First Binoculars

[mro]

Hi, I have been quite interested in skywatching over the last winter, I have been using a pair of old halina 8x30's to spot a few planets - but that's as far as I have gone at the mo. I can't see that much to be fair and was looking into getting some decent binoculars.

At first I was going to get a telescope - but a friend gave me some good advice generally and suggested that I should start off with some good quality 10x50's binoculars, for a few reasons which made sense to me.

I have been doing a bit of research and understand my budget (under £100) is always going to have me sat in the low budget range - but was hoping to get the best out of that area as regards to lense & build quality.

I've narrowed it down to either

nikon aculon a211 or olympus dps1.

I'm leaning towards the aculons at the mo.

I'm wondering about the size actually, I went in a camera shop and they insisted I'd need at least a 15x70 for that kind of thing (which they happened to have in - astros (that's what the had them labelled as, celestron skywatchers i think)

When I had a look at the astros I wasn't too impressed - can't put my finger on what I didn't like about them though. Think it was something daft like the flimsy eye rubbers, probably doesn't matter but it does make me think it might be an indication of general build quality.

Would 10x50's be a good choice or would I wishing I'd have gone for some  x70's ? I'm just wondering that while I might get the bigger size, the quality of the build & lenses might not be that great around that range for the x70's but some 10x50's may be.

Thanks,

MRO

[laudropb]

Hello and a warm welcome to the SGL. I would stick to the 10x50s. They will give a greater field of view and this is very helpful when you are learning the night sky. Also the 15 x70s may be too heavy to hold steady and will be very tiring to use unless you mount them on a tripod. As for the models you suggest, unfortunately I can not help you as I do not know these models. Good luck with your search

[mro]

Thanks, looks like a great forum.

[hgjevans]

I too would stick with the10x50s, if they're going to be your only pair of binoculars - it would be difficult to overstate how useful a mid-range pair can be. For me, almost all observing starts with my binoculars, even if it ends up with a scope. And in truth, it's hard to beat the simple experience of surfing through a rich star field in a dark sky with the nice wide field of view you get from a pair like that. Plus, of course, they're great for wildlife, or a walk in the countryside, and so on. If I had to give up all but one piece of optical kit, my 8x42s are what I would keep.

And you really don't need to spend much money - £100 sounds fine as a budget for porro-prism binocs (the dog-leg kind). I don't know the particular models you cite either, but both Nikon and Olympus make fine optics so I wouldn't be worried about either choice.

[ronin]

Check the cost but 8x42's will do as well as 10x50's.

Both specifications will show the same and the minor difference in magnification will be undetectable by you.

15x70's would need a tripod or monopod to be used, so you would ahve to purchase one of those and possibly a bracket to attach them to each other. Again they will do little that the smaller ones would not, and will be more difficault to use.

I will offer the opinion that binoculars do not perform the same task as a scope does.

One is not a substitute for the other.

So if the idea is a set of binoculars instead of a scope then be careful. It is more a case of binoculars as well as a scope. Because they do different things.

None of the scopes mentioned will show Jupiters bands whereas a small achro scope at 60x will.

Saturns rings will need more then 60, say 100x, and that is out of the range of most binoculars.

[KennySharp]

I bought a pair of Celestron 15x70s for under £70 and they are truly fantastic, far far better than the 10x50s I had. If you can afford it, I'd get those, but no bigger as you would definitely need to put them on a tripod.

[mro]

thanks for the replies, all really helpful.

My initial thinking and what I really want to do is look at planets closer up, see the bands of jupiter & my daughter is quite interested in the solar system - so kind of thought it would be something she might want to join in from time to time and be a bit educational. 

But I am aware that around that budget it may be a bit limited - and from what I have read a good pair of binoculars would be as fun as a scope around that budget.

I was initially looking at a dobsian reflector (Skywatcher-HERITAGE-130P-Dobsonian-Telescope). 

[happy-kat]

I am very happy with my 8x42 and because they are not high magnification will shake less hand held.

Binoculatsky.com does a great free monthly news letter

Stellarium for pc free too.

Have fun choosing.