Tag: Binoculars

Zeiss Victory 8×32

Trying out some Zeiss Victory 8×32 binoculars and they’re impressive for looking at the sparrows, goldfinches and tits on the feeders but if it’s cool enough tomorrow I look forward to taking them out on location on an RSPB reserve.

It looks like being a clear night, so I’ll turn them on the night sky, with a waxing moon and the ‘Summer Triangle’ of the bright stars Deneb, Vega and Altair over the wood, so we’ll be looking towards the Milky Way. The the ratio of magnification to the size of the objective lenses, 8×32, gives them good light-gathering powers, better than the same binoculars in the more powerful 10×32 version.

They’re equally impressive for close-ups: at 6ft 4inches tall, I can’t quite focus on my feet, but if there was a dragonfly on the ground just three feet in front of me I could easily focus on that.

Field Glasses

THESE 10 X 50, 5° field of view binoculars, date from the 1960s. They’ve outlasted several other pairs and while they’re too heavy to have them swinging around your neck for long periods, they’re ideal for keeping on my shelf in the studio if I spot a bird in the wood.

The brand is Cosmo, which I believe was Russian.

This week, on my mum’s regular visit to the opticians, I had time to draw the view up Horbury High Street (right), adding the colour later but last week I had time not only for a more elaborate drawing but also to add watercolour at the time;

See-Through Chair

The optician’s has recently had a revamp and, appropriately, they’ve gone for transparent chairs. I felt that the best way to depict the transparency was to show the way the background appeared as seen through the chair.