I was getting a lawnmower belt and passed the sporting goods counter and Bushnell binoculars were on sale, a $140 pair was $90 and I tried them out, 10 X 50 power and they worked well but my question is: What’s a good binocular for looking at a church roof? 50’ high, 20/12 pitch and I ain’t climbing that.
I was told 8 X power is best for buildings but then again 10 X and 12 X are all available at the same store.
Anyone, can you offer an opinion?
I keep a pair off Bushnell NatureView 10x42 in the rig. Waterproof, fogproof, and they are made to work with glasses (better eye relief). They work great. I also have a pair of Zeiss that belonged to my dad but those cost too much to have them kicking around in the back of my rig. Those are saved for time up at Mt. Rainier.
Hey Paul, I’d advise shopping on Amazon for binocs, prices have come way down on them over the years.
The higher the power the smaller the field of view and the more shaky the image.
I’d advise a 10x as a good balance.
Any reason not to do this with a high quality camera?
A camera?
I have a decent camera but I’m not sure what you mean.
Paul a camera or binocs the choice is up to you the only thing that I would say is a must have on both is IMAGE STABILIZATION. The difference is night and day on binocs but they cost big bucks.
Get a camera with 10X or better zoom, then you can look at the roof through the viewfinder or screen and take a picture and save it for later. Advantages are that you can vary the zoom, as Thomas says, longer the zoom the shakier the view, with lots of megapixels you can zoom in better on the picture after it is stored. I have binoculars but so far they just stay in the truck, the camera is much better for looking close at stuff that is far away.
I use a rugged camera for inspection, which is not a good choice for long distance, but it works in a pinch.
If I needed a camera just for taking pics of roofs from the ground I would use my SLR with a telephoto lens. It is easier to hold a large camera steady than a small one, and SLRs allow manual focusing, have a large sensors, so you can do more with the image later. A tripod or monopod will steady up any kind of camera having a tripod mount.
A 10X power is about right in my opinion. The higher the second number the better the clarity will be. 42 is great but 50 is better. I have a pair of binos that are 10X62. The glass is huge but I can pick out a fly’s colors at 100 yards.
Paul purchase a good camera with a nice size LED screen and at least 20x zoom.
No need for binoculars and you can document it to the report unless you’re one of those Matrix guys.
10 x is not good for small lot homes. 7 x works better when using them close to the house. 10 x is great but you have to be further away and allot of times that is not possible.
A necessity when trying to categorize your flies by color from a distance.
Or…
Kind of a weird fetish if you ask me, all this looking at people’s flies. 
If you all can come to some consensus on what is the best pair of binoculars, I’ll buy a couple hundred and get us all a deal on them.
Wow, I appreciate the answers so now I’m thinking try the camera and try out some binocs at the store.
I agree that binoculars may just stay in the truck, then again needing them on occasion makes it worth it to me.
Mill Fleet Farm (which is like Menards with farm implements) has a good hunting section and they have Nikon binoculars on sale
NIKON 10 X 42 fo $90
Nikon with image stabilization is best.
To give you an idea of the zoom capabilities of today’s camera. Here is my two year old Sony Cybershot with 30X optical zoom and up to 60X with digital zoom.
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z275/brighton_sti/DSC01208_zps21b1bc8d.jpg
to
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z275/brighton_sti/DSC01209_zpsdaf49e1f.jpg
I hope that helps.
Wow! That’s really good. I gotta look into that.
Unfortunately the best is more than I care to spend.
I make good money doing inspections for rehab loans but I don’t need the camera for that as it is a non invasive inspection with a cost analysys at the end. I am getting more home inspections but not enough to justify spending $1000 for a binocular. I like the idea of getting a better camera and one with WiFi.
All good suggestions from the board and I appreciate the help.
Good thing about the binoc is great for hunting, fishing, events etc.
But I completely understand as I would not buy them now days I bought them for my Pops when life was good 
Unfortunately I inherited them and have them back. I would rather have Pops 
