Helios 28 x 110 Hi Res Giant binoculars

[Philip Benson]

At around £450 new I bought a pair of these recently to bridge the gap between by trusty Revelation 15 x 70s and my 4in apo refractor.  Here I present a quick review.

Needless to say any binoculars in this size range are going to be heavy and these weigh in at 7.1kg.  A substantial tripod is therefore a must to carry them.  I use a Manfrotto 028B Triman with a 501HDV head.   

The binoculars come in a polyfoam filled and precut metal case which is adequate for storage and short distance travel but I wouldn't trust it in the hold of an aircraft for example.   One thing which did surprise me is that there were no objective dustcaps.   I would have thought this would be standard for any binoculars but not in this case. Some dust protection for the big lenses is provided by a polythene bag which the binoculars arrive in.

Mounting the binoculars is a simple procedure with the built in tripod adapter which is mounted on a central bar.  The adapter is adequate for the size and weight of the binoculars and slides along the bar for balancing.  Focusing is achieved by rotating each eyepiece independently as is common for binoculars of this size class and design.  Minimum focusing distance is in the order of a 100ft or so which means these are not going to be suitable for those with smaller sized gardens.  

To test them out for daytime use I took them along to my local nature reserve.  Once secured to the tripod and focused I was immediately impressed by the detail I could see in birds some considerable distance away.  On the casing near to the eyepieces the term' High Resolution' has been stamped on and I from the view I had I would say that description is entirely justified.  Chromatic aberration is evident but not so much that it detracts from the view.   I allowed for the fact that these binoculars are cheap for their size.  Had I paid £1k more for ED glass I would have been far less impressed with the optical performance. 

Astronomical performance is very good and this of course is where the 110mm aperture comes into its own.  The view of the Moon is amazing and I'm sure the views of Jupiter and Saturn when I get round to them will be all that I would expect. 

Once last comment on the build side.  The binoculars can of course be adjusted for inter-pupillary distance but the adjustment itself is very stiff and requires a bit of strength to feel any movement.  I actually wondered if there was some sort of locking mechanism in place but so far I cannot find one.  If you need to make any adjustment in this way I would suggest making it before you fix to the tripod.   The binoculars are also gas filled in order to prevent internal dewing or condensation.

For the price though these Helios giants have proved themselves well so far.   They offer an exit pupil of just over 3.9mm which is not huge but the 110mm lenses mean that images produced are bright.   The FOV is 2.5 degrees which again is what you would expect of binoculars in this size bracket.   You can get the whole of the Pleiades comfortably into the field and the four brightest members of the Trapezium in M42 are easily resolved. 

Questions/comments welcomed.

[Damo636]

Nice review of very nice instrument Philip. I have the 20x110 version and it sees a lot of use.

It's odd that there are no objective covers, mine came with the standard rubber slip on affairs? The ipd adjustment is indeed very stiff and is next to impossible to adjust when mounted. On the plus side though, once set it ain't gonna move!

Enjoy!

[Chris]

Hi Phil, nice review. I'm also surprised that you didn't receive objective caps! Maybe have a word with the supplier about it, they should definately have them.

[beamer3.6m]

Can we have a pic please.

[laudropb]

Very nice review. It seems strange that there are no dust caps for the objectives, but otherwise you seem very happy with them.

[spike95609]

Wonderful to see a review of these beasts, they crop up on the Cloudy Nights forum now and again as the Garrett Signature 28x110 but don't get many mentions here on SGL. I was seriously considering them once upon a time, and might still do if a spare £500 came along - unlikely as that is. I have had a few goes with a friend's Apollo 22x85s, but they didn't leave me overly impressed with the difference in image over my 15x70s as it seemed only marginally brighter, but I'd imagine the leap to 110mm lenses must be very considerable. In fact I've just worked it out, it's a bit more complicated than this alone but the surface area of a single lens of the 70s is 1225 mm², the 85s give you 1806 and the 110s have 3025. That's a lot of light!!

If you're able to point them in the direction of a few medium sized star clusters like M36-38 in Auriga, or bright galaxies like M81/82 in Ursa Major I'd be very interested to hear your thoughts.

[MAN or ASTROMAN]

Re no dust caps- if they are any thing like the ones on my 15x70's they fall out anyway!

 A bit of shoddy workmanship for an otherwise brilliant instrument

[Demon Barber]

Hi All,OPTCorp in the states helped me with new eyecup rubbers when one split on my 28x110`s try them for your objective covers if you have no luck with your supplier,they stock the Garrett`s spares same dimension`s as your model.

HTH

Regards

Mike

[Philip Benson]

Hi all,

Some photos of the binoculars as requested.

[Philip Benson]

And another.  Shown here alongside my 15 x 70s for comparison

[Philip Benson]

Photo attached

[beamer3.6m]

Wow they are huge.

The shop ads do not do them justice.

[BevKillerB]

Hello, I'm new to this and need some help.

I have the Helios apollo 28x110 binoculars for Christmas put them up to look through and can't even adjust the eye pieces to fit my eye width.  They won't swivel like normal bin's...am I doing something wrong, is there a lock on them..? I have put everything into making them turn but don't want to break them. 

They don't come with any instructions so I really don't know what I'm doing wrong.

Any advice on the best tripod to put them on too, would be greatly appreciated. 

Thanks, 

[BinocularSky]

I have the Helios apollo 28x110 binoculars for Christmas put them up to look through and can't even adjust the eye pieces to fit my eye width.

In that binocular, the inter-pupillary distance (or IPD - the techie name for "eye-width" - just so you know if you see people referring to it) is adjusted by moving the optical tubes around the central hinge (where the mounting bar is), just like most normal (non-compact) binoculars. Becasue the optical tubes are so heavy, the hinge needs to be tight, otherwise they'd sag when you mounted them. Also, the "lubricant" that they use has a lot of "stiction" (static friction) after it's been left for a while. I suspect (but may be wrong) that they are merely a lot stiffer than you are used to.

On the hinges, you should see some stops, built into the structure of the hinge, that prevent the binocular tubes going too far in either diretion (if you are unsure what I mean, shout, and I'll try to find a picture for you). As long as you don't try to force them beyond the stops, you should be all right.

[BevKillerB]

Thanks Brown Dwarf, I have attached a pic of where the dial is...

I have tried time and again to get them to move, just like normal bin's, but they won't budge.....

[BinocularSky]

Thanks Brown Dwarf

That's OK, Vacuum .

I have tried time and again to get them to move, just like normal bin's, but they won't budge.....

They are at one extreme of the adjustment. Using your picture as orientation, the upper tube needs to rotate clockwise, i.e. if the hinge was fixed, you'd move both tubes to the right.

[BevKillerB]

Thanks again, I know they are at one extreme, I'm trying to move/turn them from 70...towards 80...but they just won't budge, I think I need a man with some big guns to come and try and move them for me...they just won't budge. 

[Damo636]

The hinge on these is indeed very stiff, but once you get it moving initially, it will free itself up. If you could get the binocular warmed up by a few degrees it would also help by making the grease more plyable. Maybe try leaving it in a hotpress or the like for 30mins or so, or even taking a hair dryer to the hinge for a few minutes and try again? As it looks to be stuck in the upper range of the ipd , try placing the binocular on the ground (resting on its centre post) and with a hand on each barrel, press down on the right had barrel. Unless something is badly amiss, it should release with a little effort. Good luck!

[BevKillerB]

Wow, that got it! it finally movement....ordered a tripod and will get it lined up properly once it's in place.  thanks so much for your help, very much appreciated!!

[Paz]

I've got the 28x110's and when I set the ipd I rested the pivot point on a block of wood and pressed down on both barrels in line with the pivot to maximise leverage and minimise any unnecessary twisting forces on the barrels. It adjusts fine but as people say it is stiff as it is designed to hold its position once set.

I certainly could not move the ipd like you can with normal bins - I would need to do a lot of weight training first!

[Alan Mc Donagh]

On 25/12/2015 at 11:43, Philip Benson said:

Photo attached

Hey Paz. I'm thinking of getting the 28 x 110s are they good for looking at planets or should I go for telescope. I have thehekios apollo 15 x 70s which I love but just want to get in that little deeper. How do the 110s fair out

[Stu]

1 minute ago, Alan Mc Donagh said:

Hey Paz. I'm thinking of getting the 28 x 110s are they good for looking at planets or should I go for telescope. I have thehekios apollo 15 x 70s which I love but just want to get in that little deeper. How do the 110s fair out

Alan, for decent planetary observing you really need to be at much higher powers, well over x100 really.

The 28x110s would be wonderful for deep sky observing though.

[Paz]

2 hours ago, Stu said:

Alan, for decent planetary observing you really need to be at much higher powers, well over x100 really.

The 28x110s would be wonderful for deep sky observing though.

As Stu says, I wouldn't get these binoculars for observing planets, I would definitely go for a telescope.

[Solar B]

I had a pair some time ago and I reckon they were about twice the size of the various 100mm binos (no joke) !!

 

I wasn't however able to mount them adegualty enough and had to let them go.

 

Brian 

[OliverBath]

On 27/12/2015 at 20:05, Paz said:

I've got the 28x110's and when I set the ipd I rested the pivot point on a block of wood and pressed down on both barrels in line with the pivot to maximise leverage and minimise any unnecessary twisting forces on the barrels. It adjusts fine but as people say it is stiff as it is designed to hold its position once set.

I certainly could not move the ipd like you can with normal bins - I would need to do a lot of weight training first!

I have the opposite problem the IPD adjustment is so loose that the weight of the binoculars cause both barrels  to flop down how do you tighten it up?