Celestron Skymaster 15x70, first impressions.

[nav2014]

Had a couple of hours last night with my new bins. First thing is - very heavy if held while stood up. Ok while either on a lounger or on your back on the lawn. The 15 mag even while on your back is difficult to resolve and although open clusters appear quite resolved and pin sharp, Galaxies are difficult to resolve because of the mag. 10 mags are easier to resolve but lack the detail of the 15 mags.

Andromeda for example was visable as a dull fuzz but the eliptical shape quite clear and one suspects on a tripod under darker skies than my garden Andromeda would reveal more in these bins.

Terrestrial use, these bins are excellent and absolutely pin sharp.

So my next job at hand is to tripod mount them under darker skies and see how good they really are but so far i'm pretty impressed especially while observing open clusters. Can't wait to see M42 from the tripod too when it arrives.

[Alan_B]

I find that M45 Pleiades is best viewed with 15 x 70 bins -. Spectacular