For the OP; an important attribute to consider in binoculars for birding and general wildlife viewing (fly fishing) can be “close focus” or “minimum focus” distance. Close focus allows viewing of insects during a hatch in very fine detail. My compact, armored Steiner Champs will focus on objects up to 11 feet. My friend’s binoculars will focus to 1.6 ft(!) but 6 ft is considered “close focus”.
The West Marine Shoreline 8x42 binocular are what triggered my recent increased interest in binoculars of that size class. The importance of choosing a model with a short focus distance has been stressed / recommended on several websites - for people who also have an interest in studying flowers, insects, etc. 6 feet or less has been called good, under five feet excellent.
Currently testing I am testing 3 models: Kowa BD II 10x42 XD, Hawke ED X 8x42, and Vortex Viper HD 8x42.
I cannot bring my toes into focus with any of them. The closest focus spot is about 3 or four feet from where I am standing, about 6 feet. But the West Marine 8x42 will. I measure them as focusing as close a 4 feet.
The Kowa BD II 6.5x32 XD binocular seems to have gotten more interest than the other sizes of that model series. For two reasons: Wider field of view, and the specified short focus distance of 4.25 ft .