Show Us Your Binoculars.

[johnbaz]

On 25/08/2018 at 09:57, Geoff Barnes said:

I have to say I've never even looked in the Binocular threads, but I do have a pair of Sunagor 8-24x Mini Zoom bins which I've had for so long I can't even remember exactly where and when I bought them. It was probably 30 odd years ago and possibly from Jessops, or maybe even Argos in Southampton, not sure.

Anyway, they are really compact and great for keeping in your pocket when hiking etc. and nice and lightweight. The zoom function works surprisingly well, though you do have to re-focus as you zoom. FOV is obviously smaller at 24x but still acceptable and the views are really quite sharp for a cheap and cheerful pair.

I quite often still use them to scour the sky for faint visual objects like Omega Centauri before unleashing the 12 inch Dob.

Out of interest, Sunagor are still going strong and have the proud boast of producing the world's most powerful binoculars, the mind boggles as to how truly awful they must be at 160x zoom!  http://www.sunagor.com/acatalog/info_13.html

I recently found a sunagor 15-70x25, These are shocking at the higher mags but passable as a 15x binocular!! ?

In all fairness though, I couldn't be bothered to dig the tripod out to mount them on!!

 

 

John ?

[AstroFin]

Here are some pictures of my pair of binoculars. ?  They are Canon 10x30 IS II and I got to say that I couldn’t be more pleased with them.

Despite their small aperture they have already showed me many things I had never seen with a handheld binocular. 

Albireo is an easy split, as is many other double star. Wide field stargazing is simply awesome. M33, M81, and many other deep sky objects are within reach. The amount of detail seen on the Moon seems endless. Saturn can be seen as an ellipsoid. I’ve never seen the rings with 10x magnification before! The image stabilisation really makes a difference! There’s no going back for me ?

Storing the Canons in a small Pelican case (colored yellow so you won’t lose it in the dark) makes them a great go-anywhere no-excuses grab and go setup. The only downside I can think of is the lack of objective lens caps. I had to 3D print my own.

 

Edited January 4, 2019 by AstroFin

[Guest]

8 hours ago, AstroFin said:

Here are some pictures of my pair of binoculars. ?  They are Canon 10x30 IS II and I got to say that I couldn’t be more pleased with them.

Despite their small aperture they have already showed me many things I had never seen with a handheld binocular. 

Albireo is an easy split, as is many other double star. Wide field stargazing is simply awesome. M33, M81, and many other deep sky objects are within reach. The amount of detail seen on the Moon seems endless. Saturn can be seen as an ellipsoid. I’ve never seen the rings with 10x magnification before! The image stabilisation really makes a difference! There’s no going back for me ?

Storing the Canons in a small Pelican case (colored yellow so you won’t lose it in the dark) makes them a great go-anywhere no-excuses grab and go setup. The only downside I can think of is the lack of objective lens caps. I had to 3D print my own.

 

Hmmm,  ( scratches chin ) image stabilisation.

I'm currently investigating a new pair of bino's but had not considered this option.  Anyone esle using it on a larger set of binoculars ? 

[AstroFin]

24 minutes ago, AstroCiaran123 said:

Hmmm,  ( scratches chin ) image stabilisation.

I'm currently investigating a new pair of bino's but had not considered this option.  Anyone esle using it on a larger set of binoculars ? 

Canon has a wide range of IS binoculars, up to 18x50, I recall. If your budget can allow the price, go for it. You wouldn’t believe how much more detail can be seen when the image isn´t shaking all the time. Besides image stabilisation, the optical quality itself is also good. It is not ED-glass, but still provides very sharp views. These are also excellent for daytime observing, birding, for instance. Oh and the bins are made in Japan. 

Many camera shops have a pair in stock, I recommend you go and try them to see it yourself. ?

[Guest]

On Amazon...

Canon 15x50 IS binocular. £899.  Whew !

 

[emadmoussa]

On 14/11/2018 at 16:15, quaoar said:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIyDw-W429I&t=44s

 

?

Ingenious design. Split'em in half, and give me one. We both will have a 20" Dob  

[emadmoussa]

Revelation 20X80...

[quaoar]

18 hours ago, emadmoussa said:

Ingenious design. Split'em in half, and give me one. We both will have a 20" Dob  

No worries, shipping and "handling" charges will be 6000 pounds, will you send via PayPal or bank transfer? ?

[Stu]

On 04/01/2019 at 09:35, AstroFin said:

The only downside I can think of is the lack of objective lens caps. I had to 3D print my own.

I really like the Canon Stabilised binoculars, and had a pair of 15x50IS for quite a few years. Regarding your comment above, I recall that I found out that Canon lens caps of a certain size fitted the 15x50s, it might be that a smaller size fits your binos too?

[AstroFin]

49 minutes ago, Stu said:

I really like the Canon Stabilised binoculars, and had a pair of 15x50IS for quite a few years. Regarding your comment above, I recall that I found out that Canon lens caps of a certain size fitted the 15x50s, it might be that a smaller size fits your binos too?

This might very well be the case, Stu! The 15x50 must have been fantastic. ?  However, I wonder if Canon makes so small (36mm) lens caps? After receiving the bins, I did a quick Google search which didn't bring up anything, so I assumed there was no commercial solution available. I really like my 3D-printed caps, though and I think I'm going to stick with them. I can PM the stl-file if someone is interested in printing their own caps. ?

[KP82]

Vixen Ascot 8x42WP, not bad for £150.

[Merlin]

I sometimes wonder why people build huge binocular reflectors, when they can have the same aperture in a single 'scope with a binoviewer. This would be my choice.

[Stub Mandrel]

42 minutes ago, Merlin said:

I sometimes wonder why people build huge binocular reflectors, when they can have the same aperture in a single 'scope with a binoviewer. This would be my choice.

presumably the cost of (say) two 10" reflectors is less than the cost of one 14" to get the same light gathering ability.

[The60mmKid]

Im going to resurrect this thread with these pictures of my Nikons ☺️ One is an EII, which is a superb wide-angle pair that I love for casual, handheld observing. The other is a new (to me) 18x70 Astroluxe, which I hope that I will love as much as Roger Vine does: http://www.scopeviews.co.uk/Nikon18x70.htm

 

[Alan White]

@The60mmKid, Now that's a pair of Binoculars, wonderful.
Look forwards to a first light report.

[josefk]

39 minutes ago, The60mmKid said:

Im going to resurrect this thread with these pictures of my Nikons ☺️ One is an EII, which is a superb wide-angle pair that I love for casual, handheld observing. The other is a new (to me) 18x70 Astroluxe, which I hope that I will love as much as Roger Vine does: http://www.scopeviews.co.uk/Nikon18x70.htm

 

A little bit jealous of both.

Jealous of the EII because i always read how good they are but hankering after Habicht 8x30 stops me pulling the trigger on the Nikons.

Jealous of the big bins because i wish wish wish i had committed to big binoculars years ago while my eyes were good enough to get the best out of them (re. astigmatism and not wanting to wear glasses behind binoculars)

[josefk]

Swarovski SLC 15x56 keeping cool in the shade here:

and in action here (Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Mars & Saturn in the planet parade Jun-22) probably Venus showing in the photo...

 

Brilliant binos in the day or night and quite possibly the last piece of optical kit i would ever part with in that artificial "last man standing" scenario.

[bosun21]

Sorry gentlemen but no Nikons nor Habichts to show. I am more than happy with my Helios Apollo 15x70’s and my small hand held 8x40’s with an 8.2 degree FOV for scanning the sky quickly being hand held.

[Guest]

Oberweks 20x80s.  They are the best binos I will ever own. 

[The60mmKid]

7 hours ago, josefk said:

A little bit jealous of both.

Jealous of the EII because i always read how good they are but hankering after Habicht 8x30 stops me pulling the trigger on the Nikons.

Jealous of the big bins because i wish wish wish i had committed to big binoculars years ago while my eyes were good enough to get the best out of them (re. astigmatism and not wanting to wear glasses behind binoculars)

The Habicht is a lovely little thing. My friend who sold me the Astroluxe has a Habicht that I tried out once. It goes against the conventions that we typically adhere to (e.g., field of view, aperture, etc.), but after a minute of scanning around the stars with it, I found myself thinking, "Well, this is a lovely little thing."

[josefk]

1 hour ago, The60mmKid said:

The Habicht is a lovely little thing. My friend who sold me the Astroluxe has a Habicht that I tried out once. It goes against the conventions that we typically adhere to (e.g., field of view, aperture, etc.), but after a minute of scanning around the stars with it, I found myself thinking, "Well, this is a lovely little thing."

just don't 🙂 i have anyway been teetering at the tail end of the summer - something nice and light for motor racing and bits and bobs...

[plyscope]

The Habicht 8x30 is an excellent small porro and has such a long history. The Nikon 8x30 EII is wonderful also. Neither is perfect, They each have their own character and charm.

[John]

I have a 1950's pair of Habicht 8x30w's. Externally rather tatty but optically sound and excellent performers. Picked them up from a charity shop a few years back for a few quid. My favourite birding binoculars I think 🙂

I seem to accumulate binoculars even though I don't use them much other than for birding 🙄

 

Edited September 6, 2023 by John

[josefk]

47 minutes ago, John said:

I have a 1950's pair of Habicht 8x30w's. Externally rather tatty but optically sound and excellent performers. Picked them up from a charity shop a few years back for a few quid. My favourite birding binoculars I think 🙂

I seem to accumulate binoculars even though I don't use them much other than for birding 🙄

 

They were a very lucky find. I always check out binos in charity shops and bric a brac shops but so far no luck for anything worthwhile. I hope you enjoy them. 

Edited September 6, 2023 by josefk

[LongJohn54]

Large, medium and little.  Revelation 20 x 80, Bresser 8 x 60 and unnamed 1.5 x 28 binoculars

Only one of these has four individually collimatable air spaced lenses, a compass, a mirror and fits in my pocket.  😁

I bought the Bresser 8 x 60 bins from Lidl's famous centre aisle bargain section for (possibly) £30.  Good but at 1kg they are a bit heavy to hold for long.  I think I've had the pocket bins for 40+ years and I can't remember where they came from.  The Revelations were a birthday present 10? years ago.