Opinions - Celestron Skywatcher 15 x 70 porro bins

[Jandy100]

Morning,

Can anyone give we some advice on the Celestron Skywatcher 15 x 70 porro bins?.

I was initially, looking at Celestron Nature 10 x 50 porros bines, but £64 seems like a reasonable price for the 15 x 70's.

I'd be interested to hear what they are like for astronimical use & performance. They weigh 1.4kg so would they be ok for observing or too heavy?

Your comments as always greatly appreciated.

Andy

[GeorgeB]

I find that the skywatcher 15x70's are OK to hand hold for 20 mins or so, but I prefer to use them reclined back in a garden chair, which allows for a fairly comfy hour or so holding them. You will find that hand holding is OK for scanning and looking at large objects, but you will need a tripod or monopod if you want a good steady view of something specific. I've got a monopod, but only use it for looking at Saturn, Jupiter or the Moon.

As for performance, you've got 140mm of combined aperture and the magnification is perfect for most deep sky objects. With a dark enough sky, you should be able to see most messier objects with them. They are my favourite astronomical instrument and very good value for money.

[Jandy100]

I think I should probably stick to 10 x 50 binos as I am getting binos as part of my beginner set up, and one of the suppliers offered 15 x 70 celestron's.

I don't think I want to get into tripods etc as want the binos as an accompliment to the telescope & mount I am going for and also to use as a "grab & go" if I want a "quick" star gaze.

Just seen Helios Naturesport plus 10 x 50's for £85.00 perhaps they will be more suitable? Are BaK-4 prisms highly rated?

Thanks again

Andy

[ronin]

As the magnification goes up then whatever you are looking at bounces around your view more.

You might be able to hold 15x for a while but my experience is having a little dot bouncing round makes the viewing useless.

10x you might get away with.

When used in daylight you tend to look at the whole view so don't experience the movement. When it is a small dot on a dark background the movement shows up much more.

BaK4 is just one of many glass types, why it has become "the one" I have no idea. There are better, but since the manufacturers keep saying "BaK4 prisms" people assume that they are the ones to have.

[Jandy100]

Many thanks for your comments & advice. Always appreciated.

Andy

[Ad Astra]

15x70's are about the largest bins you will want to hand hold, these are reasonably light weight and good quality for the price. I think you are going to want to make sure that you have a tripod and tripod adapter for them, however. The stable tripod platform will increase your enjoyment and ability to reach faint or small targets.

Cheers,

Dan