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Always late to the party me, but here goes:

Olympus DPS-1 10 x 50 my main astro set at present.
Nice optics of very reasonable quality for the price.

IMG_2809.thumb.JPG.a2438324b814cf9d17989635c60310c2.JPG

Swift Plover 8x 40 Very nice and light and wideish view, very sentimental as a present from my late parents.
Nice optics, but more a birding set than astro, however who cares because they are very special to me.

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I am looking for a second 10 x 50 so I can play nicely with my wife and children when they observe in the summer.
Any ideas for up to about £150 mark appreciated.

 

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18 minutes ago, Alan White said:

I am looking for a second 10 x 50 so I can play nicely with my wife and children when they observe in the summer.
Any ideas for up to about £150 mark appreciated.

 

Some ideas here,and some reviews here - you will struggle to better the Pentax SP 50mm WP in your budget, or the Helios Stellar II if you want an IF model. :icon_biggrin:

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On 5/4/2017 at 05:59, Alfian said:

Nice. I courted the idea (amongst others) a while back of buying the DX 12x56s. Though smaller I'd be interested to know what you think of them.

So far,, I am very impressed with the Celestron 8x42 Nature DX bins. Need to take them out under the stars tho.

I've had them on the moon with excellent results, and in looking through them down the street in the day and night time, images are very sharp throughout around 70-75%.  Eye relief is excellent. I keep the eyecups just a tad under all of the way out to see the entire field.

My next set will be the 12x56 pair.

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On 5/4/2017 at 13:44, Alan White said:

Always late to the party me, but here goes:

Olympus DPS-1 10 x 50 my main astro set at present.
Nice optics of very reasonable quality for the price.

IMG_2809.thumb.JPG.a2438324b814cf9d17989635c60310c2.JPG

Swift Plover 8x 40 Very nice and light and wideish view, very sentimental as a present from my late parents.
Nice optics, but more a birding set than astro, however who cares because they are very special to me.

IMG_2811.thumb.JPG.2ad8f82ecc4496c1a303a2ec3f236248.JPG
 

I am looking for a second 10 x 50 so I can play nicely with my wife and children when they observe in the summer.
Any ideas for up to about £150 mark appreciated.

 

Nice bins!  :headbang:

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3 hours ago, TheLookingGlass said:

So far,, I am very impressed with the Celestron 8x42 Nature DX bins. Need to take them out under the stars tho.

I've had them on the moon with excellent results, and in looking through them down the street in the day and night time, images are very sharp throughout around 70-75%.  Eye relief is excellent. I keep the eyecups just a tad under all of the way out to see the entire field.

My next set will be the 12x56 pair.

I got a pair of these last year, they seem to be an ideal size for 'all round use'. but I haven';t had much chance to use them!

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  • 1 month later...

My two favourite binoculars: the Russian 8x30 and 12x40 models. Both give pin sharp images of stars and are a lot of fun. I actually managed to resolve both Beta and 61 Cygni with the former!

I also recently acquired these vintage Chinon 7x50s after winning a bid on EBay. These give a nice wide FOV and meaty looking stars, but really need dark skies to show them off.

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Edited by Everton
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53 minutes ago, michael.h.f.wilkinson said:

I should make a new "family portrait", but here is the new addition to the binocular collection: a pair of Opticron 16x80 Observation binoculars, next to my trusty Helios Apollo 15x70 HDs.

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Nice family! I just wonder what is the main reason you got the new ones, as 16x80 is possibly not that a huge step from 15x70. Is the ability to mount them? Just curious :happy11:

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22 minutes ago, Cinco Sauces said:

Nice family! I just wonder what is the main reason you got the new ones, as 16x80 is possibly not that a huge step from 15x70. Is the ability to mount them? Just curious :happy11:

It is simply a step up. The Helios Apollo 15x70 can also be mounted, so there is no difference there. The extra 10 mm aperture does give just over 30% more light. Given that these are lighter than the Apollo, and have essentially the same magnification, I can still hand hold them, unlike any bigger pair. The key reason I upgraded was that they were going on ABS-UK for a very reasonable price, so if I sell the Helios, I get a decent upgrade for very little indeed.

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Just made the new family portrait of all the bins we have.

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In front are the Lunt 8x32 SUNoculars, behind them my old Bresser 10x50 bins (left), and Yashica-built CombiFOTO 7x50 (right, circa 1980), next row, the Vixen New Foresta 10x56, the only roof prism bins, and the boys' TS 15x70, and at the back, the latest addition: the Opticron 16x80 Observation binoculars.

 

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On 5/4/2017 at 05:59, Alfian said:

Nice. I courted the idea (amongst others) a while back of buying the DX 12x56s. Though smaller I'd be interested to know what you think of them.

Had the 12x56's for barely a day or two. Shipped them back. Outer 50% was really bad. Not anywhere near as good as the 8x56's.

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3 hours ago, TheLookingGlass said:

Had the 12x56's for barely a day or two. Shipped them back. Outer 50% was really bad. Not anywhere near as good as the 8x56's.

Thats interesting. I'd looked at the DXs after reading a review of one of the smaller models, then came across another review on CN of the 12x56 by someone who clearly had a large collection of binos (to which he could compare them) and seemed to know what he was talking about. He really rated them. Its a bit unusual for a bino in that price bracket for the outer 50% to be that bad and wonder whether you got a "bad" example. Quality control is not always that good amongst some binoculars and it makes me wonder, given the clearance of the DXs, whether they have suffered in this way.

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I've just added these vintage Russian BNU1 7x50s to my collection. They have a wide FOV and are extremely sharp at the centre of the field, but sharpness tails off towards the edges. They do give nice star images though and unlike the Chinon model are clear and free of haze or fungus.

DSC_0056.JPG

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  • 2 months later...
  • 3 weeks later...

I've seen some cool looking bins here, some even made me say wow in amazement !

im not going to wow you with my set up,

nor do I have the beautiful scenery I've  seen  but I'm happy with my starter bins,

the lot cost me under £80 but I had a really enjoyable time on my first go with them.

left I have some supposedly vintage but in new condition  ranger revue 10x50

ive only had a terrestrial view with them but they seemed OK 

right I have some 12x70 celestron cometron (which I had a ball with the other night) 

there on a konig neck pod.

Nathan

 

 

image.jpeg

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