For the money these are the best binoculars you will inexpensively find - Nikon Action Extreme 7x50mm Waterproof Porro Prism Binocular

The Nikon Action extremes, especially in the bright, 7x50 configuration make for some of the nicest, clearest seeing optics you can ever buy anywhere near this pricepoint. Images are bright enough that even in very low light, if there is some residual star or moonlight you might be able to see large animals like deer in a field at a hundred yard distance or more. The low magnification keeps things very sharp and easy to manage for nautical purposes. I have even used them for astronomy to see Saturn's "ears", the Galilean satellites or wisps of the ring nebula as well as other double stars or just glassing the milky way but they are not great for it, just adequate. I also like the rugged construction in that the lenses are recessed very far back from the outer lips of the binos so that it's hard for things to get in and dirty or scratch them.

What is going on is that these binos use the bulkier Porro type prisms which are less expensive to manufacture than the straight through appearing roof prism binoculars. What this means is that usually, if two pairs of binoculars at the same pricepoint are compared, the porro prism binoculars that do not look straight like these will always be better. This means however that these binos are a bit on the bulky and heavy side. You can bring them on a hunt or long hike but the extra mass will weigh you down a bit. The main draback is the portability, if you need something more portable there are other options in roof prism types around this price range like the Prostaff or Bushnell but the images won't be anywhere as clear or bright. The lens caps are also flimsy, fall of or get lost easily though you can build a tape and string mechanism to secure them to the binos so they don't fall off or get lost.

The secret service uses these binos to protect the white house for good reason. For the money they give excellent images and resolution, the big objectives and low mage make them useful in a variety of conditions. These make a great gift to someone as a first pair of good binoculars as most people will be used to binos close to or significantly under this price range most of which are nowhere near as good. The price is low enough for anyone to be able to afford them and while much better optics are available, you have to pay a lot, lot more to get measurably better performance.