Vixen's ultra low power bins tried at last...

[ollypenrice]

These are the ones. http://www.firstlightoptics.com/vixen-binoculars/vixen-sg21x42-widefield-binoculars.html

Before these were made I'd often wondered if the concept might be practicable and I've long wanted to try them. Thanks to Mike, a guest from Denmark, I had a chance to do so last night under very indifferent skies. There were clear patches but nothing really good. So what are they like?

They are almost absurdly short and vaguely resemble those things opticians use to slot in different test lenses when diagnosing your optical needs. You focus each eye individually. And what do you see? Well, nothing like you've ever seen before!

The effect is subtle. I found that the central part of the image was exceptionally sharp with perfect star shapes and first class contrast. The rest of the image was also pretty sharp but I found that there was an increasing brightness towards the field stop which meant that I was only interested in the inner part. You have a dark inner circle surrounded by a brightening glow. However, that dark inner circle was of a very satisfying size and contained very easily, for example, the keystone of Hercules with lots of room to spare. On a decent night I can see M13 naked eye, just about, as a star like source. (My eyesight is poor.) Not a chance last night though, nowhere near. However, in the Vixens the 'star' of M13 was clear as day.

M31. I can see it naked eye as a faint streak on a good night and last night I could just about see it as a bit of a streak. In the Vixens it was a clearly defined an unambiguous streak, far better than I have ever seen naked eye.

North America Nebula. Again, on a good night I have it, just about, naked eye. In the Vixens, a cynch - despite the poor transparency.

Conclusion? I'm going to draw an analogy with a high end electrically assisted bike I bought for my wife. It's a bicycle. It isn't a motor bike or a moped, it remains a bicycle but, it is one which allows an unsporty woman of 63 to ride up an alpine pass at a similar speed to a fit young so-and-so on a full carbon racer. It is an assisted bicycle.  So I put it to you that the Vixens offer assisted naked eye viewing. I found myself wondering if my experience in looking through the Vixens might resemble EE Barnard's view through his own unassisted eyes. Of course, I have no means of knowing but that is the sort of thing that was going through my head. It might be like this if you had killer eyesight.

They would be wonderful for learning the sky. Wonderful for sorting out the relationship betwen classic objects in the Milky Way. Wonderful for letting someone with a poor sky get the impression of what a good sky looks like.

A good product?  You bet they are.

Olly

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Great review. The only thing holding me back is the short eye relief

[JeremyS]

What an intriguing piece of equipment - thanks for the review Olly.

Go well!

Jeremy

[ollypenrice]

Great review. The only thing holding me back is the short eye relief

Good point. The closer I got them to my eyes the larger the dark inner circle became and the better the view.

Olly

[Scooot]

Thank you, a very good read. I've been considering these as well, but the eye relief, and the fact I usually wear glasses has held me back. I think I'll suggest them for Christmas with the intention of wearing my contact lenses when I use them.

[Ruud]

Thanks, Olly. I would like a pair of wide view opera glasses myself, as I really like my 4x22 binoculars. The Vixen are a bit expensive though. I wonder if any of us use the Gucki. I can't find the dealer right now, it's somewhere in Switzerland, but I remember the price: €135.

Here's a review of the Gucki compared to the Vixen. 

Kasai sells them, but that's Japan and after import they'd be way over €200.

[Scooot]

Thanks, Olly. I would like a pair of wide view opera glasses myself, as I really like my 4x22 binoculars. The Vixen are a bit expensive though. I wonder if any of us use the Gucki. I can't find the dealer right now, it's somewhere in Switzerland, but I remember the price: €135.

Here's a review of the Gucki compared to the Vixen. 

Kasai sells them, but that's Japan and after import they'd be way over €200.

These? http://www.aokswiss.ch

I haven't translated it yet

[Ruud]

Thank you, Richard. I bookmarked them immediately so that I don't lose track of them again.

[Charic]

 I was looking for Fujinon and Pentax glasses and had a shot of  these 2.1 x 42mm at the Widescreen centre on a recent visit to London. Very wide field about +10° very small, in fact almost too small,  like opera glasses, with the rod/handle  missing?

Would have been nice to try them on the Milky Way from my local dark  site up here in Scotland.

[Peter Drew]

I have a Vixen 2.1x42. You have to forget previous experience with binoculars. My first impression was "what a small apparent field of view!", I then realised how enormous the actual field was, whole constellations in one glance. As Olly has reported, it's like having 42mm pupils and if you compare the view with the naked eye the difference really shows, also no problem to hold steady. They are beautifully made and well presented. They will never replace regular mainstream binoculars but they provide a view that falls between naked eye and the familiar instruments. If this kind of view appeals to you they are well worth having.   

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I was looking for Fujinon and Pentax glasses and had a shot of  these 2.1 x 42mm at the Widescreen centre on a recent visit to London. Very wide field about +10° very small, in fact almost too small,  like opera glasses, with the rod/handle  missing?

Would have been nice to try them on the Milky Way from my local dark  site up here in Scotland.

They are very much opera glasses, in that the have a Galilean design

[BinocularSky]

Excellent review, Olly - I concur entirely. I love this binocular.

Great review. The only thing holding me back is the short eye relief

"Eye relief" is a bit of a misnomer with Galilean optics: the "exit pupil" is actually between the obj3ective and the eyepiece. What you get in practice is that, as your eye gets closer to the eyepiece, the field of view increases.

I have a Vixen 2.1x42. You have to forget previous experience with binoculars.

Exactly. I don't notice that it's magnifying unless I try to (if you get my meaning); I experience it as being a bit like what the sky looks like to the naked eye when there is less light pollution.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Excellent review, Olly - I concur entirely. I love this binocular.

"Eye relief" is a bit of a misnomer with Galilean optics: the "exit pupil" is actually between the obj3ective and the eyepiece. What you get in practice is that, as your eye gets closer to the eyepiece, the field of view increases.

True, but the effect is the same: people with glasses will have difficulty seeing the entire FOV

[ollypenrice]

Exactly. I don't notice that it's magnifying unless I try to (if you get my meaning); I experience it as being a bit like what the sky looks like to the naked eye when there is less light pollution.

Yes. I'm minded of those supermarket reading glasses which simply magnify at 1.5x or 2x. My instant impression in using these is not so much of magnification as of clarity. I would expect to be acutely aware of a doubling of image size but that's not the impression I actually receive. I just think, 'now I can read this text.' The Vixens give a similar impression.

Olly

[John]

I tried a pair of the Vixen 2.1 x 42's recently under some quite dark skies and it was a very pleasant experience. Not really like looking through an instrument at all but more like having a temporary enhancement to my eyes. Rather like with Telrad finders I found the trick is to look past the device and onto the stars as you would without any instrument. I found M31 became really clear and extended and M33 popped into view without any problem. The Milkyway was intensified and the star clouds dark rifts stood out in a way which I've only seen in images.

These are not low cost items but do seem to provide an unusual but highly enjoyable view of the sky. I liked them

I felt like I had "bionic eyes" for a short while

[JeremyS]

Just ordered a pair and they are on the way. I am keen to see how they perform.

Jeremy

[Peter Drew]

I find that cupping my hands round them cuts out stray light and eliminates the edge brightening. I'm thinking of trying to devise a mask that goes between the Vixens and the eyes (Google S&M?) also some sort of hands free facility to attach them to the head. If you like pinpoint stars you'll like the Vixens.    

[beamer3.6m]

also some sort of hands free facility to attach them to the head.

I was thinking this too. Kinda like asteo 'night vision goggles'.

I wear glasses but often taie them off to view with binos so if they could stay afixed to the head this would be great.

Really stupid question. If you kept them at the eyes and looked down at say your feet would it be blurry? Stupid question I kniw but the 'power' is so low at 2.1x that I am just wondering if the need to refocus would arise when looking around.

[Scooot]

Thank you, Richard. I bookmarked them immediately so that I don't lose track of them again.

Just ordered a pair of the Gucki's this morning, I'll post some feedback once I've had s chance to use them.

[ollypenrice]

I find that cupping my hands round them cuts out stray light and eliminates the edge brightening. I'm thinking of trying to devise a mask that goes between the Vixens and the eyes (Google S&M?) also some sort of hands free facility to attach them to the head. If you like pinpoint stars you'll like the Vixens.  

Thanks Peter, with luck I should be able to try this trick tonight. I have heard of people using face-mask type snorkels with the glass removed as a way of cutting stray light at the edge of vision. If you do go down this road I'm sure we'd all love to see a picture.... 

Olly

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I imagine such goggles would make you look a bit like a lemur

Excellent night vision, of course

[triton1]

If my dog and I met a person lying down in a field with a snorkel mask on it will be about turn and run!

[Charic]

.....there is a story  about the remains of a  scuba  diver found   in the trees  after a forest fire, allegedly scooped up by an airborne water carrier?

[BinocularSky]

(from http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kasai-trading.jp%2Fwidebino28.htm&sandbox=1)

[triton1]

Was he wearing the vixens?