Sub £200 bins - advice please!

[Neil27]

Hi guys,

Looking at getting a pair of binoculars, good quality, possibly ED glass, able to fit to my newly acquired sky tee 2 mount.

Suggestions please, want to rediscover the simple pleasure of sweeping the heavens in wide field glory.

Many thanks, Neil.

[jgs001]

Neil,

Have a look a the first page of http://stargazerslounge.com/showthread.php?t=187669

My Savannah ED's arrived today, and they are very nice. Lovely crisp view in a quick test out, but I've not tried them on the sky yet.

[BinocularSky]

Hi guys,

Looking at getting a pair of binoculars, good quality, possibly ED glass,

I'm assuming from your list of kit that you recognise the value of quality over quantity; for this reason, I recommend some incarnation of the Kunming 10x50 BA8; an example of this is teh WO 10x50: http://www.firstlightoptics.com/william-optics-binoculars.html

[Neil27]

Hi John,

Like the look of the Savannahs, especially at that price, how easy are they to mount on a tripod? Do they come with a tripod adaptor?

My budget is up to around £250, might be able to stretch it a little more if necessary....

Also looking for lightweight if possible and I wear specs.

Thanks

Neil,

Have a look a the first page of http://stargazerslounge.com/showthread.php?t=187669

My Savannah ED's arrived today, and they are very nice. Lovely crisp view in a quick test out, but I've not tried them on the sky yet.

[jgs001]

I've not tried as yet... they didn't come with an adapter, but have a mounting bush, but then, for me, I've already got a decent adapter and tripod... Not sure I'd call them lightweight mind you... the 8x56 weight just over 1Kg. I think the twist up eyecups would accomodate your glasses, there's a large range of positions on them. I can't really help much more than that, this is my first pair of bins of > £50 value ...

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I have been sorely tempted by the WO bins mentioned above. At 10x50 they need no tripod in my experience. Have you considered looking at secondhand bins? I got a magnificent pair of Helios Apollo 15x70HD bins for £180 (had to replace the handle of the case, which I knew was broken when I bought it, one 3 euro repair later, it is fine ).

These are not lightweight, but great bins. On a skytee 2 mount I would prefer bins with angled EPs (90 deg preferably). With straight-through bins, I would go for a parallelogram mount or P-mount. The one I made can be seen here:

http://stargazerslounge.com/showthread.php?t=182775

[Neil27]

Thanks for the advice guys, in the end I went for these - Helios AME4 8X42 - as they feel great in the hand, quite light and got a great deal from Ian at RVO - http://www.green-witch.com/acatalog/AM-E4_High_Resolution_Binoculars.html

However the story doesn't end here and I will be on the look out for a more 'substantial' pair of bins in the 'big league' category soon!

Once again thanks,

Neil

[Veracocha]

For anyone who's interested there are a few pairs of Hawke Frontier ED's on a well known auction site and hovering around £200. I put them above any other ED glass up to and including those around the £1k mark.