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Great binoculars for outdoor concerts

Over the weekend I attended the George Thorogood and Jonny Lang concert.  It was an outdoor venue and I thought this would be an excellent place to test some binoculars for viewing outdoor concerts.  I only had one parameter to fill, the binoculars needed to be compact,  lightweight and easy to pack.  Having to carry your own outdoor camping chair, I did not want to lug around anything more than I had too. 

I brought three binoculars with me to the concert.  Each with different magnification powers and model types.   I also kept the binocular choices in a moderate price range that more shoppers would appeal to.  Here are the selections I brought with me.

Pentax 9×28 DCF LV Binoculars

Of the three binoculars I brought with me, this was the most expensive pair.  I chose this binocular because of all the recent buzz about the awards received from Outdoor Life magazine.  It recently won both the Editors Choice award and the Great Buy award - both in the same time period.  Even the recent customer reviews showed this as an amazing binocular, so I had to see it for myself.

The Pentax binocular features a nice ”in-between” magnification.  Most compacts come in a choice of 8x or 10x magnification, but this middle ground 9x magnification was a nice touch.  Also, the over-sized 28mm objective lens allowed for even more light gathering.  The binocular was still very compact, and I particularly liked  the over-sized focus wheel.  It is also very apparent immeadiatly that these are quality binoculars.  The body quality, the way the eyepieces adjust, everything about it felt very good.  

The optics of the Pentax binocular were also a surprise.  The outdoor concert started just around dusk and there was a half hour period between having the stage well lit, and the setting sun.  These binoculars performed excellendin low light for a compact binocular, and as the evening went on into darkness, the well-lit stage made observing even better.  If you have never had the pleasure of hearing Jonny Lang play a guitar, or should I say, watch him play a guitar, it is just as entertaining to watch his facial movements as he plays.  He really gets into it.  George is definitely getting older and it shows, but he is still very much ”bad to the bone”.

If your budget allows, these binoculars are pretty hard to beat.  9x magnification was still easy to hold steady and the field-of-view was impressive.  For under 200$, I cant see a better compact option available.

Steiner 10×26 Safari Professional Binoculars

Next in my testing was the Steiner 10×26 Professional binoculars.  Like the Pentax binoculars, at first glance they really have a great look and feel to them.  The quality is apparent.  Personally, I did find that 10x magnification was a bit too much for concert viewing.  It was difficult to hold the binoculars steady enough, and this is even more so with compact binoculars.  Compacts have less mass to hold onto, and image shake can be very annoying when your trying to ”watch” something through the binoculars. 

The eyecups of the Steiner binoculars are very comfortable, and with the slight flare-out of the rubber, they really immersed you into the field-of-view.  My only complaint in the use of the binocular was the small focus wheel.  However, for such a small compact body, this was only a slight annoyance.  From a fixed position in my camping chair, I rarely had to adjust the focus.

Steiner also offers this binocular in an 8×22 Safari Professional model.  I really have to believe that would have been a much better choice for viewing a concert.  With such a well-lit stage, light gathering was not an issue, where the larger field of view of an 8x binocular, along with a steadier image would have made these an excellent choice for just over 100 dollars.

Bushnell 4×30 Xtra-Wide Binoculars

Strangely enough during the concert with me trying out three different binoculars, each time I was using these, someone next to me asked to try them.  I am not sure why, but I was never asked to try the other binoculars, only these.  Maybe its the different look that they have.  These binoculars are definitelynot your average looking binocular.  And they sure don’t perform like any average binocular….

The great thing about these binoculars is the monster field of view.  At only 4x magnification you really get a huge field of view.  I was not able to get in close to watch Jonny work the guitar in detail, but it did make for a nice view of the stage.  Of all three binoculars, I did tend to observe through these the longest, sometimes nearly an entire song before putting them down.   The other two binoculars with their larger magnifications had me going between looking and not looking much more often.

Optically these binoculars are just not in the same class as the others, that was pretty clear right away.  But for under 70 dollars they shouldnt be.  I did enjoy using these binoculars alot, and I remember telling myself that the next football game, these binoculars would be perfect.  The huge field of view and the ultra-steady image was really nice.

They are not as compact as I would have wanted, these binoculars are more “mid-sized”, but I would not complain about taking them with me.

Focusing these binoculars is easy.  You don’t have to.  With only 4x magnification, anything more than a few yards away is in perfect focus. 

Of the three binoculars, it was clear the Pentax binoculars stole the show.  I would have liked to try the 8×22 model in the Steiner, as I think that would have been a great choice in a lower price range.  I have to agree with Outdoor Life, the Pentax binoculars are a winner.