I think 8x30s are the sweet spot for general purpose binoculars. Not too powerful and not too big and heavy. Roof prism binoculars are generally preferred over porro prism binoculars for brightness. Expensive is generally better than inexpensive. If you think cameras and lenses are complicated, wait until you enter the rabbit hole of binoculars.
My recommendation is to visit an outdoor sports supercenter and look through as many binoculars as you can. Ask the guy at the counter to help you adjust the binoculars so both left and right eyes are in focus. Take your time. Then go home and research the ones you liked. Then go back and look again and maybe buy and maybe not.
When you do buy be sure to check that your pair has good alignment and nothing unusual optically.
Binoculars come in three basic catagories:
1: Junk. 2: Pretty darned good and not too expensive. 3: WOW. I can see why these cost sooo much!
Good luck.
