aristotle1954

Many thanks for your comments, in particular those relating to binoculars being banned in certain countries; I'm definitely going to leave the Zeiss ones at home. I'll take a look at the Canon IS range as you've suggested. Kind regards

Some advice about the following would be appreciated. I've just retired and wish to take up astronomy as a new hobby. I intend starting out just using binoculars. I've got a pair of Zeiss Deltrintem 8 x 30 which I've had for many years and are fine for general use but I'm not certain if they'll be any good for stargazing. Also, I'm planning to go to Egypt in May and I've been told that it's a great place for stargazing as away from Cairo there's little light pollution. If my Zeiss pair are not suitable what should I buy please? They'll need to be light, as they'll be handheld and because I won't have enough free luggage allowance for a tripod. Ideally they'll also need to be relatively compact so that they'll fit in my camera bag with my DSLR and lenses. I've looked at photos of 15 x 70 binoculars and they look HUGE! However, weight is a more important consideration than size. Thanks for taking the time to read all of this and I look forward to reading your suggestions. Kind regards