Celestron 6" v Helios Apollo 28 x 110 binos

[Scott Kenobi]

Hello there friends. My first post is a question. I've previously owned a Mede 8" LX10 which I sold a long time ago. With the invention of the wonderful iPad and it's apps my astronomy interest has been reignited so I'm considering an instrument purchase again.

I was looking at purchasing the Helios Apolllo 28 x 110 binos and marrying them with a manfrotto tripod and head. Now for around the same price I can get the Celestron Nexstar 6se scope. So which would suit me best? What are the pros and cons of each?

Thanks in advance of your advice.

[Adrian]

As always, it depends on what you want (is portability important?) and what you want to view.

Those look like excellent binoculars, but I would always go with the scope. With the bins you are stuck with a single magnification - you can't choose to frame what you are looking at by selecting a different eyepiece, or go in closer to small objects (planets, planetary nebulae etc).

A pair of binoculars are a useful tool, but (IMO) in conjunction with a scope.

With the 6SE, you should also budget for some eyepieces and a dewshield. Depending on space constraints, other scopes may be better options (10" Dob, 200p on EQ5 etc) but that's a different can of worms

[Scott Kenobi]

I agree a dew shield and extra eyepieces would be helpful. The Meade suffered greatly from heavy condensation after brief periods outside in the winter. That would take the budget for the scope higher than the binos, but a good trade off would be the ability to interchange the eyepieces. I would think the dew shield would be a purchase at the same time as the scope, and maybe extra eyepieces could come courtesy of Santa. I see the scope comes with a couple of eyepieces to get the ball rolling so to speak.

Now am I closer and clearer with the 6SE rather than the binos?