Which of these binoculars should I choose?

[thekraken]

http://www.amazon.co....=olympus 10 50

or

http://www.amazon.co....pr_product_top

I am strongly leaning towards the olympus but am only considering the celestron because it is waterproof and i think it has a better build quality

Please let me know which you think would offer a better view.

Also, although this is a stargazing forum, i want to mention that my binoculars will mostly be used for hiking, bird watching and occasionally looking up at sky.

[rowan46]

welcome to sgl, firstly basics if its mostly hiking and bird watching you want compact and comfortable to carry. you probably don't need something too large most birders use 8x42. Of your choices I would have suggested the olympus solely on the basis of the larger objectives and the fact that they are porros. porros tend to have a better cost/performance ratio. but the recommendation is based on an astronomy requirement. Judging by the fact you linked to amazon.com a look at cloudy nights forum may be helpful as they review many US brands

[NGC 1502]

+1 for post #2.

It's a bit of a compromise when you choose binocs for two different purposes........

Hope you find something that suits.

Welcome to SGL, Ed.

[Charic]

Hi thekraken...

On branding alone I would choose Olympus. 10x50 is good magnification for day time use, and has an exit pupil size of 5mm whereas the Celestron will only give 4.2mm eps. I use 7x50`s which gives 7 times magnification, but has a wider view than 10x would give. I also get an exit pupil size of 7mm.

Exit pupil size is the width of the beam of light leaving the eyepiece into your eye. Hold up a pair of binoculars at arms length and you`ll see a small pinhole of light in the eyepiece . The width of this beam of light is important at lower light levels. 7mm for average younger folk dropping down as you get older. As your eyes widen at night to take in more light, too much exit pupil is overkill, and not enough is bad. You need to marry the exit size with your own dilated pupil size. If you had an exit pupil size of 10mm your wasting light, 2mm size maybe not enough. So if its the occasional night viewing of the stars, a wide field of view to take in the constellations, and a 4mm - 7mm exit pupil is fine. During the day, more magnificatuion may be desirable, but the width of view reduces with magnification. Exit pupil size is worked out by dividing the Objective by the magnification therefore 50 / 10 = 5mm Exit pupil or in my case 50 / 7 = 7.14 and so on.

Hope this helps in some way. take care.

[Geordie mc]

Another vote for the Olympus. Certainly better for astro use. Only slightly heavier for hiking. Don't think you'll notice carrying an extra 11 ounces.

[thekraken]

sorry, i didn't come back to this thread, just got caught up in a few things. Well, thanks everyone for your feedback and based on the overall suggestions i have decided to get the olympus.

[thekraken]

Just one last question, would there be a difference in optical quality between the celestron upclose g2 10x50 and the olympus dps 10x50 and which of those two is better?

http://www.amazon.com/Celestron-UpClose-10x50-Binocular-71256/dp/B006ZN4TZS/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

http://www.amazon.com/Olympus-118760-Trooper-10x50-Binocular/dp/B0000AKGX3/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

[thekraken]

anyway, i went ahead and ordered the olympus.

This thread http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/133745-olympus-10x50-dps-arrived/

was enough to convince me to buy it. This will be my first binoculars and i can't wait to get it :-)

[Charic]

Good choice, I hope they bring you the enjoyment you desire. take care

[Okeydokey]

My instincts are the same, Olympus was a good choice... entirely unqualified except my experience with camera lens and quality which has been very satisfactory