Binoculars

Ginger, here's a fairly compact and lightweight Nikon Binocular that would probably work just fine. I have a larger Nikon model and am very happy with them. B & H is a breeze to deal with. Have a great trip!
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/425810-REG/Nikon_8217_8x25_Trailblazer_ATB_Binocular.html

Ginger - I just bought these to take to baseball games and the work great. www.rei.com/product/759468/rei-xr-8-x-25-waterproof-binoculars.

+1 to B&H. They are cheap, honest, and always have the item in stock. Can't go wrong with them....unless you try to contact them after sundown on Friday :)

With binoculars, you get what you pay for. Get a good pair of compact binocs and they will last a lifetime. Cheapos won't make it through your first trip.

Ah this is true, they are quite Observant.

I like having binoculars to look at the detail on stained glass windows and the cap stones on vaulting in churches. I have a small pair that work pretty well and aren't heavy.

George has a good idea with a monocular. If you are comfortable with it, it's nice and slim. Some may find it simpler to use than a bino.
For example:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/911236-REG/bushnell_180932c_9x32_monocular_black_roof.html

Hi Ginger,

First a coment. You need to decide why you want to carry binoculars overseas and what you intend to use them for. I have a Nikon 8x40 with close focusing for casual bird watching, a compact Bushnell 6x for hiking and mountain travel that are beyond its 30 year warranty period and don't take either to Europe. The "one carry-on bag" advocates will be happy to explain why you don't want to pack binoculars.

My first response to your inquiry is that the best binoculars are the ones your travelling companions carry. During my first trip to Norway we saw what appeared to be hundreds of black specks on the snow covered slope across the valley. A couple of our ski tour group did have binoculars and we enjoyed seeing a large herd of wild reindeer. Our friends binoculars treated us to a memorable moment and we were glad they brought them.

I will second B&H, having bought my Nikon binoculars and many cameras from them. You should review REIs advice: http://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/binoculars.html

Realize that compact and light weight means compromise. You can't get a large objective with wide field of vision AND close focus with a campact design. The REI guidance is silent about close focus, but it is important to me.

If you are interested in Binoculars, you want to know what the numbers mean. 8 x 21 means it magnifies 8 times and has a view field of 21 degrees.

The bigger the first number, the more you're going to zoom in on distant objects - but small movement of your binocs will jolt your view around - especially if the second number is small. A bigger second number lets in more light and also makes it much easier to find things you are trying to view.

I packed a compact pair of binocs for a few years, then downsized to a monocular (numbers mean the same things) for a few more years. Now I leave them home and use my camera, it has 12 power digital zoom and about a three inch diagonal viewer on the back to see what I'm looking at.

By the way, I wear glasses. Was browsing some comments on amazon and saw that someone mentioned this as a factor in choosing. True?

Is this a decent model?

Nikon 10x25 DCF SportStar EX Waterproof Binoculars

Or the Travelite VI

Re a 10x25. First question you need to ask and answer is how steady can you hold the particular model. The 10x magnification will also magnify any shaking by 10x. You will need to field check how steady you can hold this particular model. In my limited experience, bigger more ergonomic models are easier to hold steady than compact models.

The second question is are you using it for bright daylight or also low light scenes (eg dusk)? The device's exit pupil is the objective diameter divided by magnification. In the case of the 10x25, an exit pupil of 2.5 mm. Typical human adult eyes pupils dilate to 2 to 3mm in bright light and can open to about 7mm in a dark environment. That's why the classical night binoculars ate 7x50 models with a 7mm exit pupil. A binocular with a 2.5mm exit pupil will be dimmer than one with a large at night. One with a 7mm exit pupil will "waste" light in the bright sun. The 10x25 would be fine during bright daylight.

What the exit pupil number will not tell you is the contrast and light loss that are more a function of the glass and coatings. Again, this is something that you need to field check.

Last things, and perhaps the most important (to me) are how close do they focus and what is its field of vision. All thing equal, a close focusing pair with a wide field of vision suit me better than a higher magnification pair that has a narrow field and does not focus close.

Bottom line is to try before you buy or roll the dice.

I forgot to mention that since you noted that you use (prescription) glasses, you should look for a long eye relief model. Nikon says: "Eye relief is the distance from the outer surface of the eyepiece lens to the position where the exit pupil is formed (eyepoint). Looking through binoculars from the eyepoint, you can obtain the whole field of view without vignetting. It is recommended for eyeglass wearers to use binoculars with a longer eye relief (high eyepoint)."

Again, you may be best served trying before buying.

Got a chance to look at the Sportstar specs:
http://www.nikon.com/products/sportoptics/lineup/binoculars/compact/star_x25/spec.htm

If you are focused on thie Sportstar EX model, you may want to consider the 8x model over the 10x. The 8x25 is a bit brighter (3mm vs 2.5mm exit pupil), wider field of vision (143m at 1000m vs 114m) and closer focusing (2.5 m vs 3.5 m). Unfortunately both models only have a 10mm eye relief.

Note that field of vision if you remember your high school geometry is proportional to distance. 143m @ 1000m is 14.3 ft at 100 ft and 0.5m at 3.5m (1.6 ft at 11.5 ft) for the closer focusing 8x. (The 8x can focus at 8.2 ft). The 10x model's field of vision would be 11.4 ft at 100 ft and 0.4 m at 3.5m (1.3 ft = 15.6 in at 11.5 ft).

Nikon's Travelite models have longer eye relief (14mm to 15+mm), but at double the weight.

As said, try before you buy.

Thanks for the advice to try first!

Went to a couple places yesterday, and ended up thinking seriously about why I wanted binoculars. Sounded reasonable at the time, but decided against it.

Thought in the end that a monocular would be easier to carry around, but not even sure about that. Thanks for all the advice. Never knew all that went into choosing one. Might consider eventually, but with more time to figure out purpose and necessity.