Digital Camera Binoculars Reviews

Digital-camera binoculars let you take digital photos (and usually short videos) of what you see enlarged in the binoculars at 7X, 8X or even 10X magnification -- much larger than the 4X optical zoom most digital cameras offer.

However, reviews agree that if top-notch image quality is your aim, you're better off buying regular binoculars plus an ultra-zoom digital camera. Ultra-zoom digital cameras can match or exceed the magnification offered by digital cameras by using sharp optical zoom, offering much better image quality than any camera binoculars now available. (A separate ConsumerSearch report is available on ultra-zoom digital cameras with 10X or higher magnification. We also have a report on regular binoculars .) However, a New York Times review notes that for long viewing sessions, it's more comfortable to view a scene through camera binoculars than with a digital camera. Plus, the "instant replay" feature on most camera binoculars means you can actually record something that happened several seconds in the past. As with a lot of convergence electronics, camera binoculars are neither the best camera nor the best binocular, but the convenience factor may ultimately outweigh those drawbacks, as long as you're not expecting the best photos.

We found the best binocular-camera review in The New York Times, which tests four models for features, handling and photo quality. Reviewer David Pogue concludes that digital-camera binoculars might now be worth buying, since most flaws in the digital photos can be corrected with photo-editing software. We also found an older comparative review at The Wall Street Journal. We supplemented these comparative reviews with in-depth reviews of specific camera binoculars published in American Photo, Popular Science, Laptop Magazine, MacHome and FlightSim.com, some of which (like the review at The New York Times) include sample photos. Most digital camera binoculars now offer an "instant replay" feature that lets you save the past 5 to 60 seconds or more of video -- useful for proving that you saw a certain bird or that the umpire was indeed wrong.

Although we found mixed reviews for most camera binoculars, a few get lower scores than the rest. Of the four digital binoculars compared in The New York Times' review, the Celestron Vistapix 72212 (*est. $130) ranks lowest for photo quality, with blurry pictures and video, especially in low light. The Vistapix digital binoculars also lack the "instant replay" feature that's one of the main attractions of digital-camera binoculars.

Our Consensus Report shows how many times products are top-ranked by reviewers included in our
All The Reviews Reviewed chart.

The Bushnell 8x32 Instant Replay digital camera binoculars are easily the best camera binoculars quality-wise, but they are also the most expensive. The less costly MagPix SX3 binoculars are lighter, but the optics aren't as good as those on the Instant Replay models. The Bushnell Compact 8x30 Instant Replay is a good value, but these camera binoculars don't perform as well as the more expensive Bushnell models. The Meade CV-6 is the only 3-megapixel waterproof model, also recommended for low-light photos, but we found complaints that battery life is terrible.