Quantum 6.3 Binoculars

[durr]

These pair of binoculars are the Quantum 6.3 with eyepiece X20, X30 and X37 with a clear aperture of 100mm. They came in an aluminium case that was just about adequate for the binoculars but will be used to store them in the future. They are covered over in a white cloth case and come with white gloves for handling which is a nice touch. The tripod is a u shaped yolk and is just the job for these binoculars especially when used with my observing chair. They are loaded onto the u mount via two screws located at the side of the mount that screw directly into the binocular body; these appear to hold the glasses very well. There is a set of two screws which hold the glasses steady when a target as been found and again these work well. One reason why I bought this type of binocular is because of the awkward angles that you end up while looking at objects near the zenith with straight view glasses. The finish is very smooth in fact there is a danger these could slip out of the hands whilst wearing the gloves; but the Chinese included a handle that screws securely to the binoculars which makes for safe handling. The quality of the body work is also good with one or two screws that could have been screwed in better. The collimation was checked for me by the widescreen centre and seems to be in order giving perfect views while looking at stars with no displacement in horizontal or vertical views. Stars are point like in the centre but start to show some aberrations towards the outer 10-15% edges of the view. I need to wear glasses when viewing down the binoculars because of astigmatism so the X20 & X30 give me full field of view while the X37 just cuts me out with about a 70-80% of the view and is better than I expected. Saturn shows up really well and the rings are easily seen. The prisms are BAK4 and show a full circle when viewed down the opposite end, and also show minimum reflection and seemed to be well baffled. This pair of binoculars have made observing a pleasure and the good thing is they can be stored away in minutes which is a real bonus after an observing run. Where I live suffers from light pollution but these glasses grab objects out of the sky that are totally invisible to me and also appear to darken the sky. I think these are a great buy and have got me into binocular astronomy in a way that I thought impossible so I give them thumbs up.

(click to enlarge)

[philsail1]

Very nice "durr."

Good informative review.

They look a good solid and quality pair of binoculars.

Sounds like you've had a good buy there. I like the "sighting" guage near the eypiece end, and the 90 Degree eyepieces. Good range of magnifications too - not too extreme.

The beauty is that you can also use the binoculars for terrestrial viewing.

Tripod looks sturdy - and as you say, simple to pack away after an observing session.

Enjoy!!

Regards,

philsail1

[The Warthog]

Very, very nice.

[WebSentinel]

I'm thinking about buying a pair of these bins (100mm version) - is the fork mount absolutely necessary or can I use a heavy duty camera tripod?

I was thinking of buying the following tripod from FLO to mount them on: Accessories - Horizon 8115 2-Way Heavy Duty Tripod

The info on this tripod stipulates that it can handle binos up to 100mm - what do you think, will it be sturdy enough?

The BBC Sky at Night review of the Helios Quantum 5 binos (see review here: http://www.opticalvision.co.uk/documents/81.pdf) was undertaken using a "slik" photo tripod and the Helios Quantum 5 series appears to be heavier than the Quantum 6 series.

My reasoning for wanting to use a photo tripod as opposed to a fork mount is so that I can adjust the height of the bins during use whilst seated and not have to get up when the binos are positioned towards the horizon. Otherwise I'd have to stand up, sit down or bend down depending on what I'm looking at and its position in the sky.

I'd also like to know if you've used other eyepieces (e.g. 12.4mm or 8mm, etc.) other than the standard ones that came with the binos. This is because I'm thinking it would be good if I could use a pair of zoom eyepieces (e.g. the Meade 24mm-8mm zoom eyepiece) in the bins so I don't have to keep swapping eyepieces over.

Many thanks in advance.

[kniclander]

I have what i think are an earlier version of those branded APM - mine are 45degree e/ps not 90 and have 20/40 interchangeable e/ps. They are absolutely awesome for clusters and brighter DSOs but not really bright enough for fainter DSOs and not nearly sharp enough for planets. Lucky there are lots and lots of clusters

mine are mounted on a manfroto 058B tripod and a 501hdv head which is rated up to 6kg but the bins are a bit heavier - about 8 kg but it does the job ok - I suspect the version you are looking at weigh about the same - some 100mm bins would come in at a lot less so check what the tripod is rated for. ideally you need something with a geared fluid head so you're not always having to loosen and tighten it when you move the bins about.

not all e/ps will come to focus either and I suspect at higher powers the colour correction will be poor and you might have trouble merging the image.

For what they're good at, big bins are great but don't expect them to perform like two small telescopes.

hth

[durr]

The binoculars came with this mount so I am not too sure of the plan to mount them on anything else and like I said the set up suits me fine. The binoculars do work very well at the highest power and do merge the two images with no problem and planets are fairly good to view once the tubes have cooled down. Their main use is for clusters, galaxies and nebula which can all be picked out if your sky is reasonable. I can also view for hours if need be without having a stiff neck the next morning. I use a laser as a finder and it is bang on every time once collimated. The down side is that they are expensive (£1000 +) with fork mounting. Steve

[bish]

I'd love to have some bins like that. They're on my list of must haves if I ever have any spair cash again.

[pmesquita]

The binoculars do work very well at the highest power and do merge the two images with no problem and planets are fairly good to view once the tubes have cooled down. Steve

Hi Steve,

I'm thinking about buying these Binocs too and I have a couple of questions, if you don't mind:

1- when you refer to higher magnification are you saying more than the x37? if so what Eyepieces do you recommend?

2- Are the eyepieces that come with the scope threaded for filters?

3- Are you able to colimate the binocs or does it have to be done in the factory?

Thanks for your time.

Paulo

[durr]

Paulo, I never use higher magnifications because the eyepieces cannot be upgraded to say X40. The eyepieces are a fixed size and telescope eyepieces do not fit this binocular, however X37 is more than enough. You cannot fit filters onto the front of the eyepiece. Collimation is done at the factory and there is no way that you could attempt to recollimate these binoculars without the necessary skills. Mine came collimated but I have heard a few stories where they have not been that good but thankfully not that often. If you do decide to buy make sure you buy the yoke mount with it because observing is then a breeze. Do you live anywhere near London? Steve

[pmesquita]

Paulo, I never use higher magnifications because the eyepieces cannot be upgraded to say X40. The eyepieces are a fixed size and telescope eyepieces do not fit this binocular, however X37 is more than enough. You cannot fit filters onto the front of the eyepiece. Collimation is done at the factory and there is no way that you could attempt to recollimate these binoculars without the necessary skills. Mine came collimated but I have heard a few stories where they have not been that good but thankfully not that often. If you do decide to buy make sure you buy the yoke mount with it because observing is then a breeze. Do you live anywhere near London? Steve

Hi Steve,

sorry for the late answer but I thought I was following this thread and I wasn't. Anyway I don't live close to London. I live in Lisbon, Portugal...

I tried to but the 100mm one but it's sold out and according to the UK supplier it'll only be available in August. so I decided to go with the 88mm ones and already ordered them. I do have a problem finding a fork mount (yoke??). they seem to have given up on selling them and don't even tell us what size of fork mount to buy for this specific Helios Quantum 6 model. It's a shame that the binocular ep's don't accept filters. Can you help me out with with the fork mount? a serious place to buy it? I'm a client of Steve at FLO, Neil at Altair ASTRO and Lee at GW.bUT NEITHER OF THEM SEEM TO HAVE ANY FORK MOUNTS...

kind regards,

Paulo

[durr]

Paulo, try this guy at the widescreen centre. QUANTUM-6 SERIES 20/26/32x88 (90° Angled) Semi-APO Observation Binocular - Telescopes UK: Telescopes & Telescope Accessories in your only London shop His name is simon and should be able to help. The 88mm are fine. Steve

[pmesquita]

Paulo, try this guy at the widescreen centre. QUANTUM-6 SERIES 20/26/32x88 (90° Angled) Semi-APO Observation Binocular - Telescopes UK: Telescopes & Telescope Accessories in your only London shop His name is simon and should be able to help. The 88mm are fine. Steve

I'm going to call Simon and see if he can help with the fork mount.

Thanks mate.