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Beginner Binoculars

BoilerNebula

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BoilerNebula

BoilerNebula

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I am needing some advice on some binoculars. I am wanting to use them as my first telescope before I get into higher magnification. I have heard a lot about 7x50 and 10x50 even 7x35. I have heard many pros and cons for all of them. I just need some advice on which would be the best and brands. I am also not wanting to break the bank on these. I am looking at $150 or so for them. Thanks!

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BoilerNebula

BoilerNebula

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I just got myself a pair of 10x50 for an amount equal to $50. First impressions are very good, however I could use a few more clear nights to try them out ;) Brand is an inhouse brand of one of our local hardware stores.

Nice. I will try to scout my local stores and try to take a gander at the local pawn shops as well.

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gkec

gkec

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When worked at the RGO (Royal Greenwich Observatory) one of the guys from the optics department said that you should choose 7x50 because the exit beam (50/7=7mm) was equal to the eye pupil diameter when it is dark. I have since learnt that this i true for younger people, older people have smaller pupil diameters. However I have a set of 7x50 and they are impressive on a dark sky.

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BoilerNebula

BoilerNebula

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When worked at the RGO (Royal Greenwich Observatory) one of the guys from the optics department said that you should choose 7x50 because the exit beam (50/7=7mm) was equal to the eye pupil diameter when it is dark. I have since learnt that this i true for younger people, older people have smaller pupil diameters. However I have a set of 7x50 and they are impressive on a dark sky.

7x50's are the ones that I have heard the most about just wanted to make sure before I made a purchase. Thanks!!

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gkec

gkec

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7x50's are the ones that I have heard the most about just wanted to make sure before I made a purchase. Thanks!!

The other thing is that 50s have more light gathering power than 35s. Which is important.

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BoilerNebula

BoilerNebula

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The other thing is that 50s have more light gathering power than 35s. Which is important.

Ya I think they have 10x's the light gathering if I remember right. From what I have looked at Orion has a nice pair of 7x50's for under $100. I trust good brands such as these and I hope they work out. They will probably be a nice birthday present for myself in a couple of months. But if I can find a similar used pair that are not beat up I am going to go with them.

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glowjet

glowjet

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A lot of the cheaper range of binoculars manufactured to-day use BAK-7 prisms and there are less coatings on the objectives to allow maximum light transmission, if you can find a reasonably priced pair in the 7x50 or 10x50 range which have BAK-4 prisms and good multi coated optics in the specification, you will be well on your way to achieving what you want, even a s/h pair with a good spec, sourced from your Cloudy Nights forum, maybe a better investment than buying cheap new ones :)

John.

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gkec

gkec

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Ya I think they have 10x's the light gathering if I remember right. From what I have looked at Orion has a nice pair of 7x50's for under $100. I trust good brands such as these and I hope they work out. They will probably be a nice birthday present for myself in a couple of months. But if I can find a similar used pair that are not beat up I am going to go with them.

I get a light gathering power 50x better than eyes assuming 7mm pupil and 2x better than 35mm objectives. You just compare the areas.

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BoilerNebula

BoilerNebula

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A lot of the cheaper range of binoculars manufactured to-day use BAK-7 prisms and there are less coatings on the objectives to allow maximum light transmission, if you can find a reasonably priced pair in the 7x50 or 10x50 range which have BAK-4 prisms and good multi coated optics in the specification, you will be well on your way to achieving what you want, even a s/h pair with a good spec, sourced from your Cloudy Nights forum, maybe a better investment than buying cheap new ones :)

John.

Thank you. I looked through cloudynights classifieds and found some but it gave me good information on some cheaper but quality binos. I found Gemini 10x50 LW that have the BAK-4 prisms and is under $80!

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