Interactive Butterfly CD
Butterflies of the
Carolinas & Virginias

Butterfly Binoculars Review

Do you need to get butterflying binoculars? I have needed a upgrade for a long time but the $600 and up ones were completely out of my budget. So I arranged to get 8 x 32 and 8 x 42 Ranger Platinum Class which are under $400 from Eagle Optics to try them out.

Once they arrived I tested to see if the 8x32 Ranger Platinum Class actually did focus to an amazing 3 feet! Yes they do and they are very sharp and well lit at 3 foot. The Ranger 8x42 Platinum Class that claimed to focus to 5'2" my test proved to be very sharp and clear at 4'10" while looking at a fennel stalk I discovered Black Swallowtail eggs on it. The next test on both pairs was mixed color zinnia flowers and both proved very true to color. I'm legally colored blind and binoculars do enhance my color perception.

Initially I liked the 8x42 better because they are slightly better lit at longer distances to look at birds and such. But since I always carry a heavy camera with me the smaller lighter 8x32s are more appealing to me. My girlfriend used the 8x32s one morning when we went on an outing with the Chapel Hill Bird Club, I was thinking since she`s short she`d like them better because she`s used to smaller binoculars than the larger 8x42s. Five minutes after letting her use the 8x42s she pronounced she liked the 8x42s much better and she wanted to get a pair of them for herself because they were slightly better for birds at a distance. I was tickled because secretly wanted the 8x32s for myself.

We tested them out on a Wandering Glider dragonfly and I was stunned by the vivid details and ease of focus while this dragonfly was in flight. The final test for me was a Northern Pearly-eye butterfly that flies in the shade and can only be IDed from Southern Pearly-eye by the black at the end of the antennae clubs. The antenna clubs I have never been able to see with my old Minolta binoculars that focused to 6 foot, both the 8x32 and 8x42 clearly showed the black clubs very easily.

In summary both the 8x32 and 8x42 Ranger Platinum Class proved excellent in the field for sharpness and the colors are stunningly vivid. Even the depth of field seemed to exceed my expectations. Given the very reasonable price, lifetime warranty, quality glass and that these are water proof binoculars I don`t think you can go wrong on these binoculars. In fact I bought both the 8x32 and 8x42 Ranger Platinum Class for my girlfriend and I.