Looking for decent budget binoculars.

[cantab]

Well, I've gone for a pair of Bresser Travelview 10x50s, for £22. Only after buying did I think to check reviews of the seller - scopes'n'skies - here.

So seems like I may have bins in a couple of days, or in a couple of months...

[rory]

are they roof prism or porro ? did they say if they were multicoated optics and bak4 ?

[cantab]

Porro, bak4, but only single-layer coatings I think.

These ones, except listed cheaper in the "Bargain Zone", ex-display I think. Hopefully won't be a lemon. Bresser Bresser Travelview 10x50 porro

[Polar Bear]

Well, I've gone for a pair of Bresser Travelview 10x50s, for £22. Only after buying did I think to check reviews of the seller - scopes'n'skies - here.

So seems like I may have bins in a couple of days, or in a couple of months...

I had bought frequently from Scope'n'Skies without any problems so don't worry too much.

Paul

[Flyingpig]

I can highly recommend Celestron Skymaster 15 x 70 they are fantastic for a budget bino, the extra magnification and good field of view make them a best buy. Retail price is £60+ but take a look at amazon or ebay and see how cheap you can get these they had excellent reviews in Sky at night magazine. Also customer support is great they replaced a 4 year old broken pair (they were trod on at a star party)

[cantab]

Well for now I'm after something easy to hand-hold.

I have thought about those as a possible future purchase if I stick with astronomy and want something a bit bigger though. Since I'm unlikely to be able to afford more than a 3 inch scope (unless I find a 2nd-hand bargain), maybe a pair of 70mm bins and a decent tripod would be a better buy.

[rory]

well good luck with your bin's ,happy gazing..

[todd8137]

a cheap camera tripod is a must helps loads they get heavy and the wobble factor

[onesmallstep]

One tripod I can recommend for the 15x70s is the Horizon 8115 2-way model. This came highly recommended by Sky At Night magazine and can handle bins and scopes up to 100mm objectives. The cost is approx £70-80 and FLO above stock them.

[Flyingpig]

Hiya, yes a tripod is a great investment and will make your observing experience easier since there will be less movement and shake, this will make binocular targets such as the Andromeda Galaxy much easier to observe.

One tripod I can recommend for the 15x70s is the Horizon 8115 2-way model. This came highly recommended by Sky At Night magazine and can handle bins and scopes up to 100mm objectives. The cost is approx £70-80 and FLO above stock them.

I agree with John this is a great tripod but a cheap £5 - £10 budget one will do the trick until your financial situation improves. A planesphere is another essential unless you have a sky map app on your mobile, and a red torch to read it with!

Happy observing

Phil

[cantab]

Well, they arrived today.

They feel decently solid, however there's a break in one of the eyepiece cups. Hopefully this won't get any worse. The eyepiece cups themselves are a slightly unusual twist-up design (to accommodate glasses).

Focus and centre hinge are smooth and easy to operate. Dioptre by contrast is VERY stiff, a real effort to adjust.

I did most of my focussing and testing on a tower crane a few miles away. It's two lines with the naked eye, but the bins clearly show the lattice structure and the cable. Views are crisp and clear, though for some reason each side individually seems better than I can get both together. Focus is good over a bit more than the central half of the field, and I can't pick up any pincushion/barrel, but there's a little CA.

Beeb are predicting a clear night, so with any luck I can test them out on the sky tonight. The weight does get noticeable after a bit of holding them, will have to see how that is on the sky too.

[Daz1974]

What ones did you go for in the end?

I ordered som Celestron upclose 10x50s a couple of weeks ago. Within a couple of days the left eye rubber cup split, well I say split, it was hanging on by a thread. So I sent them back and got confirmation a replacement set would be sent out.

They arrived this morning and Ive just been resent to original faulty ones I sent back over a week ago!!!

[cantab]

Bresser Travelview 10x50. I think they may be the same or similar as the ones that people have talked about turning up in Lidl.

[onesmallstep]

The Meade 10x50s are also sold under the Bresser logo so I should they are a generic design sold to several suppliers.

[Daz1974]

Just ordered those Meades you recommended now MyMemory have confirmed they will refund me for the Celestron's.

As a point to note, the customer services rep did say they are getting a lot of issues with Celestron recently regaridng faulty products.

[Space Beagle]

Hope you get on with the new bins!!

They don't sound too bad reading from the website, especially for £22!

Doc

[cantab]

I posted a report of how I got on with them in the Observation Reports forum.

[Flyingpig]

If you have a split in the rbber eyecup on a brand new pair of bino's I would return them for replacement as that split will most likely develop further and spoil them -especially if you use them a lot. I know it may be inconvenient now but you'll be glad that you did later - or regretful if you leave it!

[GarethA]

Anyone got any advice for tripod mounting 10x or 15x bins - do any of them come with 1/4" tripod mounting socket?

I can use them handheld but want to be able to point them at something then show people.

Thanks!

[onesmallstep]

Anyone got any advice for tripod mounting 10x or 15x bins - do any of them come with 1/4" tripod mounting socket?

I can use them handheld but want to be able to point them at something then show people.

Thanks!

Hi and welcome to SGL!

The binocular adaptor is usually an extra purchase priced between £10-20 depending on the type. The 1/4" fitting should be the standard for all bins but there will possibly be some exceptions. Try to buy the all-metal versions as the plastic ones transmit vibration like an earthquake. The Horizon 8115 heavy duty tripod comes with a base plate that screws onto the adaptor and is fixed to the tripod by a tension clip.

HTH!

[GarethA]

oh I see, thanks - so something like this would do the trick for most (all?) brands of large binos?

[Strugz]

Got some Meade 10x50's for my birthday. Really happy with them. I'm sure Lidl were selling bins for 15 quid that are good for the money!

Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk.

Skywatcher 130. 9mm 12mm 15mm 20mm 32mm revelation eps. Meade 10 x 50 bins.

[onesmallstep]

oh I see, thanks - so something like this would do the trick for most (all?) brands of large binos?

Hi

Yup, that's the sort of thing I was thinking about. You might like to look at the following as well.

Celestron Binocular Tripod Adaptor | Binocular Accessories | Rother Valley Optics

HTH!

[cantab]

If you have a split in the rbber eyecup on a brand new pair of bino's I would return them for replacement as that split will most likely develop further and spoil them -especially if you use them a lot. I know it may be inconvenient now but you'll be glad that you did later - or regretful if you leave it!

I know I probably SHOULD have returned them, but I wanted to make use of the clear nights! (And they were an end-of-line discount so couldn't have got a straight replacements). At the price it's no big deal if they break.

[russ.will]

eBay - The UK's Online Marketplace

I just bought these from my other post on 10x50's. If you can wait 3-4 days I can let you know on how good and/or bad I found them to see if I can recommend them to you, for £20 insta buy I will take that risk!

I saw this post and 30 seconds later, had bought a pair. It's just too cheap to be a real risk.

I tried a pair whilst I was at Scope 'n' Skies the other day (along with a pile of others they had outside on a table) and whilst some were clearly better, they were also clearly more expensive. They seemed comfortable and easy to adjust and even on a bright day, CA seemed acceptable when looking through trees. At less than £20, it's a no brainer.

Russell