Lens Coatings

Make sure that the binoculars you buy have antireflection coatings on the side of the lens that touches the air. These coatings greatly aid the light transmission. These coatings produce those red, blue, or green reflections you see when you look into the front lens of your binoculars.

Whenever light enters or leaves the lens [or piece of glass for that matter] 5% of it is reflected back. With all the glass within a set of binoculars a lot of light is lost. Since plenty of light is what gives us our sharp, crisp images, coatings are used to offset those reflective losses of light. This is obviously of tremendous importance in choosing a good set of bird watching binoculars.

There are several types of coatings to watch for when buying binoculars:

[C] Coated lens referring to a single layer of antireflection coating on some parts of the lens - usually the first and last lens - these are the ones you can see

[FC] Fully coated means that all air to glass surfaces [lens] are coated

[MC] Multi-coated" lens means that at least some surfaces usually the first and last) have multiple layers of antireflection coatings.

[FMC] Fully multi-coated" means that all air to glass surfaces have received multiple layers of antireflection coatings THIS is the type of coating you want in the binoculars you buy

The latest fad in coatings is ruby or red multi-coatings intended to reduce glare in bright light - with expensive roof prism binoculars, a special feature to look for is anti-phase shifting coatings.


The purpose of these "coating" is to reduce internal light loss and glare ensuring even light transmission. The result is intended to give greater image sharpness and contrast. A good lens coatings will greatly enhance the quality of your binocular optics, giving you a much better image and a much better bird watching experience. Obviously, the better the coatings, the more expense is added to the cost of the binoculars. But it can be well worth the extra expense in the long run. Good quality coatings can return 95% of the light to your eye.

DON'T ever wipe any lens on your binoculars with your shirt or just any cloth. These materials have fibers that may contain certain materials which will scratch the coatings and ruin them

DO use a lens cleaning tissue or Lens Pen to clean the surface gently. You can remove some stubborn water stains etc. by lightly fogging it with your breath.

You can clean badly soiled WATERPROOF binoculars under a gentle stream of running water. Note: GENTLE!