Which 10x50s for £100 secondhand?

[angusb1]

I quite fancy some Zeiss Jenoptems which I could probably get for about £100 second hand if I wait around for a while and keep an eye on ebay. I've heard they are a bit heavy but well made and very good views on axis. Does anyone have any alternative suggestions? I'm not averse to buying new necessarily but I like secondhand as it means I can sell them on without losing much if I don't like them, and usually you get a bit better quality for your money

.

[Mr Onions]

I think your idea of waiting for the CZJ is a good idea.

They don't have the best coatings of the quality binoculars but they're very sharp.

I'm on the lookout for a 8x30 pair.

[E621Keith]

If you are going for 2nd hand, a pair of Pentax PCF 10x50 can be a good choice.

From what I gathered, most CZJ on the used market are Japanese fakes (from an era when Japan was the world's cloning machine, not China).

[angusb1]

Thanks gents I'll keep my eyes open for a pair of Pentax.

[angusb1]

After a lot of deliberation and patient scouring of second hand sites, in May I got a pair of Vixen Ultima 8x56 binoculars off ebay for £45.  I'm very happy with them, they are at least 15 years old I reckon, possibly twice that but are in excellent condition.  Powerful enough to see the moons of Jupiter and Saturn's rings but light enough and steady enough for handholding.  Where they really shine is for cruising through the Milky Way and looking at open clusters. 

[stargazerslivingroom]

For anyone considering some Zeiss Jenoptems (especially from EBay) this may be worth a read.

http://www.holgermerlitz.de/jenoptem.html

HTH

Steve

[nerointegrale16v]

how about helios fieldmaster, im happy with them

http://www.harrisontelescopes.co.uk/acatalog/Helios_Fieldmaster_10x50_Binocular.html

good value for the money

[jimmyjamjoejoe]

+1 love my fieldmasters

[todd8137]

X50 in my opinion are not big enough for astro use pleadies and great orion neb being the exception

Pat

[angusb1]

X50 in my opinion are not big enough for astro use pleadies and great orion neb being the exception

Pat

The Hyades, the Milky Way and plenty of open clusters are also fantastic with a pair of ?x50s.  I had a great time looking at objects around Scorpio with my 10x50s.  How much you can see with a small objective also depends on how dark your skies are.  Not much good for splitting double stars but excellent for some larger targets.

[BinocularSky]

May I just add that many of the Collinder objects, most of the Melotte objects, and very many fine asterisms (e.g. Kemble's Cascade, the Leaping Minnow),  are far better in small-to-medium binoculars than most telescopes -- not least because they actually fit in the field of view!

But, as with everything else in this great hobby, it's all down to personal taste...

[John P]

Another +1 for the Helios Fieldmaster, great value for money bins

[edjuh]

There are quite some good 10x50's to be had.

I am not well informed on the UK market, but since the world is somewhat bigger than that, I would suggest putting the ebay filtering to europe

or you go to ebay.de directly. My suggestion is the Tento 10x50. They are not very modern, but do deliver a good view.