hand held binoculars budget £150

[engo]

Hello all

I apologies in advance as I'm sure variations of this question must get asked all the time and it's probably rather tiresome for experienced members.

I'm eager to start, have decided that as a complete novice binoculars are the way to go. Having read several threads on this and other sites I'm utterly confused as to whether I want to go 8x42; 10x50; 12x56; 15x70 etc. I want to get fullycoated/fully multi-coated; with diopter. I'd probably be going handheld, unless the general view is that a tri/monopod means I can get heavier binos and they will really open up a whole new world....?Advice on this most welcome.

From my limited research and even more limited knowledge, I'm thinking of going Barr&Stroud Savannah 12x56 to start me off, see how I go. Or maybe Nickon Action VII 10x50?

It'd be good to be able to take them travelling - I go to Los Picos de Europ[a a lot so it would be good to take there with me, but I'd suffer the hassle of packing tri/monpost etc if the general view is the paybeck is worth it. But the fact of the matter is I live in London so light pollution is an issue though trips out beyond the M25 certainly are on the cards. 

If increasing my budget to £200 significantly helps, then I'll happily do that.

Or am I better off starting with a cheap pair of 10x50 - Celestron Cavalry or 8x42 and see how I go? Or an old pair of Carl Zeiss Jenna 10x50s or 7x50s or 8x30s?

Grateful for any advice

[ronin]

For general use the "standard" 8x42's seem to give good all round performance.

They will do everything that you will need and are easy to use by hand. I keep a set in the car.

Binoculars are for general viewing, you are not going to see surface features of the planets, they remain as small disc's and that is it. Clusters come up well in binoculars. They are not high magnification bits of equipment.

Which ones(brand) to get is more difficult.

Mine are nothing fancy Bushnell Natureview (roof prism variety).

The lens covers are terriable items :eek: , binoculars are good but the lens covers are the poorest things you will ever see. No-one has a clue why. In general the reviews are "Very good binoculars, worst lens covers ever put on a binocular".

Looking round Bushnell has made small design changes, I wonder if that inclues the covers? (I hope so).

Less cost are the Bushnell H2O binoculars, shorter and feel more solid, come in at about £100.

After that I only know of ones that cost more as in around £600 - Minolta's, Vortex etc.

Should be a selection of shops in London to visit and try a few out.

[engo]

Thanks for the advice Ronin, much appreciated

[ronin]

It is difficult to pick a set of binoculars, there are so many that it becomes difficult, you are never quite sure.

I picked mine after trying many sets out and all I wanted was a non-too costly set, the Bushnells fitted well and I was pleased with the result.

I would like the Minox (sorry I said Minolta on the previous post) as they were excellent, but £600+.

You can get 10x50 but they do not really seem to add much ultimately.

A set of Vortex 12x50's were brilliant, but cannot recall which set, and at that magnification and weight would I suspect become tiring after a while. Still they were very nice.

The Natureviews are better then the H2O's optically and they are the ones used at the house for looking at the stars and objects. Main use is to locate where things are, then I know where to point a scope, or where the scope should point in the case of a goto.

If you really wanted to save money, check out the charity shops and similar. Occasionally they get some reasonable sets donated. You may get lucky.

[John]

I find around 10x is the most magnification that I can hand hold for astro use. I can go a little higher for birding but not a lot. I can hand hold 15x70's for very short periods but in order to really study an astro target they need to be tripod mounted.

Personally I find the porro prism design works better for astronomical viewing than the roof prism type.

My son uses a pair of Helios Naturesport 8x40's for nature watching trips abroad and they seem to work pretty well for astro viewing too when I've used them.

[engo]

Thanks as well for your tips there John - really helpful.

Decisions, decisions...

Anyone got a suggestion as to what to go for from this lot?

An old pair of Zeiss Jenas 10x50; Zeiss BGAT 10x40; Helios Naturelsport 10x50; Celstron Skymaster 12x60 (or15x70); Nikon Aculon A211 10x42; Olumpis DPS-1 10x50; Barr&Stroud Sahara 10x50

[engo]

of course I mean - Olympus...DPS-1

I'm just after a decent entry level pair of binos which will help me learn the skies over a year or two

[PorkyB]

I have these http://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p1406_TS-10x50WP-Wide-Angle-Outdoor-Binocular---waterproof-and-nitrogen-filled.html and they are excellent.  Nitrogen filled so they don't fog up on the inside, and a good rubber coating.  I though waterproofing was a bit OTT, as you don't do astronomy in the rain, but it's surprising how wet astro gear can get.

Most importantly, the views are excellent.  I use them with a monopod for a bit more stability, although they are not too heavy to use hand-held..

[engo]

Thanks Porkyb!

[jamespels]

I have, and love, a pair of Revelation 20x80s (essentially the same ans the Celestron equivalents - I think they are made by the same people?) that I picked up for about £70. There is no doubt they need a mount of some description - I have "borrowed" a Manfrotto pro photographers tripod from a family member but again you should be able to pick up something appropriate for around £50 if you are OK with second hand.

For smaller bins, I also have access to a pair of 8x40 Bushnell Natureviews and a very small pair of 4x30 Bushnell bins that belong to my daughter - I have been very pleased with the optical quality of both, especially given they cost around £35 each on eBay. No need for a tripod with either of these but it is remarkably hard to hold them properly still for any length of time.

For sheer ease of use, I would go with the bins over a scope any day - I can have the 20x80s set up in about a minute - and the views are very good so long as your expectations are realistic.

My advice on bins - trawl the auction sites, here and give astroboot a look (www.astroboot.co.uk) for bargains. There is an element of risk but a decent brand is unlikely to suffer from major issues and you always benefit from distance selling regs.

Hope this helps,

James.

[philj]

As John says 10x is about the limit for handhekd, unless you have no nerves at all and dont suffer from shakes:-)

A pair of good 10x50s will do most things astro and terrestrial, good all rounders. I have a pair of 9x63s which are excellent for handheld astro, low mag so less affected by my shakes, largeish aperture so plenty of photons but still light enough to be manageable.

[engo]

After much soul searching a lots more researching, I finally made a decision and opted for a pair of Opticron Imagic TGA WP 10x50 and I cannot wait!!      

Thaks to everyone for their advice and even tough I might not have gone for what people recommended you clearly had a major influence in my decision as when I reviewed each recommendation, it led to other recomoendations in other forums and I noticed the Opticrons came up time and again and seem very popular.Since I've never looked at the skies through anything before, not even cheap bins, I'm sure I'm in for a treat. Cannot wait!

Thanks again everyone - really appreciate the advice

[PorkyB]

I'm sure you will enjoy them..  My bins were the first bit of astro kit I bought and still get regular use.  I don't have a goto mount for my scope, so when looking for a new target it always helps to have a look around with the bins first to get my bearings.  Also, I regularly drive through the countryside at night, so I keep the bins in the car.  There is nothing like the simple pleasure of parking up for an hour and taking in the night sky with the bins.

There are some things that just look better through bins: Kemble's Cascade, the Double-Cluster, the Coathanger ... (I could go on).

I find a monopod (you will also need an L-bracket) has the best balance between stability and portability, but if I want to use them hand-held then I lean against something solid, like a wall or the car.

There is much useful advice, including the best way to use bins hand-held on this excellent site  http://binocularsky.com/

[engo]

Thanks PorkyB - really helpful info. I'm a complete novice so all these pointers are incredibly helpful, espcially the basics such as how to hold binos correctly.

I need to get some reading material and start educating myself as well. And I've seen there's an astro club not far from me so I must get onto them once the optis have arrived and I can manage to hold them to my face. Re monopod - I guess best bet is to call FLO or siilar and ask them for suitable make which would suit? I'm sure they can advise me. Thanks again!!