accessories – Expert Binoculars

Having binoculars is just amazing for any kind of observations you may be into, but sometimes, binoculars accessories may be required, therefore, I am going to list here the best 10 accessories to use with binoculars I came across. But before that, the question is: Why do you need accessories for your binoculars? Most of the times you won't need at all any accessories for binoculars but sometimes some accessories may come in hand or they are required for the proper function of the binoculars. Top 10 accessories to use with binoculars. For binoculars, there may not be as many accessories as on a DSLR camera or telescope and some other may be hard to find. Some of the accessories listed below may be used with monoculars or telescopes while some others are created for a specific model (/your model) of binoculars. But before we begin, I want to disclose also that this post may contain affiliate links to Amazon. Top 10 accessories you should have for your binoculars: Binoculars Universal Cell Phone Adapter MountA carrying case or bag for your binocularsComfortable straps for your binocularsA cleaning kit!Tripod, which can be optional or required.Binoculars tripod mount adapterMonopod for stability and portabilityStrap harness for binocularsBinoculars mount with counterweightBinocular filters! 1. Binoculars Universal Cell Phone Adapter Mount A universal cell phone adapter mount is a small device that you can attach to your binoculars (incl. monoculars & telescopes) ocular eyepiece in order to further attach your mobile phone to it. The whole concept about it is that you may be able to take photographs through your binoculars. The images obtained may not be the best quality to expect as the binoculars are initially not made to support photography (therefore, some optics flaws may be visible) but it is something you can easily do. Furthermore, the first accessory I want to speak about is the Universal Cell Phone Mount (Amazon affiliate link) which I already own and managed to take a couple of pictures with my iPhone. The above photographs as mentioned are taken with the mobile phone through my Nikon 10x42 binoculars. 2. A carrying case for your binoculars (bag) Many binoculars may be stored and carried in universal bags but not many manufacturers are actually producing and offering a good shoulder bag for your binoculars. With much luck as an instance, for my Nikon 10x42 binoculars and the massive Skymaster 25x100, both of them has been provided with a carrying case. I cannot tell you how helpful is to actually have those in special if you travel a lot and you don't really want to carry everything on your neck, or when travelling with a car or in public transport. Therefore, I would recommend you to have a carrying case for your binoculars. I cannot recommend anything at this point as each binocular models are having different sizes, therefore, you may need to look for one exactly for your type of binoculars if you don't have. 3. Carry your binoculars with comfortable straps. What is worse than to have your presuming heavy binoculars attached to your neck with a nylon cheap straps (as some manufacturers may provide with the binoculars), hurting your neck and your back all day long? This is an essential accessory I may recommend for your binoculars to be able to release you from the heavy pressure on your neck and have some extra comfort. Before you wanna buy something from the internet, something more comfortable at least, please consider the weight of your binoculars. If they are not heavy, this is not much of an issue, but for instance, my 25x100 binoculars which weight a couple of kilograms and does have the basic straps provided, this is not too comfortable (they are heavy, that is not comfortable at all to hang them on your neck). But the point I want to cover above is that some of the cheaply made straps from the internet may not be able to hold this, so I strongly recommend either not to swap the original ones in case your binoculars are really heavy (as the original ones are made to hold the weight) or ensure that the new accessory is about to hold the binoculars without the risk for them to break. 4. A cleaning kit for binoculars. I know you may have a laugh at me, why should I put a cleaning kit as essential accessories (although this is not an actual accessory) but I have to mention to keep your binoculars well taken care of. The image quality decreases a lot if the objective lens or oculars are dirty. This is a fact. I, sometimes, give them a quick wipe before I take them outside or in general if the weather condition got my binoculars lenses dirty or wet. One another key point to mention is that some of the binoculars are not weatherproof or waterproof, therefore, just try the basic cleanup in special when you spray the lenses as you don't want the water to penetrate inside the binoculars. This camera cleaning kit (amazon affiliate) is the product bought over two years ago and I still happily use them for both my camera and my binoculars, in special the air blower, which is a great tool to blow away the dust from the lens instead of using a wet wipe. 5. Tripod can be optional or mandatory for binoculars. Yes, indeed. A tripod can be optional or mandatory, depending on the binoculars you have. As an instance, the binoculars with a magnification up to 10x does not require a tripod in order to provide the best experience in observations. But anything (usually anything) above 10x magnification, it is hard to do any kind of observations handheld, in special with heavy binoculars. I am going to give you a silly example, but my 25x100 are absolutely massive binoculars, impossible to carry any types of observations handheld and not to mention they are so heavy. Therefore, I want to recommend you in this case to buy a tripod. Some of them are cheap, some of them are more expensive. For instance, I use the Manfrotto BeeFree Advance (affiliate link) which is an absolute beast related to binocular observations and DSLR photography (which I do both). The tripod has a quick release plate which I attached to my 25x100 Skymaster binoculars (weight about 5 kilograms), making it easy to put in on the tripod (support up to 8kg weight). But the best thing I love about it is the twist lock which can be fine-adjusted to the weight of the binoculars or camera for easy and soft manoeuvrability. If you need a tripod for your binoculars you don't have to buy the one I have or something expensive. Any of them will do as long as your binoculars are not very heavy and you may need something specific to support the weight. 6. Binoculars Tripod Mount Adapter The above image represents a tripod mount adapter for binoculars and as advertised for those ones with the objective lens diameter of 50mm+. Some of the binoculars as the above-mentioned Skymaster binoculars may have incorporated an adaptor to accept tripods without the need of anything else, and some other binoculars may not accept tripod adapters at all But there are many binoculars in special those ones with a magnification greater than 10x where a tripod is kinda required, which support those standard 1/4" tripod adaptors (found on Amazon) allowing as simple as it sounds, to mount your binoculars on the tripod. They are not expensive at all, and if you want the best experience in special on high magnifications, you may need a tripod and as per some binoculars, an adaptor is required. You can check this Amazon Link (affiliate) for more information. 7. Not a tripod but a monopod. In many cases, a monopod can be ten times more helpful to have than a tripod. You may not need to carry the tripod with you to watch through binoculars in special if you are on the move a lot (good for birdwatchers). A monopod offers you a great stability, not as perfect as a tripod, but you can easily watch through binoculars even at 15x and follow the subject around without to observe much-induced shake. The system of a monopod is the same as on a tripod. You may find on a monopod to have a ball head or tilt head, the same quick-release plate or normal plate and in general, you may need the same accessories as you need to attach the binoculars on a tripod. My old tripod had a removable arm which can turn into a monopod by attaching the ball head to it and then either my camera or my binoculars to the monopod. This way is absolutely great for stability in special. But beware, some of the monopods are short in size, therefore, it can be really difficult to watch from your normal heigh and you rather have to bend. If you are going to buy a monopod for your binoculars, make sure you check the actual and real heigh so you don't have to bend all the time when you watch through. 8. Strap harness for binoculars. The image from the left is shared from Amazon UK using Affiliate Associate Programme SiteStripe to comply with their policies and is not hosted by our server. Do you remember that I was talking on one of the above points about new binoculars straps? What about strap harness. I know how silly it may sound but really think about it. You are not going to do a fashion walk in the city, you may be watching birds or wildlife in the mountains, hiking, travelling etc. A strap harness is the best relief you can have from up to a medium size and weight binoculars. The same harness can be used for your DSLR camera if you have one, but for sure for binoculars, it spreads the weight over both of your shoulders and arms, therefore, it may be an amazing accessory if you are planning to carry the binoculars for a long period of time. You can check the following Strap Harness Link from Amazon (affiliate link) if you are interested about it. 9. Binoculars mount with counterweight. The image from the left is shared from Amazon UK using Affiliate Associate Programme SiteStripe to comply with their policies and is not hosted by our server. For the heavy binoculars above few kilograms, there is a lot of pressure on the tripod ball head if you do not counterweight it properly. The Skymaster binoculars can adjust the weight by distributing it properly with their special mount. But not all of the binoculars are able to do that. Some other binoculars can be even heavier. A tripod ball head cannot stand a very heavy amount, therefore, another type of tripod for heavy binoculars and telescopes may be needed. But what about the counterweight? The counterweight is a system (an adjusting pole) where there is a weight attached to an end and the binoculars to the other end of the pole, where the whole system is attached to the tripod. This is not only perfect to balance heavy binoculars but for stargazing as well, as you can lift up the heigh of the binoculars by lowering the other side of the pole with the weight. You can check the product represented in the image above (amazon link). Before (if you are going to) buy, ensure that your "heavy binoculars" and the tripod can support it or any other similar products. 10. Binocular Filters The tenth and not the last from the list of accessories are the binocular filters. Comparing to DSLR camera lenses where there are special filters to mount, for binoculars it may be a bit different. From a piece of foil to an eye cup matching the objective lens diameter of your binoculars and some other formats of filters, the filters can have a real usage for binoculars (and telescopes also). Binoculars filters: Solar filters - The one and the most important filters you may find for binoculars. The solar filters are actually what it sounds - it allows you to watch safely the sun through your binoculars and they are perfect for observing sunspots or eclipses. But beware of those filters as there may be cheap ones or ones which does not attach properly to your binoculars. Always make sure that the filters are not going off during the solar observations.Moon filters - Found more in the telescopes than for binoculars, the moon filters are some special filters which are slightly reducing the amount of light and it gives a contrast boost for better observing lunar details.UV filters - Hard to find, the UV filters main roles are to reduce the harmful UV rays passing through binoculars to your retina. But in reality, those filters are used by a small number of binocular watchers to protect the front lens element from scratches and dust, keeping the binoculars as new.Coloured filters - There are a few filters on the market who gives a specific coloured tint for enhancing a specific type of observations. In reality, those filters do not have much use.Other Filters - In astronomy there are plenty of filters to enhance the deep sky observations and the light spectrum to be able to watch some nebulas. This is more like advanced types of filters and I recommend some researches before buying. The binocular filters have to match your binoculars objective lens diameter or you may need some 3rd party accessories or a simple system to mount on the filters. Some of the filters are attached to the objective lens while some other to the ocular lens. As an instance, a solar filter is always attached to the front elements and NEVER to the oculars, but a moon filter can be either of them. The amount of light from the sun is way too strong to directly pass through binoculars. Not only that it may damage your binoculars but it can have a severe impact on your eyes. For this reason, if you want to do solar observations, YOU MUST have solar filters on the objective lenses for your binoculars. Conclusion on top 10 accessories to use with binoculars There can be more types of accessories for the binoculars and I may have been missed some important ones to mention, not sure, but those are the top 10 I really recommend and in some circumstances, they are extremely helpful or mandatory to use. Before you try to buy anything just make sure that you know what you are buying for your binoculars model, do some research in order to buy the right type of accessories and not have to spend money on something you may not need or not compatible with your binoculars. Thank you, everyone, for reading this post. I am bad at saying goodbye, but I hope I will see you around. If you want you can check some of the other posts from our blog or have a look over the recommended gear section. Do not forget to give us a share if you want to spread the love of binoculars!