Helios mistral

[mdhardy01]

Hi all

I'm thinking of getting a pair of these in the 10x52 guise to take on holiday to Cyprus for general and astronomical use

What are your thoughts ?

Any othe recommendations in the £100 range?

Many thanks

Matt

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[mdhardy01]

Anyone??

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Do you mean 10x42 or 10x56?

I do not know these bins myself, though my experience with Helios bins to date has been good (only the Apollo 15x70 HD). In general, I prefer porro-prism binoculars in this price range. Roof prisms are more complicated pieces of optics, and more difficult to manufacture. Hence, most really good ones are quite expensive. My guess would be that a porro-prism type in the same price bracket would be better.

Have you checked out this excellent site: http://binocularsky....oc_choosing.php

[BinocularSky]

As far as I am aware, there is no such binocular as a Helios Mistral 10x52. This may be one reason for the lack of response.

In general, roof prism binoculars have to be made to much higher specs than porro prism ones (see http://binocularsky.com/binoc_basics.php#4 for discussion of this). Whilst i don't know the Helios Mistral range, it is very difficult to see how a £100 roof-prism binocular could be reliably good for astronomy; you will get much better image quality if you spend that money on a decent-ish Porro prism binocular. Some recommendations at http://binocularsky.com/binoc_choosing.php#5

[mdhardy01]

These are the ones

http://www.scopesnskies.com/bargain-zone.html

They are second or third in

Matt

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[BinocularSky]

I sit corrected. Must be a discontinued one. My earlier caveats still apply, though. See if you can find a review of it somewhere. On budget stuff (which that is, for RP), corners tend to be cut on quality control and the "invisible internals"; look for comments about poor optical alignment or susceptibility to bumps.

[mdhardy01]

Thanks for the reply

So in the £100 price range what would be a better option?

Matt

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[neilm]

Matt,

You could try the Stathspey range, they get good reviews for their quality and service. I used to have a pair of their 20x90 but succumbed to some Helios Apollos. Have a look at the Marine, not too heavy and the right price bracket. http://www.strathspey.co.uk/

Cheers

Neil

[BinocularSky]

So in the £100 price range what would be a better option?

Some recommendations at http://binocularsky...._choosing.php#5

[Nibor]

You may like to consider either of these wide angle 6.5 degree Helios binos:-

http://www.firstligh...sport-plus.html

I have the 8 x 40 version - which I really enjoy using because I find that the 8.2 degree wide angle makes it easier to place objects into context and the 8x magnification is not too tiring to use when hand held.

http://www.firstligh...us-8x40-wa.html

From a nature observing point of view the wider 8.2 degree angle makes it easier to watch birds in flight - and the same advantage applies to motorsport etc.

I have seriously consided buying the 10x version but I do have a fairly good pair of Olivion QB binos which do a great job but only have a 5 Degree FOV.

http://www.opticalha...livon-binos.htm

FLO did have a recent offer on the Helios Binos:-

http://stargazerslou...x50-binoculars/

I also use a lightweight but firm photographic tripod and Ironing "perch" (chair) to make observing less tiring.

http://www.amazon.co...42005913&sr=1-1

Hope this helps.

[mdhardy01]

Hi nibor

How do you find the 8x40s for astro?

I'm looking for a fairly compact

But powerful pair I've almost bought the Pentax 10x50 from FLO as well as the ioptocron imagic 10x50s too but I was hoping for something a little more compact

Also considered the 10x42s but not sure

Matt

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Nibor]

Hi nibor

How do you find the 8x40s for astro?

I'm looking for a fairly compact

But powerful pair I've almost bought the Pentax 10x50 from FLO as well as the ioptocron imagic 10x50s too but I was hoping for something a little more compact

Also considered the 10x42s but not sure

Matt

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Matt,

The 8 x 40's dimensions are:- L=7", D = 2.5", H = 5.5" - so reasonably compact but certainly not pocket size.

I took them to N Cyprus earlier this year and I like them for the wide 8.2 FOV that they give - at 650 grammes they are not too heavy but I like to use them with a good photo tripod which I tend to use as a monopod by not extending the legs!!

Being 8x they clearly have less magnification than 10x but I am prepared to sacrificea the slight drop in magnification for the wider FOV.

A friend of mine who is a keen birdwatcher called by a few weeks ago and we did a daylight side by side comparison with a pair of Swarowski binos. We were amazed at how good the the Naturesport were!!

Hope this helps.

Robin