Advice on binoculars for tracking Airplanes.

[pluton]

Hello,

I am looking for a good pair of binoculars for tracking Airplanes.

Some advice?

Thanks in advance.

Fran

[ronin]

8x42 birding ones will work well.

At the height they are do not expect to read the details - even the "company" name is not easy. You are underneath and the details are usually on the tail. Angles are just wrong.

[JED-E3]

Canon 10x30 image stabilised binoculars are great for a bit of plane spotting, It's quite surreal to see what looks like a little model of a plate floating perfectly still in front of your eyes.

[NGC 1502]

For astronomy use, get the bins on a mount is good advice.

But for aircraft and birds in flight, that doesn't work, you need freedom of movement.

If you can afford it, the imaged stabilised bins previously mentioned would be great. If the price is too high, then something with a wide field of view, like the 8x42 bins in post #2 would be great.

As you will likely be using the bins in good light, you don't need the extra light grasp of larger bins, but would be better served by lighter 30 - 40mm ones.

Regards, Ed.

[Peter Drew]

I have a German WW2 10x80 binocular with 45 degree eyepieces, they were designed for serious plane spotting!. Although giving excellent quality images I still find 10x rather low for "fun" use. I would recommend 15x IS binoculars or a tripod mounted 20x-25x angled standard binocular, however both options are rather expensive.