Revelation 15x70 binoculars

[dynamo hum]

Well, I don't have a scope yet, but my 15x70 Revelations turned up today (excellent 24 hour turnaround from Telescope House) so I thought I'd share my views here.

OK - so you have to understand where I'm coming from. I've never seen the night sky before through anything but my own eyes. I've been a habitual star gazer since as far back as I can remember, but it's all just been dots in the sky (though I recall one trip to Majorca where I almost felt I could reach out and touch the Milky Way ).

Anyway, these bins arrived and the first thing I do is strap them to an old Linhof dual axis tripod (picked up for a song on evilbay - 100% quality 'West German' workmanship for the price of a curry). It's not quite high enough for comfortable viewing at the zenith (around 5'), but I can overlook that due to the lovely slick controls. I did have some trouble getting the bins to mount to the tripod - and had to reverse the mount to enable more vertical tilting, hence the back to front appearance in the images below. But for now, it works well enough.

Anyway, 'first light' . All I can say is - wow! Excellent conditions this evening, and I just stood there staring at the Orion nebula for ages. Then I found the one other object in the sky that I could recognise - the Pleiades/seven sisters. The binos showed colours in the stars I'd never seen before. Simply awesome (for me - but I'm probably easily impressed right now ).

The binoculars have a nice non-slip rubbery feel to them, and come with a shoulder bag + caps for the optics and a lens cloth. I think the straps are a bit flimsy, and I wouldn't want to use them unless absolutely necessary.

Things I've noticed with the Revelations - very stiff focusing rings (though that's not a bad thing come to think of it), and also a sort of streaky effect with any stars at the edge of the image circle. I can live with that as I'm not taking any images through them, but I guess it shows some limitations in the optics (for £49 though, I'm not complaining).

Here are a couple of shots showing what they look like.

[scotastro]

dynamo hum

Thanks for the report - the sky will never be the same for you again. I have seen the adverts for these bins and often considered them, but wondered if they were to good to be true for the low price. Can you estimate how much of the field of view is distorted.

Though I have a teelscope I do like seeing how faint it is possible to get using 7x50 alone. The extra light gathering would be good for that.

Check out the net for lots of suggestions on Messier and NGC objects that are binocular objects. As the Plough is high check out M51 it is only 35million light years!

Scotastro

[russ]

I have the same 15 x 70 bins and the same railway Hours of enjoyment from both.

Russ

[dynamo hum]

Yeah, the Brio train set was another ebay bargain. I spoil my kids I do .

[russ]

Good ol Ebay

[GazOC]

Russ, are these rebadged Celestrons?

[dynamo hum]

Russ, are these rebadged Celestrons?

From what I've read I believe they are the same, though Russ or someone else can confirm.

One thing I noticed last night while observing was what appeared to be chromatic abberations while viewing Sirius. As I'm still 100% a newbie at astronomy I wasn't sure if that was really the case or if the star was showing some colour shifts that I couldn't see by eyesight alone. It had a blue and sometimes a magenta tinge. Is that just how the star looks or a result of the optics?

[GazOC]

I wouldn't 'test' then on Sirius for the reasons you have mentioned. They probably will show some false colour on bright objects but Sirius isn't really giving them a fighting chance.

[Whippy]

I have the same 15 x 70 bins and the same railway Hours of enjoyment from both.

Russ

Yep, same bins (although I've got the Celestron ones) and same railway but with Thomas the Tank engine trains. The kids use the bins and I like trains....

Tony..

[BillUp]

Hi all, BillUp here, I've just bought the same Revelation 15x70's and think they are great for the money. I am also a complete novice when it comes to Astronomy but I thought I would take the first step with some bino's. chromatic aberrations you mention. Let me get this right, is it like a rainbow round a certain object? It's just I was looking at this bloke with a bald head the other day, he was about 300 yards away and I noticed like a rainbow round his head. Now I don't know whether it was just the Sun shining off his Egg :wave: or it was this chromatic aberration you mention? If this is the case then it was quite noticeable.

One other thing, you say you bought the tripod off e-bay, is it adequate for the 15x70's and if so could you post me a link to the product if it a multiple buy? I am looking for a cheap stand but of course I need it to be sturdy enough. Thanks a lot guys!! :sunny:

PS...I have nothing against people with bald head's!!

PPS.. When I spoke to the man at Telescope House he said that these are exactly the same in every way to the Celestrons. I have also looked very closely to both pairs and can see no difference whatsoever apart from a different grip pattern on the body. So I would surmise that you are paying an extra £30 for the no quibble guarantee Celestron offer

[dynamo hum]

Hi all, BillUp here, I've just bought the same Revelation 15x70's and think they are great for the money. I am also a complete novice when it comes to Astronomy but I thought I would take the first step with some bino's. chromatic aberrations you mention. Let me get this right, is it like a rainbow round a certain object? It's just I was looking at this bloke with a bald head the other day, he was about 300 yards away and I noticed like a rainbow round his head. Now I dont know whether it was just the Sun shining off his Egg :wave: or it was this chromatic aberration you mention? If this is the case then it was quite noticeable.

One other thing, you say you bought the tripod off e-bay, is it adequate for the 15x70's and if so could you post me a link to the product if it a multiple buy? I am looking for a cheap stand but of course I need it to be sturdy enough. Thanks a lot guys!! :sunny:

PS...I have nothing against people with bald head's!!

I guess is was a sort of rainbow effect, but I didn't see any CA when looking at the moon which is why I was thinking it may be just an attribute of the star (god there's so much to learn with this stuff...).

The tripod is a really old model (note the reference to 'west germany') so I doubt if you'll find any multiple buys . Linhof make the finest large format cameras and tripods in the world so not something you'll come across every day, but if you get someone selling a Linhof tripod for a few quid then snap it up anyway - very nicely machined.

[DaveGibbons]

Like Dynamo hum I live in Southport and also have a pair of 15x70 revelation bins. They are made in the same factory as celestron Skymasters. I use mine on a telescope house Horizon tripod and they give lovely widefield views of the night sky. optically no complaints with my pair they are well collimated and certainly the best £50 I have spent.

Dave

[BillUp]

I've just had a look at the linhof's on e-bay, there was 2 I think, I'll have another look at them, there were a few more but in the USA. The Revelation's do feel well made for the money and I was impressed with the optics, I couldn't look at any Stars or Planets though as I was hand holding and at best it was like a Fire Fly in front of my eye's darting about everywhere. I think I may purchase the Horizon tripod, it's the one TH recommended. Did you buy a different mounting bracket as everyone says they are flimsy and need to be binned for a studier one? I know TH sell them just wondered which one you bought if any?

[dynamo hum]

I've just had a look at the linhof's on e-bay, there was 2 I think, I'll have another look at them, there were a few more but in the USA. The Revelation's do feel well made for the money and I was impressed with the optics, I couldn't look at any Stars or Planets though as I was hand holding and at best it was like a Fire Fly in front of my eye's darting about everywhere. I think I may purchase the Horizon tripod, it's the one TH recommended. Did you buy a different mounting bracket as everyone says they are flimsy and need to be binned for a studier one? I know TH sell them just wondered which one you bought if any?

I bought the 'heavy duty' mounting bracket from TH - it was around 10 or 12 pounds. TBH, it's just an L shaped piece of metal. It works well enough, though the connection from the binoculars to the bracket is not as tight as I'd like it to be. The connection of the bracket to the tripod is fine once you use an appropriate screw.

I'd be wary of a lot of Linhof tripods on ebay - lots of them are in poor condition and are traded on their name. Unless you can get a good one under £20 I'd stick with a generic tripod from TH etc.

[scotastro]

Cannot say I have ever see a rainbow with chromatic abberation. The Moon is always a good object to show it up - if it is there and quite bad you will see a violet line on one side and a green on the other.

Scotastro

[BillUp]

Thank you for your advice gents, very much appreciated. I really like this forum and I will make it my Astronomy forum of choice. When someone is as wet behind the ears as I am they need good advice so here's to the Heavens and everyone that lives in them!! :stars:

[Kaptain Klevtsov]

Hi all, BillUp here, I've just bought the same Revelation 15x70's and think they are great for the money. I am also a complete novice when it comes to Astronomy but I thought I would take the first step with some bino's. chromatic aberrations you mention. Let me get this right, is it like a rainbow round a certain object? It's just I was looking at this bloke with a bald head the other day, he was about 300 yards away and I noticed like a rainbow round his head. Now I don't know whether it was just the Sun shining off his Egg :wave: or it was this chromatic aberration you mention? If this is the case then it was quite noticeable.

The colour fringing thing should mostly go away if you get the focus perfect. Get him to stand there again and change the focus slightly to see if it cures it. With my 16x70 Adler bins colour fringing on daytime stuff is obvious but gets worse out of focus. At night it doesn't seem anywhere near as obtrusive.

Kaptain Klevtsov

[BillUp]

Thanks for the advice Kaptain, you could well be right and it certainly didn't ruin the experience for me, I was actually pleasantly surprised how good they were for the money. I was also going to buy the Skymaster 15x70 but went for the cheaper option and for once in my life it went in my favour! One thing I did notice is that in the instructions it says that you adjust the interpupillary distance by moving the body in until you get a complete circle. Now when I do it to get a complete circle it squeezes my nose by about 0.5cm. With the bino's in a comfortable position it is just slightly off being a full circle, is this a problem? I don't have the biggest of noses so I find it a little strange. If it is not to much of a problem then that's fine as it is only just slightly off being perfect. Thank you forthwith for any advice!

PS...Does anyone on this Forum go to the Maidenhead Astronomical Society, just wondered as I am joining on the 7th March. Happy days!!

[yesyes]

PS...Does anyone on this Forum go to the Maidenhead Astronomical Society....

Not going to the AS but I'm living in Maidenhead...

[thing]

Another 15x70 user here. Superb value for money. I would estimate coma is apparent in the outer 25% of the FOV, but you tend not to look at that bit. Globs like M13 are easily visible. It makes scooting around the sky a joy if you only have a spare ten minutes.