First time binocular purchase advice.

[Matt2011]

Your welcome Shelby90 and been interested in the subject of Astronomy for over 15 years now and the moon is breathtaking, up close up with a scope is outstanding and getting up close with the craters and the valleys and vast details, Saturn with a high magnification will show it's rings and globe fairly clearly under good conditions but depending what size scope but a small telescope will show it well. I am looking forward to the eclipse as well and hopefully us British will see it as sometimes and often we find when there is a celestial event it either rains or clouds over but we keep out fingers crossed for it and I suspect you will get some great views and that you will absolutely adore the eclipse and it's certainly something you won't forget. With the planets as far as observing as them a telescope will be necessary and would recommend something like Celestron SCT  telescope as they are good all rounders for everything astronomy and will show a lot of detail on the planets and moon that will take your breath away. Saturn will look like a planet and will see the rings clearly and the cloud belts and some details and some of it's moons and titan the largest and brightest among other things, Jupiter is the best target though and it's the largest and brightest planet and you will be amazed at your first views of either planets when you get a scope in the future. My set up is consists of an Orion Optics Parogon-Plus Binoucular Mount and a pair of Helios Apollo 15x70 HD Binoculars bought here in the UK at First Light Optics who sponsor this forum SGL  and they are brilliant and the quality of the image is out of this world and the mount is very stable comfort and you will find having one very useful and will make your viewing pleasure of the heavens even more satisfying. 

[Matt2011]

My Skywatcher 127 Maksutov Skymax Telescope on a Celestron CG5 Equatorial Mount and my Helios Apollo 15x70 HD Binoculars on an Orion Optics Paragon-Plus Mount.      

   

[Matt2011]

This would be perfect Shelby 90 - http://www.amazon.com/Caravan-Sports-Infinity-Gravity-Chair/dp/B0032UY0BU/ref=sr_1_16?ie=UTF8&qid=1443242013&sr=8-16&keywords=recliner+chair 

[Chris]

Greetings! I am currently in the same boat as shelby90 on deciding what to get for a first time binocular purchase but as a gift for a family member who likes to star gaze and a pair for me too. I am still not able to zero in on any bins yet. Can you please help me out?

Requirements for Bin (Gift to a family member)

- Age 50+ (So Ideal exit pupil for him would be 5mm?)

- Lightweight (preferably under 800g)

- Price: $250

Hi Vitalstatistix, firstly welcome to SGL, hope you enjoy the forum

I would just copy and paste your questions into a new thread here:

http://stargazerslounge.com/forum/133-discussions-binoculars/

I'm sure you'll get lots of help from me and others if you do this. This thread will be for the original posters questions you see, so if we start answering your questions here we will be taking the original posters thread of course.

Again, welcome to SGL

[Vitalstatistix]

Hi Vitalstatistix, firstly welcome to SGL, hope you enjoy the forum

I would just copy and paste your questions into a new thread here:

http://stargazerslounge.com/forum/133-discussions-binoculars/

I'm sure you'll get lots of help from me and others if you do this. This thread will be for the original posters questions you see, so if we start answering your questions here we will be taking the original posters thread of course.

Again, welcome to SGL

Thank you very much!

Didn't mean to hijack the thread! Started a new one. Apologies!

[shelby90]

This would be perfect Shelby 90 - http://www.amazon.com/Caravan-Sports-Infinity-Gravity-Chair/dp/B0032UY0BU/ref=sr_1_16?ie=UTF8&qid=1443242013&sr=8-16&keywords=recliner+chair 

Thanks for the link! I think I may be investing in one soon. Looks really comfortable and nice that it reclines. Thanks for the scope recommendation and sharing your pictures, also. I'm sure it will be a while before I invest in one, but not knowing much about them, it's good to have a suggestion. That paragon mount looks nice, I've read good things about them. Can't wait until I can view all the things you mentioned with detail, but all in good time I suppose   I hope you have some good weather for the eclipse!

Thank you very much!

Didn't mean to hijack the thread! Started a new one. Apologies!

No worries about the hijacking 

[Matt2011]

That's great Shelby90 and I have the same recliner chair and can honestly say that is very comfortable and would be a great buy and also different colours to choose from, I have great observing sessions laying back in this chair with my Binoculars on the paragon mount and sweeping them around all the different star fields and constellations. A telescope would be a great purchase for the future but you will enjoy the binoculars and the many things on view in the mean time. The scope I have gives great clear images of the moon and planets and high contrast and near HD quality. Hoping for some great views of the moon eclipse and the weather has been great recently so hope it stays that way. 

[shelby90]

Matt, sounds real nice. I hope to start checking off some Messier objects soon with the bins. The chair would definitely help with that. It's kind of foggy here now so fingers crossed for clearer skies tonight and across the pond for you guys 

[Matt2011]

Thanks Shelby90, I am all set up with the Helios Apollo 15x70s and not long now as it's 10.25pm UK time and the eclipse to be seen at 10.47pm and it's clear but some mist here but clear views so looking forward to seeing it. I have seen many of the Messier objects but many are very faint for smaller binoculars but you will a lot and would highly recommend this book from amazon which I have for binocular astronomy and will serve you well. hope you get a great view of the eclipse tonight of the moon and enjoy the eclipse tonight.   http://www.amazon.com/Binocular-Highlights-Celestial-Telescope-Stargazing/dp/1931559430/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1443389409&sr=8-1&keywords=binocular+astronomy

[shelby90]

Matt, I have that exact book in my cart, I just haven't hit checkout yet! Funny coincidence  It looks like the perfect book and now it's nice to have it recommended. The eclipse was fantastic and I was so happy with the binoculars. They were beyond satisfying. Tried to take some pictures, but none turned out very well. Hope you had a good eclipse experience, as well 

[BinocularSky]

Have to agree about Gary Seronik's book: very good (like most of what Gary does).

You might also be interested to know that Phil Harrington has made his (also very good) Touring the Universe Through Binoculars freely available. See here.

[Chris]

Have to agree about Gary Seronik's book: very good (like most of what Gary does).

You might also be interested to know that Phil Harrington has made his (also very good) Touring the Universe Through Binoculars freely available. See here.

Hey Steve, don't forget your book (you're probably too modest to plug it ) 

Seriously though, Steve's book is a great read, it taught me alot. It's well worth clicking on the above banner to check out both his site and book  

[Charic]

......the web site too!

[shelby90]

Have to agree about Gary Seronik's book: very good (like most of what Gary does).

You might also be interested to know that Phil Harrington has made his (also very good) Touring the Universe Through Binoculars freely available. See here.

Thank you for the recommendation, TUBA looks like a great tool. And "free" is always nice in my book 

I think your website is fantastic! Such great info on mounts, charts, and much more. I've been looking for a nice template for observation logging and yours is perfect.

Hey Steve, don't forget your book (you're probably too modest to plug it ) 

Seriously though, Steve's book is a great read, it taught me alot. It's well worth clicking on the above banner to check out both his site and book

So many good options! Maybe I'll just have to get both 

[happy-kat]

Steve does a great emailed monthly binocular observing list as well.

[Matt2011]

That's excellent Shelby90 and hope you bought it in the end and definitely a coincidence there  and there are a lot of books I can recommend and Turn Left At Orion is another book which I highly recommend  I really enjoyed the Eclipse and took photos and ended up staying up until 4.30am  in the end to see it all and we had some cloud here in Torquay UK but took some nice photos and they came out pretty well considering but glad you had  some great views of it.   my first photo did not come out too well but the others were not too bad so was really happy with them  and uploaded them on facebook also. 

[Matt2011]

That's excellent and hope you bought it in the end and definitely a coincidence there    and there are a lot of books I can recommend and Turn Left At Orion is another book which I highly recommend    I really enjoyed the Eclipse and took photos and ended up staying up until 4.30am  in the end to see it all and we had some cloud here in Torquay UK but took some nice photos and they came out pretty well considering but glad you had  some great views of it.     my first photo did not come out too well but the others were not too bad so was really happy with them    and uploaded them on facebook also.  

[BinocularSky]

Thanks, Chris, Charic & Happy-Kat.

probably too modest to plug it

Not so much modesty as attempting not to flaunt the SGL advertising policy

[Matt2011]

That's great and glad you got that book and it's very good and just what you need and had a good eclipse thanks and had some amazing views of the eclipse of the moon here in Torquay in England, took some photos and posted on facebook actually and will upload them on here for you to see and glad you had some amazing view with your binoculars and I did with my Helios Apollo 15x70s HD.  

[shelby90]

Steve does a great emailed monthly binocular observing list as well.

Thanks! I see it's mainly meant for people in the UK, but as I am north of 30 degrees N latitude, it could be useful to me as well   I'm sure it'll give me some good ideas of what to look for since I'm still trying to figure out how to plan a night of observing.

Thanks, Chris, Charic & Happy-Kat.

Not so much modesty as attempting not to flaunt the SGL advertising policy

Well, i'm happy that others recommended your site (and that it's in your signature)

That's great and glad you got that book and it's very good and just what you need and had a good eclipse thanks and had some amazing views of the eclipse of the moon here in Torquay in England, took some photos and posted on facebook actually and will upload them on here for you to see and glad you had some amazing view with your binoculars and I did with my Helios Apollo 15x70s HD.  

The Binocular Highlights by Seronik is unavailable at the moment from amazon, but a nearby bookstore looks like it may have it so I'll head over there in the next few days. Ah yes, I've seen Turn Left at Orion, as well. Looks like it has tons of good reviews. It's nice there are so many good options for getting info. I'm reading Nightwatch by Terence Dickinson now and I like it a lot. 

Glad to hear you had success viewing the eclipse! Looking forward to seeing some of your pictures 

[Matt2011]

Shelby90, Yeah you should be able to pick it up easily and you will find it invaluable, yeah took a few photos of the eclipse of the moon and the books you mentioned I have them all Turn Left at Orion is excellent and probably that and Nightwatch by Terence Dickinson are the best books I think and hope you are enjoying it and has everything you ever want to know and very helpful for your observing. Here is the photos of what I took on the 28th September of the Eclipse of the Moon and enjoy 

[shelby90]

Great photos! Thanks for sharing them. That color orange/red color you captured is fantastic. My favorite part is when the Moon is just coming out of the shadow and has a sliver of bright light 

The books are invaluable. The internet is great for information, but really doesn't compare to a well-written book in my opinion. I love actually reading a physical book. It's the best.

[RT65CB-SWL]

Hi 'shelby90', I maybe latecomer for the party, but welcome to SGL.

Another useful accessory for tripod/binocular mounting is a joystick/trigger/ball head like this one... http://www.fstopdirect.com/tp10

I purchased mine after reading the reviews/recommendations by SGL members.

[BinocularSky]

Another useful accessory for tripod/binocular mounting is a joystick/trigger/ball head like this one... http://www.fstopdirect.com/tp10

If you do get one, detailed instructions are usually either inadequate or absent altogether. I have therefore written a user manual which you may find useful ("Choosing & Using" bit of website)

[shelby90]

Hi 'shelby90', I maybe latecomer for the party, but welcome to SGL.

Another useful accessory for tripod/binocular mounting is a joystick/trigger/ball head like this one... http://www.fstopdirect.com/tp10

I purchased mine after reading the reviews/recommendations by SGL members.

Thanks for the welcome and the suggestion! This trigger grip head would be really convenient on my tripod. Gotta weigh the different options along with the price points. And see if the pan head that's on my tripod now can detach. I haven't checked.

If you do get one, detailed instructions are usually either inadequate or absent altogether. I have therefore written a user manual which you may find useful ("Choosing & Using" bit of website)

Fantastic, thanks!