Space Kat

Yeah these are slightly more than my budget would be, ever. However, who knows, maybe I'll decide that I don't really need two kidneys or we can live in a shipment container. Who knows what the future holds! I bought Naturesport 7x50. The aforementioned friend disapproves. Naturally

Indeed. I'm now eyeing up 7x50 Naturesport. I got really hooked on smaller mag and ease of handholdability (not a word, should be one though). I seem to have no middle ground, it's either 7x or 8x, or I had to physically stop myself from buying APM 100mm binocular beast last month. Have little observing space though, so they would be wasted on me for the timebing.

The man has dozens of binoculars and telescopes. Walking into the room where he keeps his arsenal is like walking into a well-stocked astro shop. He’s all about perfection though and nothing else can do! I had a good look through some of the ££££ binos that he has and yes, they are incredible, but equally I get excited by simply being able to see more than with the naked eye. I really have simple needs 😂 I wanted a cheap-but-good pair for travelling and the Fieldmaster will serve the purpose well. I have been eyeing up 7x50s for some time, but my next *planned* purchase is a parallelogram so I can stop fiddling with the tripod for my mega-binos. However, even I wouldn’t hold myself to this... The 8x56s do well in Surrey (just outside of Guildford). I haven’t actually had the opportunity to use them with really dark skies yet.

Thanks Peter! The edge blurring is not bothering me, I’m aware that this is down to the optics being ££ or even £££, not ££££ and beyond. I’d love to try out a pair of Naturesports for comparison, but glad to know that so far, it seems that the only difference is really the FOV. Hehe he’s against Swarovski, says they are overpriced. I can’t comment since I really am just a person who gets excited by the skies (the Pleiades and Perseus in particular), and enjoys the scanning rather than the spotting, if you know what I mean. He absolutely despises my 8x56 because the only way to go is 10x50, naturally 🤭

Hi all, looks like it’s time for my annual post! 🥳 I got into a “discussion” with my astronomy friend who’s an astronomy equipment “connoisseur” (read that as you wish) and I’m curious what others have to say. Long story short, I was buying the Helios Fieldmaster 8x40s as a Christmas present for a friend who is not massively into astro, but did rather enjoy glimpses though my SkyMaster 8x56 (which I LOVE. Dropped them, needed recollimating, now not as sharp but they are still ok for what I use them for). I got so excited by the lightness (under 700g!) of them that I self-gifted a pair to myself too, mostly for travelling. According to my astro-friend, the Fieldmasters are sh*t, and he claims I should’ve gone for Naturesport. I do not claim to be knowledgable on the subject of binoculars at all, but I thought I know enough to make a decision. Both of these binos are wide angle, 8x40, multi-coated BaK-4 porros. The only differences are the eyecup mechanism (fold vs twist), and the FOV (6* vs 8*). I tried the FMs tonight and they seem pretty decent to me, they are razor-sharp; the sharpness does drop off at the edges but they were £40 and so I’m not expecting miracles. My questions are: - is the 2* wider FOV on NS making an actual game-changing difference? - what other - if any - differences are there between FM and NS? Thank you as always!

So - I received the binos today, and Mother Natured answered my prayers for clear skies at night. I briefly spied on what was visible of the Moon during the day, and two BA flights. Not quite what I was after though, so seeing the clouds clearing completely brought great joy. WOOOOOAH. I had no expectations of the 8x56s, but my goodness have they delivered. For starters, it was nice to be able to relax on a chair (albeit with my legs on the fence/table for added comfort 🤣), and hold the binos with relative stability (very, very minor jitters, but only after an hour or so). Contrast was good enough for me, clarity and sharpness were very good too. I’m slightly shortsighted, so try to wear contact lenses/glasses when stargazing, however I get a better experience without them, even sacrificing the very small difference in sharpness. The view is not very wide, but gives me a lot more context than 20x80s. I’m an absolute rookie when it comes to constellations, and I think these smaller binos will give me a decent start to learn the basics (I can tell very few summer sky constellations, probably only Cassiopeia, Perseus, Lyra, and Cygnus. Don’t judge!). I’ve been using the SkyWalk 2 app for a few years, but I really struggle with “translating” what I see in the sky to what’s on the screen and vice versa. All in all, a very good purchase, although I’m already thinking of the next pair...and a parallelogram

Thank you to all once again. I will stick to my guns and keep the 8x56. As ignorant as it sounds, I do have very good night vision so I’m assuming my pupils must dilate to a decent size. Where I’m going to use those smaller binos is my back garden with relatively little light pollution around, and whilst travelling. Part of my holiday next week includes sailing, and there is no way I’m going to miss out on zero/minimal light pollution at night and not have binos with me. With those factors in mind I think the 8x56s make sense. However, rest assured I will let you know what I thought of them in action. I don’t mind brighter skies that I read about as a warning against 8x56; as long as I can stare at the space and stars, I’m good to go. And who knows, maybe in a couple of months my husband won’t notice a third pair appearing, those being either 10x50 or 25x70/100 (the jury is still out on that one). I thought that knowing a good bit about photography means that the knowledge is easily translatable into astronomy and binoculars. W R O N G! 🤣 Thank you everyone for your help, you’ve created a wonderful community here.

Thanks guys, all your advice and comments are much appreciated. I actually jumped the gun and ordered the 8x56s, but since then another person recommended the 8x40 Olympus and let’s be honest, the cost difference is significant. I think I was a bit stupid here as I went for the brand and not for what I’m actually buying. I was looking at Olympus but ruled them out purely because it’s Olympus. Rookie error I guess. The weigh is not an issue, I can hold 1kg without a problem so that wasn’t a factor for me. I think I’ve settled on porros as the vast majority of astronomy binos seem to be porro, not roofs. Ok, so not to confuse things any further, Olympus is the dark horse because of: - porro prisms - exit pupil (I’m in the higher end of 30s, so pupil dilation is probably around 6mm from what I read) - cost On the subject of exit pupil, would the extra light coming in with 56s really make no difference to the experience? Also - as the Olympus are bak7 not bak4, is it not going to affect the field of view?

Thanks Mark! 20x80 are the "home" binos, so looking to add a pair primarily for travelling and for when I cannot be bothered to set up in the garden. I'm not hell-bent on ED glass, but I've seen the difference and it's tempting. The aperture is the one thing that makes me lean towards another pair from Celestron; in photography 4.2 and 5.6 produce very different images, so I guess it would be the same in binos. But lots of people far more invested in binos seem to go for the glass rather than other parameters...and that's why I've been pulling my hair for the last few weeks. To make it simple - you suggest sticking to porros, yes? I found the Celies for £139. Triple-checked if it's definitely 72002 and it appears to be.

Hi everyone I've been a silent reader for quite some time now, and time has come to ask for some advice. I've been researching this for weeks, and the more I read, the more I'm stuck. I'm looking to purchase bins for stargazing on the go (whilst travelling) as taking my Skymasters 20x80 with the HD tripod is not the best idea. I've narrowed the choice down to two options: - Hawke Endurance ED 8x42 (I tested them out during daytime only) - Celestron Skymaster DX 8x56 I will use them only during nighttime, hence my conundrum. Shall I go with better glass and roof, or stick to reliable but lesser quality glass porro? I'm going away in a week's time and spent the past 3 trying to decide. Or do you suggest something entirely different? I definitely want to go with 8x magnification; 10 is good for hand-holding, but 8 allows me to have longer sessions. Budget up to £200.