The Bushnell Spectator 4x30mm Extra Wide Field of View binoculars are ideal for providing coverage of an entire sports field, but you certainly don’t have to limit yourself to watching a game through these stylish lenses.
Any outdoor viewing spectacle that stretches like a letterbox movie across your field of vision will put these binoculars to the test. And that test comes through with a great big A. But wait, it gets much better.
Why limit the use of these truly fashionable Bushnell binoculars to the great outdoors.
Take them indoors to a basketball game. Or even to a Broadway musical. Those barely affordable balcony seats will seem more like outrageous front row center with these glasses in tow. And don’t worry about sticking out like a sore thumb as you bring them up to your eyes. Sure, you will become the center of attention but in a good way.
You can rest assured that nobody will be giving you a sideways look down their nose (so to speak) because your “opera glasses” are not the height of style.
Bushnell Spectator Sport Main Uses
The name of these extra wide field of view pretty much gives away the secret of what they were designed for. Just because the words “spectator sport” are in the name does not mean that you can only use them for following a 100-yard kickoff return from end zone to end zone without barely moving your head.
What constitutes a spectator sport, anyway?
Remember when ballroom dancing showed up in the Olympics? Bushnell should really give serious consideration to renaming this model because they come in useful for any type of spectacle, whether technically considered a sport or not.
You’ve seen those old-fashioned opera glasses that hoity-toity dowagers bring up to their eyes while watching the show in old movies, right? These Bushnell binoculars are the 21st century version of that.
You may show up at an opera only as a result of losing a bet, but chances are that if you ever do lose that wager and bring these glasses to see what all the fuss is about, you will most definitely not be alone. In short, the extra-wide field-of-vision that Busnell underestimated when naming it can come in very handy for absolutely any sort of activity taking place on a wide plan of vision.
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Glass/Lenses
The single most important aspect to consider on the topic of the lenses of the Bushnell extra-wide binoculars is the coating. Meaning that the lenses are neither waterproof nor fog proof so your enjoyment of football games at certain times of the day in certain part of the country may be limited, nor does prism glass enter into the discourse when making a decision.
This set of binoculars features fully coated lenses and fully coated lenses translates into more light getting through. The more light that gets through, the less reflections. So head out into the bright lights of an early Saturday afternoon and catch every bone-crushing tackle of every college player on the gridiron.
Magnification
The magnification of the Bushnell Spectator 4x30mm does not mean that you are going to get a close-up view of the redshirt freshman’s growing facial hair on his way senior All-American status.
But then again, that’s not what extra-wide field-of-vision binoculars like these are intended for.
If you're new to binoculars, I suggest checking out our complete binocular buying guide to help understand how magnification works and how it impacts image quality.
If you want to engage in that kind of scrutiny, invest in a powerful 10x binocular. The entire point of taking in a wide field of vision is to catch the deep focus of all the action. Which, of course, means that these binoculars are absolutely perfect for learning to appreciate baseball. That’s where the limitations of the 4x magnification come in handy. Rather than focusing way too closely on a single player, you can now focus just close enough to come to a real understanding of how the strategy involved in baseball cannot be justly interpreted by the television camera intent removing the team aspect of this game and making it more about the individual.
Compare
Under $300 / £300 | Description | FOV | Weight | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Vortex Diamondback 8x42 | Thin, rugged, workhourse of Vortext. Price to Quality Ratio is exceptional. Perfect for hunting, birding, etc. | 393 ft / 130 m | 21.8 oz | 4.7 / 5 |
Steiner Marine 7x50 | Waterproof, shockproof, great of low-light. Perfect for boating, whalewatching, etc. | 356 ft / 119 m | 36.3 oz | 4.4 / 5 |
Zeiss Terra ED Compact 8x25 | Weatherproof can operate from -4 to 145 F and water resistant. Great for birding, general observation, hiking. | 357 ft / 119 m | 10.9 oz | 4.5 / 5 |
Nikon 7576 Monarch 5 8x42 | Clearer and more brillian field of view. Lighter than ever before. Waterproof, fog proof, and rubber armored body. Perfect for hunting, bird watching, etc. Avaialable in 8x, 10x, or 12x | 228 ft / 76 m | 20.8 oz | 4.7 / 5 |
Bushnell Legend M-Series 10x42 | Lightweight and durable. Fog and water resistant. Perfect for hunting, hiking, sports events, birding, etc. | 340 ft 114 m | 26.6 oz | 4.6 / 5 |
Image Quality
That magnification limitation also translates by definition into a higher quality image than you would get with more power binoculars. Because you are focusing on such a wide field of vision, you really almost can’t find yourself looking at something too blurry or out of focus.
In fact, the quality of the lenses makes the image crystal clear and incredibly sharp. Of course, as with your own eyes, the image is going to blur slightly more around the edges than it will in the middle. Just train your field of vision directly onto where the action is and you should never find anything to complain about.
Eye Relief
The eye relief of the Bushnell Spectator 4×30 is 10.0mm which is about average. You may enjoy the feel of this model a bit more if you do not wear glasses than if you do, but the fold-down eyecups still combines with the average eye relief distance to make these perfect for seeing a wide field of vision. And, when you stop to think about it, since they already promise a wide field of vision, any sort of eye relief limitation is minor at best.
Pros of the Bushnell Spectator Sport 4×30
The biggest pro of these Bushnell binocular are expressed in their name. If you really want to see a great big wide field of vision, you will. In fact, you couldn’t see less that that if you tried.
Spectator Sport 4×30 Cons
The singular overwhelming con of these binoculars is related to their spectator sport quality. Come the rain or the fog and you see a bit less of that wide field of vision than you really want or expected.
Conclusion
Buy them. If you love sports or want to take in very member of the Sharks and the Jets while watching “West Side Story” live on stage, then these are the binoculars you want. Period. You almost can’t do better.
