Floater

For Moon viewing the prism is always my go to. The Baader Amici should not be confused with cheaper prisms ... It is a good piece of kit and if you are to concentrate on Moon/planets then I would say go for it.

Welcome back. Have fun. 🙂

Welcome. I’m sure some of the AP folks will be along to advise. Have fun. 🙂

Welcome. You have found a deep and broad pool of knowledge here. Have lots of fun. 🙂

Welcome. Have fun on the journey. 🙂

+1 for a Dob, although not best for astrophotography. 

Welcome. Hope you have fun and success with the AP. 🙂

Welcome. Hope you have lots of fun and lots of success with the AP. 🙂

Welcome. Hope you have lots of fun - in the back garden or farther afield when circumstances allow. 😷🙂

Welcome. Hope you continue to have fun. 🙂

Welcome. Have lots of fun. 🙂

Welcome. You do, indeed, have enviable skies (‘when it’s not raining’), from my memory of your area. Hope you have lots of success with the AP - but most of all, lots of fun. 🙂

Welcome. I hope you have lots of success in the Dark Arts of AP.

Have fun. 🙂

Welcome. Hope you have fun on your astronomical journey. 🙂

Welcome. I’m visual only so can’t help with your queries but I hope you have every success. I like my Lunt 60 - although there’s been a dearth of excitement in the solar field recently.

Enjoy. 🙂

Welcome. Have lots of fun with your rekindled interest. 🙂

Welcome. Glad you said hello. Great intro about the scope and intriguing name for a house.

Have lots of fun. 🙂

Welcome. Hope you have lots of fun and success with the AP. 🙂

Welcome. Hope you enjoy the forum ... and your new scope. A Dob is a very good choice but have a look around and see what might suit you best before taking the plunge. 

Have lots of fun. 🙂

Welcome. Have lots of fun. 🙂

Sounds great, Stu. I missed that but caught the ISS blazing across the sky about 7.45 (7.43, I learned later). Brightest and ‘biggest’ I’ve seen.

All good stuff. 😷

Welcome. Have lots of fun. 🙂

Welcome. That is a treasure trove of kit!

Hope you continue to ‘keep out of the pub’ and have lots of fun. 🙂

Welcome. Hope you have success with AP ... but most of all, have fun. 🙂

Could only see it on GONG. Clouded out.

UPDATE:

Well they arrived as promised, which is always a good start!

The summary is that I like them.

To be fair, the clouds had rolled in before I opened the box but, of course, new kit = clouds whichever way. So only daylight trials. For me it was like using a magic wand - so I would endorse the ‘imagic’ brand name. The view just snaps steady. I was hanging over a fence looking at wildfowl on the reservoir and struggling to keep the bins still and then I flicked the rocker switch to activate stabilisation and said ‘wow’ out loud.

I’m not knowledgable enough to report on technical stuff like light scatter or curvature thingies. But I can say the view was crisp and certainly just as good as my two Nikon bins. The Opticron bins are a good bit heavier than the Nikon Travelites i normally walk with but not enough to make it a chore.

Having said all that Mrs Floater was a bit underwhelmed when I asked to try them. Her hand is certainly steadier than mine so maybe not such a big difference for her. (I have very shaky hands; neck operation, long story.) But for me they do exactly what I hoped they would. The stabilisation works very well.

According to my local forecast it may be some time before I get to try the bins on the night sky but from what I’ve seen so far I’m pretty sure I’m going to be happy. At 12x30 there will be no miracles but scouring the Moon and some rich field views is all I hope for.

Canon seem to have the cachet for IS bins but they live in a higher price bracket. However, I wonder if their push button activation system is perhaps better than the Opticron toggle switch. No doubt my fingers will learn and switching will be smoother in time.

👍🤗