.2°
• Eye relief 18mm
• Weight 5350 gr
• Customer satisfaction: 100%
• Price: $1.395

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

     BT-100XL-ED Binocular Oberwerk Telescope 

• ED Prism
• Magnification power 94
• Weight 5443 gr
• Field of view 1.75°
• Eye relief 18mm
• Customer satisfaction: 100%
• Price: $2.495

 

 

 

 

 

 

Magnification 120x – 140x

Next group of binoculars is acceptable zoom binoculars from brand companies like Nikon, Bushnell, Celestron, Barska.

They have different magnification power from 30x and up to 140x.

The image quality in such binoculars is significantly worse than in binoculars with fixed magnification power.

The image in zoom binoculars is a little dark, not so clear and the field of view is very small. This is pretty common for any zoom binocular.

The only reason I can recommend zoom binoculars is if you need high power binocular and can’t afford high power binoculars listed above.

Because they are really very expensive and very few people can actually afford them.

 

 

     20-140×80 Gladiator Zoom Binoculars

• Eye relief 21mm
• Magnification 20x-140x
• BAK-4 roof prism
• Multi-coated optics
• Field of view: 1° (54feet / 1000 yds)
• Suitable for eyeglass wearers
• Tripod adaptable
• Weight 1984 gr.
• Price: $223

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

     25-125×80 Gladiator Zoom Binoculars

• Eye relief 13.3mm
• Magnification 25x-125x
• BAK-4 roof prism
• Multi-coated optics
• Field of view: 1° (55feet / 1000 yds)
• Tripod adaptable
• Weight 2012 gr.
• Price: $201

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Magnification 180x

Next group of binoculars is useless zoom high power binoculars from unknown Chinese optical companies.

The image quality in such binoculars is very bad and overall quality of binoculars is very low.

Very often they have collimation problems or may stop working after using it 2,3 times. They come without any guarantee from the manufacturer often times.

So, you definitely need to avoid such binoculars. Among such binoculars can be mentioned:

 

 

• Estink Magnification Binoculars Telescope, 20-180X100
• Ruixunte 20-180×100 HD Zoom Night Vision Binoculars
• Sakura 10-180×100

 

 

Recap

Recommended binoculars are those that have fixed magnification from 20x and up to 100x.

This type of binoculars are suitable for multiple tasks, such as marine, terrestrial or astronomical observations. Some are affordable while others require a significant budget.

Zoom binoculars are affordable and range from 30x and up to 140x magnification. Quality is significantly inferior to standard binoculars.