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Advice with Celestron vs Bushnell vs Bresser vs Opticron vs Nikon please

Victoria1410

By Victoria1410
in Discussions - Binoculars

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Victoria1410

Victoria1410

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Hello,

I've always loved the stars but this is my first time aquiring some binos and I was hoping to have a little help please?  This post was originally in the Beginers section but it was suggested that I repost it over here.

I've done loads of research and as I understand it the important criteria are: magnification (anything 7 to 10 is usually okay to hand hold), apperture (the bigger the better), exit pupil (7mm is good), field of view (the bigger the better), eye relief (> 15mm for glasses wearers), eye cups (twist up are the best if sharing binos between family members), glass type (BaK-4), prism type (Porro is better as cheaper to get good porro than good roof), coating (fully multi-coated is the best), weatherproof-ness (not that I plan to be outside if it rains but waterproof is good for rapid temperature changes, and of course rain) and weight (the longer you hold them up the heavier they will feel!).

I had a list of the following (in order of preference):

1. Celestron Skymaster 8x56 (7mm exit pupil, 5.8' field of view, 18mm eye relief with fully multi-coated BaK-4 porro prism glass)

2. Celestron Skymaster 9x63 (7mm exit pupil, 5' field of view, 17mm eye relief with fully multi-coated BaK-4 porro prism glass)

3. Bushnell 10x50 (5mm exit pupil, 5' field of view, 18mm eye relief with fully multi-coated BaK-4 porro prism glass)

4. Bresser Spezial Jagd 8x56 (7mm exit pupil, 6.6' field of view, not sure what eye relief but with fully multi-coated BaK-4 porro prism glass)

But after a few people commented about weight and pointed me in the direction of the (very helpful) Binocular Sky website, I have now found these:

5. Opticron Imagic TGA WP 7x42mm Binoculars (6mm exit pupil, 7.2 degrees width of field, 682g),

6. Opticron Imagic TGA WP 8x42mm Binoculars (5.3mm exit pupil, 6.5 degrees width of field, 682g),

and

7. Nikon Action EX 8x40 CF Binocular (5mm exit pupil, 8.2 degrees width of field, 855g),

Does anyone have any experiance with any of these or have any advice please? Anything would be very appriciated.

Thank you! :)

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Charic

Charic

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Buying online is safe, as your rights to return goods are in your favour now, but speaking with a vendor will confirm this before you buy?

I had a pair of Nikon Extremes in 10x50 format, and for me, the worst pair I have seen and used, although Nikon EX are enjoyed by many, and I only invest in Nikon for my DSLR.

That said, I had other issues, and the pair I received, may have been grey imports?

Brand names aside, buy any pair of binoculars that fit your face and eyes, feel comfortable in your hands, and gives you the field of view you require. Magnification on most binoculars is not sufficient enough to see planetary detail unless your looking at the Moon. To get detail, your needing large apertures of 80mm or more, and rock steady support to keep the higher magnification steady.

My 15x70s dont produce any planetary details on Jupiter, but my 8x40s give me a wider view taking in, in some instances the whole asterism

Those 8x42 Opticrons wiĺl be nice.

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Victoria1410

Victoria1410

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Buying online is safe, as your rights to return goods are in your favour now, but speaking with a vendor will confirm this before you buy?

I had a pair of Nikon Extremes in 10x50 format, and for me, the worst pair I have seen and used, although Nikon EX are enjoyed by many, and I only invest in Nikon for my DSLR.

That said, I had other issues, and the pair I received, may have been grey imports?

Brand names aside, buy any pair of binoculars that fit your face and eyes, feel comfortable in your hands, and gives you the field of view you require. Magnification on most binoculars is not sufficient enough to see planetary detail unless your looking at the Moon. To get detail, your needing large apertures of 80mm or more, and rock steady support to keep the higher magnification steady.

My 15x70s dont produce any planetary details on Jupiter, but my 8x40s give me a wider view taking in, in some instances the whole asterism

Those 8x42 Opticrons wiĺl be nice.

Thank you for your help!  I knew I wouldn't be able to see every detail but you've cleared up a lot, thank you.

As I missed it from my first post and I can't seem to find a way to edit it, the first four binos weigh 1077g, 1247g, 865g and 1025g respectively

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BinocularSky

BinocularSky

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Hello,

6. Opticron Imagic TGA WP 8x42mm Binoculars (5.3mm exit pupil, 6.5 degrees width of field, 682g),

Does anyone have any experiance with any of these or have any advice please? Anything would be very appriciated.

Thank you! :)

I have one of these that I am reviewing (watch this space). Short answer: exceptional binocular in that price range: you'd need to pay a lot more to significantly better it. My other half has requested that we keep the review instrument.

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Victoria1410

Victoria1410

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I have one of these that I am reviewing (watch this space). Short answer: exceptional binocular in that price range: you'd need to pay a lot more to significantly better it. My other half has requested that we keep the review instrument.

Thank you!  I'm really looking forward to your review.  Please could you post a link to it here when it's uploaded?

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Victoria1410

Victoria1410

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I managed to find a Jessops in my lunch hour and came across:

Bushnell Legacy WP 8x42 (18mm eye relief, 751g and according to the specs a massive 8.3 degrees field of view!) 

Think it's between these and the Opticron 8x42.  Does anyone have any experience of these Bushnells please?

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The Admiral

The Admiral

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I can't find any dedicated astronomy shops in Oxfordshire so testing these would be hard.  The likelihood is that I will have to buy online without seeing them first so any help would be really appriciated.

Thank you

I feel your pain Victoria! Ever since Morris Photographic in Chippy shut up shop, we've had no quality optics outlets in the area.

Whilst I cannot offer any advice on the particular binos that you are thinking about, I can say, for what it is worth, that we bought a pair of Opticron 8x25 Taigas for my wife (we happened to be in Exmouth if I remember rightly) and they are brilliant. We did find it well worth looking through a range of instruments; the image in the Opticrons really stood out. I also have an Opticron spotting 'scope (bought from Morris incidentally). It certainly wasn't cheap but I've been very satisfied with its image quality.

The moral of this story is that really you should try to visit dealers where you can try out several different types, even if you have to travel a bit. If you are in Oxford then getting to London is easy. The trouble I find with on-line purchases is that it is difficult to contrast and compare like you can in a shop.

Ian

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Victoria1410

Victoria1410

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I feel your pain Victoria! Ever since Morris Photographic in Chippy shut up shop, we've had no quality optics outlets in the area.

Whilst I cannot offer any advice on the particular binos that you are thinking about, I can say, for what it is worth, that we bought a pair of Opticron 8x25 Taigas for my wife (we happened to be in Exmouth if I remember rightly) and they are brilliant. We did find it well worth looking through a range of instruments; the image in the Opticrons really stood out. I also have an Opticron spotting 'scope (bought from Morris incidentally). It certainly wasn't cheap but I've been very satisfied with its image quality.

The moral of this story is that really you should try to visit dealers where you can try out several different types, even if you have to travel a bit. If you are in Oxford then getting to London is easy. The trouble I find with on-line purchases is that it is difficult to contrast and compare like you can in a shop.

Ian

Thank you Ian!

It's terrible how the recession hit all the good little shops.

I'm randomly in a different town for work today and managed to locate a Jessops... I now know what you mean by image quality!  They had a pair of Bushnells and a pair of Nikons and the Bushnells were better by far!  Now I've looked them up online I can see that the Nikon's didn't have the same width of field or anywhere near the eye relief I was looking for...  I've done a lot of research into the numbers behind binoculars (and even have a spreadsheet :) ) but nothing compares to experience.  Which is why I am here asking all you lovely people  :)

You are not the first to reccommend Opticron  :)  Others have said 8x42 or 10x50.  Either way it seems like they are a trusted brand and manufacturer.

Thank you for sharing your experience  :)

I think you might be right and I may have to brave the tube at some point soon if I want to test ones without making use of returns policies...

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