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Starter telescopes vs binoculers pro's and con's.


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I would say there are more pros than cons to a scope over bins - much much higher levels of magnification which you need for planets and the moon and generally bigger aperture which you need for faint fuzzies. bins are obviously much more versatile and can be very cheap.

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OK entering minefield here.

Traditionally the wide field of binos helped you find your way around the sky, so you could make best use of a scope later.

For my money, there is nothing wrong with a wide field scope of a size you can handle easily, on top of an equatorial mount.

This arrangement teaches you finding your way, teaches you about the sky's apparent motion. Lets you see things at higher magnification. Then when someone asks what you are looking at, the object is still in the eyepiece.

I'm sure other opinions (no less worng or right than mine) will follow.

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In my own humble opinion:

Binos -

Pros:

Portable

Low cost

No cooling time

Point and go, learn your way around the sky in a very tactile way

Cons:

Fixed magnification

Low magnification

Small(ish) aperture

Scope -

Pros:

Adjustable magnification

Bigger aperture

Stable image (If binos aren't mounted)

Cons:

Higher cost

Cooling times

Flipped image

Storage and transport

Harder to get a feel for your navigation unless using a red dot finder or similar

Even so, i still prefer the scope :)

I think people just suggest binos as a starting option because A) they require very little investment, and ;) can be used for other things. It's no big deal if after a few weeks you find astronomy isn't for you and all you've bought is a pair of binos, as opposed to a 12" goto dob.

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Binoculars take no time to set up and are simple to use. A decent pair will give good low-power, wide-angle views. They also have many non-astronomical uses, so they are not a waste of money should the buyer not go anywhere with astronomy. They will not be obsoleted by a later larger telescope purchase. Perhaps the biggest factor in favour of binoculars is that decent-quality ones can be had for £50 or less.

A small telescope will have magnification on its side (though don't overdo it), which is great for the moon and the planets but not so important for DSOs. An OK mount may make observing physically easier than handholding binoculars (which can easily give you aching arms and a crick in your neck!), but a poor mount may frustrate. To get a decent small telescope will usually cost a fair bit more than £50, especially if you want the aperture to show you DSOs binoculars can't.

I have only a pair of binoculars right now, and while I'd love to get a scope I know I've barely scratched the surface of what I can see with the bins. I also need to keep learning the sky, right now I know only maybe half-a-dozen constellations.

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My preference is a scope.

You can alter the magnification being the main advantage.

To see Jupiter even as a small disk with a little detail I have found that I need 30x. Rare on a set of binoculars.

If you do get that small sort of magnification then they are expensive, way more then a scope, and you need a pretty solid tripod to be able to use them. So really for a "similar" bit of equipment they are more.

Hand held binoculars have a place, and I use them often. But that is 8x42's, which double up as a general binocular.

For all binoculars have a wider view, in general, they still do not in most instance get a whole constellation in, so still get used for viewing a section only.

I find binoculars best to see where an object may be, clusters etc can be dim but using binoculars often manages to pick them out and confirms their location.

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You can't really compare them - they are totally different instruments. It doesn't need to be a choice between them cos you can get a pair of half decent Rocktrail 10x50's from Liddl's for £15.

Bins will give you wide field low power views whereas a scope will get you closer and you'll see more detail. But sometimes a low power wide field view can be had from a scope too. Get both I would say and enjoy both types of viewing :)

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both telescopes and binoculars have their place and use, check most peoples sigs, they have both.

the bins give that starter push and give plenty of wow moments, just not as many ooohs and ahhs the telescope gives :)

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for me it's more about comfort. I have never been happy observing through bins (for astro observing) as they are (quite literally) a pain in the neck.

I much prefer a small wide field scope as you can vary magnification and observe with your head and neck in a more natural position.

I acknowledge the cost and convenience benefits of a pair of bins though of course.

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Interesting thread.

I just have a small pair of 8x40 bins which I was planning on using before moving up to a small scope. However I'm enjoying them so much I've now gone off the idea of a telescope completely and am now considering more powerful bins instead.

I went to a local astronomy club meet and looked through the the scopes there and considering the size and obvious cost I have to say I wasn't that impressed. Views of Jupiter through a small refractor weren't a whole lot better than my bins were giving me, plus they were upside down and a tripod was essential, so much less portable. Another of the scopes was trained on the Andromeda galaxy. It was much bigger than in my bins but still just faint smear of light so somewhat disappointing for me.

One thing I like about binoculars is that it feels less abstracted than through a scope. You look up in the sky in the same way and direction as you would with the naked eye. And everything is the right way round too, which for a newbie like me seems less confusing too.

And for someone like me who doesn't know the sky at all the ability to jump from constellation to constellation and just scan the sky is great.

The portability and instant usability is real plus too. I don't have that much time for extended star gazing outings so just grab moments when things seem good. A few nights ago, just before I went to bed, I noticed Jupiter was looking particularly grand. I grabbed my bins, leaned out of my bedroom window and got the best view of it's moons I've had so far.

So, after much reading on here and other sites, I'm now leaning towards a pair of Pentax PCF 20x60s for my next step up, rather than a scope. These should be a decent step up from my 8x40s and I'd anticipate that I'll probably continue to use both pairs alongside each other. The 8x40s have an 8 degree FOV compared to just 2.2ish for the 20x60 PCFs.

The appeals for me are the:

  • instant use
  • the two eyed view
  • right way round view
  • zero maintenance
  • No specialist knowledge needed to use (collimation, set up etc).
  • Less cash outlay

In one review (on Cloudy Nights) the reviewer said they used these for 5 hours, hand held. I want to get a tripod/monopod at some point, but I've found that by using natural objects like trees, walls, fences etc. one can steady a pair of bins fairly well without.

I've no doubt I'll want a scope at some point but until I know my way round the sky a lot better than I do know the bins have a definite appeal.

Whatever I get the one thing I feel I really need is darker skies!

--------

Opticron 8x40 WA Aspherics

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Hi

I think the main reason for bins over scopes is the initial cost as you can buy a decent set of bins for under £50 whereas most usable scopes are £100+ up to £loads. Also, with bins you use both eyes so achieve greater contrast through stereo vision.

As mentioned above most astronomers use both so your bins purchase will always be used, the best tool for a given job.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Great thread.

I'm a complete newbie, and am wavering between a pair of 10x50's to help get me into the hobby, or just plunging in with the best 8" reflector my budget can get. Most of the advice in the magazine write-ups seems to be to get the binoculars first, but this thread seems to be pushing in the other direction (with the exception of Syntarsus).

One argument I can see in their favour is that my wife would like to take part in this as well, and there's no way we could afford two 8" telescopes, so maybe an additional pair of binoculars would stop my new hobby being quite so lonely ;)

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