£70 Budget - Which Bino?

[Scosmico]

Hello,

I recently visited a dark sky location and I missed a wide field view of the sky.

What would you advice me? I am looking for binocular with reasonable quality for Astronomy purposes only. My budget is 70ish quid.

Thank you

[garethmob]

id go for the optricron 8X42s aspherics with FLO their £69 i really love mine best thing i ever bought for astronomy but they do have twist up eyepeices not fold up

[cotterless45]

I got a pair of 8x30s Ensign made in Japan for £5 down the charity shop. They're wonderful. Keep an eye out on fleabay, look for the old school stuff, nice.

Nick.

[Hobbes]

If you can strech it to £100 I would go for the Helios Naturesport-Plus 10x50. I tried a pair fo these recently and they are currently top of my shopping list.

[E621Keith]

I second the Opticron Aspheric WA ZWCF GA 8x40

[ollypenrice]

Hand held? If not the Revelation/Celestron 15x70 are a bargain but these aspheric 8x40s look good. For hand holding I now prefer 8x to 10x and there is no point in going for 8x50 because the exit pupil is too large. You might as well settle for the 8x40 or thereabouts at 8x.

Olly

[sologuitarist61]

I got a pair of 8x30s Ensign made in Japan for £5 down the charity shop. They're wonderful. Keep an eye out on fleabay, look for the old school stuff, nice.

Nick.

I quite agree with this, look out for some old pairs; Ebay, charity shops, car boots etc. I picked up a pair of Carl Zeiss Jena Deltrintem 8x30's from a car boot for next to nothing - a few marks on the eyepiece glass, but it doesn't affect the viewing at all and they close focus too - well 2.5 metres or so for birdwatching. Just wish I could find something a little bigger, not necessarily the power but 50mm objectives would be nice.

[Scosmico]

Thank you guys.

I never thought about the 8x42 but seems more quali over some 7x50 available.

Am I going to miss the 8mm, when looking at the milkway for example?

[garethmob]

i dont think its that much difference to be honest. iv seen more objects through my bins than my scope, and my large bins obviously the 8mm will let a bit more light through but i dont think it will be as much

[Carbon Brush]

This year I have bought two Opticron bins, for separate uses. But both shone out in quality. All my other binos are bound for the bin now.

First were

First Light Optics - Opticron HR WP Compact Porroprism.

These 10x26 were lightweight for general daytime use, and particulalry for my wife to watch birds in the garden. Excellent clear image. Mechanically sound. Great spend. Useless at night as they don't bring in enough light.

A few days ago came

First Light Optics - Opticron Imagic TGA WP Porro Prism

These are for night use. The idea being x10 is the mag limit for hand held and more than 50mm glass gets heavy. Again excellent views and well built.

Night performance? Haven't the foggiest in the 'new kit' weather. But they are waterproof in case i decide to try them at night!

I realise these are over your budget. I have an assortment of cheaper poorly performing binoculars at home that between them almost had me convinced that binos for astronomy were a waste of time. A bit like cheapie scopes putting people off astronomy?

[Widefield]

+1 for the Opticron Aspheric WA ZWCF GA 8x40:) They get away with being hand (with the assistance of our bird table), lovely wide field and good colour. I can't fault them for the price.

[ollypenrice]

Thank you guys.

I never thought about the 8x42 but seems more quali over some 7x50 available.

Am I going to miss the 8mm, when looking at the milkway for example?

No, you probably won't miss it at all because the extra light won't go in your eye!

Your dark adapted pupil, if you are lucky, will be 7mm. If it's like mine it will be more like 5mm.

You calculate the exit pupil (the diameter of the beam from the bins) by dividing the objective size by the magnification. So 50/7 = 7.14. Only the keen eyed young will get that into their eye.

Olly

[Scosmico]

Thank you. The 8x40 seems a good buy. To be sure I will check if there is any 10x50 that worth buying. I want something easy on hand.

[onesmallstep]

http://www.telescopehouse.com/acatalog/Meade_10x50_Binocular_Special_Offer.html

I've used these so can confirm that they are very good bins for the money.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I like 10x50 a lot, and have an old Bresser, which works great hand held (I also use a 15x70, both hand held and on a mount). At the moment, I would probably choose the Strathspey marine 10x50. They have individual focusing which is WAY better than centre focusing for astronomy. My new 15x70 have that and that completely removes the need for refocusing during observation.

[Scosmico]

Let's see if I got it right.

8x40 will give me clear view of a wide are of the sky!

The 8x40 seems to be what I am looking for. If I want more detail I can get my scope at lower power.

Thanks for all advice.

[Scosmico]

Which one?

Barr & Stroud Sierra 42mm

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/barr-stroud-binoculars/b-s-sierra-42.html

or

Opticron Aspheric WA ZWCF GA 8x40

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/porroprism/opticron-aspheric-wa-zwcf-ga-8x40.html

[laarobbins]

I'm a newbie to all this but started off with a pair of Celestron 15x70 which were recommended - I am getting on really well with them but will be investing in a mount due to the weight/shake.

Lou

[Scosmico]

Thanks,

but my objective is a wide field bin, hand hold. I tried the 15x70 and doesn't work for me without support.

I'm a newbie to all this but started off with a pair of Celestron 15x70 which were recommended - I am getting on really well with them but will be investing in a mount due to the weight/shake.

Lou