Received and tested : Revelation Astro 15*70

[FrenchyArnaud]

Ok, so here it is, for those who are searching the forum for a good pair of budget binos : I have received the binos from ebay (£42 ship.inc)

And tonight the night was particularly clear and dark (no moon) - but I live in the north of Bournemouth were the LP is just ridiculous. To give you an idea, tonight I could make 7 stars in Cassiopeia with the naked eye, and that is rather good for the area. The Milky way is never seeable from my garden and I am surrounded by street lights and windows.

Let's cut the chase : those binos are amazing. The light collection is brilliant (pun intended) no CA that I could notice, very high contrast, and a stunning sharpness.

The pleades M45 : crystal clear. Counted 70 stars. Clearly separating the double star that stands right in the middle of the mini-saucepan.

Cassiopeia : stars field by the hundreds. 

Andromeda galaxy M31 : the view is as good, maybe better than in my celestron 114. And infinitely easier to find.

Bode's galaxy M81 : Found straight away, thanks to the huge field of view (compared to both my scopes), faint but unmistakable (not much details, just a clear smudge, but still!)

Ursa Minor A M82 : in the same field of view, very, very faint (my darling could not make it, I could barely), but present.

In general : 1) major stars just look like massive beacons, 2) the specific colors of the stars are obvious, even the fainter, from red to yellow to blueish to white. I never saw the sky in color before.

 

Drawback :

the focus ring is a bit stiff - but at least it does not move once set.

the weight. We used it on the Manfrotto tripod of my camera (the binos are supplied with a foot for this purpose) and it was just perfect (including the possibility to lock a target and go "look at that darling") However I recon you will not do a 2 hour long hand-held session.

Targets high in the sky (say, >70°) are not really comfortable to stare at due to the "see straight through" conception of binoculars (same pb than with a straight finderscope I suppose) which supposes to take them off the tripod - and then the weight is quickly noticeable.

The contrast and sharpness decreases off the center and it's really noticeable on about 1/4 to 1/5 of the outer view. However, due to the huge field of view (77m/1000m) that is not impairing the viewing at all.

Pros : 

Price : pocket change.

Viewing quality. I was not expecting this much.

Field of view. Finding anything is at the reach of a  toddler.

supplied with tripod adapter. (pretty sure it would also fit a dovetail shoe, to be confirmed)

EDIT1 , thanks to JonF : 

6 minutes ago, JonF said:

One other thing to mention is that, if you happen to give them a knock, these binoculars are very easy to recollimate yourself at home.

 That is a good point, and it's no heavy DIY, the process is explained by the supplier.

EDIT2 :

Excellent eyerelief. I don't have the exact specs but the exit pupil is real wide and the ER is probably over 20mm. Very convenient for those with glasses.

 

Conclusion : I have looked through decent and rather expensive 10*50 in the past, the Revelation 15*70 let them bite the dust hands down. If you are looking for a decent pair of binos under £50, it's clearly the way to go. As for me, when travelling to darker zone (family in the countryside), they will definitely come with me; with the Philip's planniphere, the sky atlas by the same editing house, and the Manfrotto tripod, that makes a very handy and performant kit to enjoy less polluted skies ! 

 

 

[FenlandPaul]

Nice write-up Arnault and glad you're enjoying your Revs.  I have the 20x80s which, like the 15x70s are terrific value for money although mine are definitely too heavy to hold and CA becomes more noticeable on the moon.  They kept me very happy for my period without a scope though, and are always packed with me for holidays.

Paul

[JonF]

I've got a pair of these as well, and have also been impressed with them. I wouldn't try to hand hold them at all. Mine go on a monster Brembo MkV tripod. This extends to 2.4m which means it's big enough to use the clever design of the tripod to put the bins in the right place without tripping over tripod legs.

One other thing to mention is that, if you happen to give them a knock, these binoculars are very easy to recollimate yourself at home.

[FrenchyArnaud]

1 minute ago, JonF said:

I've got a pair of these as well, and have also been impressed with them. I wouldn't try to hand hold them at all. Mine go on a monster Brembo MkV tripod. This extends to 2.4m which means it's big enough to use the clever design of the tripod to put the bins in the right place without tripping over tripod legs.

One other thing to mention is that, if you happen to give them a knock, these binoculars are very easy to recollimate yourself at home.

 That is a good point, and it's no heavy DIY, the process is explained by the supplier. I will add this in the original post.