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Read our privacy notice . Bringing a pair of binoculars with you is a great way of getting a closer view of birds , other wildlife, distant landmarks or even the stars, but they can be bulky. Luckily, optics manufacturers are well aware that not everyone wants to carry a heavy conglomeration of glass, metal and plastic with them everywhere, so have created many more compact pairs that are perfect for a coat pocket or shoulder bag.
And while modern manufacturing techniques have made it possible to create binoculars that are smaller and lighter than old-fashioned pairs, they are still at the mercy of the laws of physics, which limit how small you can make them. Binoculars gather more light than the human eye using objective lenses that are much larger than our built-in ones. This allows them to enlarge and focus the view without things becoming so dark that you can’t see anything.
The larger the lenses, the more light is gathered, and the brighter the image created, something that is particularly important for stargazing. Once you begin cutting down the size of binoculars, therefore, you lose the benefit of that extra light-gathering power, so compact binoculars are a convenient compromise. They’ll still magnif.
