Binoculars

One of the most important pieces of equipment that you will take with you on safari! Ideally, each traveler should take their own pair but, with the growing popularity of digital photography, what we increasingly see is that the "designated photographer" will use his/her telephoto lens for magnified vision, while their partner will typically have a set of binoculars (and maybe a point-and-shoot camera).

Features

Features to look for include fully multi-coated lenses, optical quality, and robustness. Don't be tempted by big, bulky binoculars with high magnification, you don't need more than 10x magnification (8x is probably ideal). Objective lenses in the 20mm to 32mm range are perfect. So, anything from 8x20 to 10x32 binoculars (or variations in between, e.g 8.5x32) will be ideal for safari. Serious birders might consider slightly bigger objective lenses, up to 40mm (e.g 8x40).

A relatively new innovation in binoculars (and cameras) is image stabilization. This technology reduces the amount of hand shake that one inevitably experiences when holding binoculars or cameras, and which is amplified by the magnification of the lenses. Image stabilizing technology is increasingly affordable, and is worth considering as a feature when you compare options.

Brands

Top of the line binoculars are made by Swarovski, Leica, Zeiss, and Schmidt und Bender. Good quality mid-range binoculars are made by Pentax, Leupold, Nikon, and Steiner. Bushnell and Tasco offer good products for the more budget conscious.