Binoculars magnify the image of a distant object so that it looks much closer than it actually is. Binoculars are used in a wide variety of activities, ranging from stargazing to watching sports. Defense forces and intelligence agencies use them to observe the enemy from a safe distance. There are certain binoculars which are equipped with night-vision technology. But most of the binocular models available in the market can only help you to see distant objects during the day. There are small as well as giant binoculars. The small binoculars are available for general use. The giant binoculars are used with the help of a tripod. They are mainly helpful in monitoring activities in the sky.

It is not that binoculars are only for outdoor use. They can come in handy indoors too. In live theaters and concerts, audience members sitting in the back rows away from the stage use binoculars to get a better view of the stage.

Apart from magnifying images, binoculars offer other functions also. This can be confusing, as sellers often describe these functions by using lots of scientific jargon. Lots of advertisements attract customers by saying that the more powerful binoculars are, the better. But when magnification is increased in binoculars, the brightness as well as the field of view decreases. The objects may look bigger, but the images could be quite unclear. The average binoculars user should go for a pair having magnification between 7 and 9x. The aperture could be between 40 or 42 mm.