Selection
Reading equipment manufacturer's catalogues is useful. Reading magazine reviews is interesting but usually only the opinion of one person. Eventually, you need to visit an optical specialist, for the following reasons.

A good specialist will have a range of all the worthwhile makes and will not be "pushing" any particular make. If there is any bias it will be because the person dealing with you has a penchant for a particular model that he uses but this information is best kept from you. An experienced dealer will, through experience, quickly narrow down a selection of models that you should be trying out and so the task is not as daunting as one might suppose. Naturally, there will be viewing facilities.

It is a good thing if the dealer is also a repair specialist because this will mean that he has first-hand knowledge of the general and internal construction and quality of all the different binocular and telescope models. Therefore, the dealer will not, through ignorance, be selling items that are only superficially of quality.

It is safe to say that all these qualities that you need in a dealer are to be found at Kay Optical where experience and expertise dating back to 1962 are at you service. A prime objective of this company is to ensure that you make the right choice.

Care and Use
Quality binoculars and telescopes today have been developed to the highest peak of perfection that can be discerned by the human eye. When considering the extreme accuracy and high quality of modern equipment, particularly as used by birdwatchers, it is all the more important to give this equipment due care if its performance is not to be impaired. After all, why pay many hundreds of pounds to obtain optimum performance if this is then reduced by harsh treatment? In the following, answers are given to questions asked by customers over many years.

Combating Dirt
Much of the excellent performance of modern optics is due to the extreme accuracy and selection of coatings, and the very careful matching of these to individual lenses and prisms. A selection has to be made from around 300 types of optical glass and the geometric finishing is of extreme accuracy. Multi-coatings are now so finely "tuned" to the individual optics that light transmission efficiencies of up to 99.5% per surface are achievable, giving a total light transmission of over 95% for a typical binocular or telescope. However, the finer the coatings are, the more they are susceptible to attract dirt and grease which impairs performance. It is therefore important to never touch the lenses with the fingers and (for ladies) to avoid makeup on the eyelashes~ etc. Use of an eyepiece rainguard is most important to reduce the collecting of debris and acid rain on the eye lenses.

Eventually, of course, the lenses will accumulate dirt from general usage and must be cleaned as follows. Use a soft brush or blower-brush to remove dirt and dust particles which can scratch the important coating.

Then, using a soft cotton cloth or high-tech fibre cloth, wipe the lens in a circular motion immediately after breathing on it. Start in the centre and work out but only while the lens is moist. Vigorous, dry wiping will gradually damage the coating and you may not notice this until the damage is done. In case of grease or similar, first remove with isopropyl alcohol or good proprietary lens cleaner. Then carry out the breathing and wiping process. Only tackle the exterior of the optics because dismantling by the amateur invariably ends in tears!

Enemies of your binoculars and telescopes are windblown sand, grit and salt spray. Always carefully remove this as best you can when you return home, perhaps by washing your waterproof equipment under a cold, fresh-water tap. After a day out in the rain, leave your binoculars or telescope out of its case to dry and leave the case open to air. This applies to the increasingly popular stay-on case as well as the ordinary carrying case. Grit that enters mechanisms is bad news and must be tackled by your servicing technician but the more expensive and well made equipment is unlikely to suffer from the ingress of grit. Mentioning the stay-on case, here it is not worth compromising with the cheap, ill-fitting, unpadded variety but go for the best make (e.g: Skua).