Binocular Advice

[Rorth72]

I am going to invest in a nice pair of binoculars as carting my 10" Dob in and out of the garden is backbreaking work, lol (will use it when I have clear dark skies). In between these sessions I just want a very quick set up time, and can't think of anything better than a nice pair of binoculars. I was wondering if you could advise what is a great pair of general purpose binoculars for observing both some DSO and planets. I don't particularly want to mount them on a tripod,so hand held would be best. Budget wise I can go up to about £150-£200 max. But obviously if there are cheaper great quality ones, then I would go for them. I have been looking at the Olympus 10x50 DPS-1 on Amazon. They are going for £59.94. Are these any good or could you recommend anything better?

[neilm]

For hand held I'd go for the Nikon Action AE 10X50, very good optics, around £150. Though to be perfectly honest you'll still probably get some shake so it may be worth investing in a cheap monopod to hold it steady. If that's a bit steep price wise, try Strathspey, very good bins at reasonable prices.

Strathspey Binoculars

Cheers

Neil

[Polar Bear]

Viewing comfort with binoculars is as important as the binoculars themselves.

As part of your budget I would invest in a good sun-lounger or as in my case one of the angled fold up camping chairs.

Without either of these you will need a tripod / monopod and will still crane your neck looking at most of the sky.

I have owned

15 x 70 Celestrons and 20 x 80 Helios's (both too heavy without a mount) although they were good for Jupiter and its major moons and Saturn on a good seeing night.

10 x 50 Vixen Ultimas. Probably the best cost / performance bins I have ever owned.

Bright , high contrast , little CA and very lightweight for all metal bins. Again Jupiters Moons were not a problem with these bins and a 5 degree field is great for sights like The Pleiades.

Bresser 9 x 63. Expensive (scopes n skies have a pair reduced to £115.00) Good binoculars but heavy compared to the Vixens and I could not discern any difference in performance.

Current bins are a £15.00 pair of 12 x 50 Praktica's from Cash Converters, with lowly Bak 7 prisms but they are very light and perform well.

I am about to sell my 2 scopes and go back to just binoculars (again) and will be looking for some Vixens again.

Paul

[Space Beagle]

Hi,

Ive been using these for the last couple of years and have found them to be ideal companions to my scopes:

First Light Optics - Opticron Imagic TGA WP Porro Prism

(BTW, Astro Baby has done a review of these on her website)

I also have a pair of Celestron Skymaster 15x70s, which do need a tripod / monopod to be really effective, but which I can't really fault for the 50 squids I paid for them.

Doc

[Rorth72]

So, the common consensus is that 15x70 are too big for hand held, as I did consider the Celstron Skymaster 15x70 for 64.99 from Harrison Telescopes?

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