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Looking for a good 10x42 Bino

pluton

By pluton
in Discussions - Binoculars

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pluton

pluton

Posted
Posted

Hello,

I am looking for a good 10x42 binocular for dual observing purpose, as casual astro ( I have a giant bino 12x80 Vixen for specific bino astro) and for birding purpose..., best Porro or Roof ?

I like to heard some opinion on theme , thank you in advance for you advice.

Regards,

Paulo

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ollypenrice

ollypenrice

Posted
Posted

Many birders (and this astronomer) prefer 8x42 to 10x42 because of the greater image stability. I went for second hand Leicas myself. Even when 11 years old they were very expensive but they are simply outstanding. Porro or roof? Porro are cheaper to make and are only disadvantaged in terms of compactness and ease of holding. For a given image quality at a set price you'll probably find porros are better.

Olly

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ronin

ronin

Posted
Posted

All depends on budget, Leica are good, very, very good but you are looking at clsoe to (maybe above) £2000.

I never quite got on with the Nikon or Swarkovski ones - seem too great an inconsistancy in them. Minox were good, close to Leica and half the cost, think they were 8.5x42's, about £620 at the time. Vortex have a good reputation, tried a very nice set of 12x's in those.

If you have the chance try the Canon stabilised binoculars. At the 10x, 12x, 15x they are good and they are stable. Think the 18x one drop off a bit.

My budget was no where near the above, I was up at the Rutland Birdfair trying them all. I eventually bought Bushnell 8x42 Natureview model (Roof prism), about £130, cannot fault them (except the then provided objective covers, which took on a legendary status). They do a 10x42 also. Regret in a way not getting a set of those also.

Bushnell do now supply better objective covers, not great but better. They were the only binoculars where everyone said "Excellent binoculars, excellent price, excellent performance, garbage covers" and then just about universly awarded 4.5 stars, every one said would have been 5 but for those covers.

 

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Ben the Ignorant

Ben the Ignorant

Posted
Posted

A friend who observes and photographs the sky very often with many instruments has a Celestron Trailseeker 8x42. We tested it against everything else we had (7x50 Porro, 10x50 Porro, 16x70, 8x40 Porro, unexpensive roof 8x42, and I don't remember the rest). It was as good or better than the others, and it's one of few mid-price 8x42 roof binocs which have phase coatings, and dielectric coatings on the mirror surfaces.

Very good edge sharpness, and very little lateral color, slightly better than my 8x40 porro. Vibrant tones in daytime nature, and tight stars over the whole field at night. The whole line, including the 10x42 Trailseeker, has the same specs. Sorry, I didn't try the 10x42 personally, but this is what I know about the Trailseeker line.

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BinocularSky

BinocularSky

Posted
Posted

I have recently compared my 10x42 (Opticron BGA WP.PC.AG) to my wife's 8x42 (Opticron Imagic TGA). Whilst I concur with Olly about better image stability in the 8x42, I find I prefer what I see through the 10x42 - for example, I see more in the likes of the Pleiades or the Beehive, and more structure in big bold fuzzy blobs like M42.

It's a personal thing - there is no "right" or "wrong"; merely what you prefer.

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ChrisLX200

ChrisLX200

Posted
Posted

I use a pair of Pentax 8x42 DCF HRc binos (roof prism). In my estimation they are really very good, sometimes describes as 95% the quality of the best you can buy at a fraction of the price. I would agree with that although they're still not cheap to buy. They are very easy to hold and transport.

ChrisH

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  • 2 weeks later...
kerrylewis

kerrylewis

Posted
Posted

Having followed this thread and studied many reviews based on the recommendations, I think I am decided on the 8x42 Celestron Trailseeker as mentioned by Ben

I like the roof prism design and they have a great field of view (8.1 degrees), plus they have been well reviewed elsewhere. 

I should have said earlier that my budget was to try to stay below £200 - so that rules out the more esoteric options.

Here goes, unless anyone stops me...

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ghostdance

ghostdance

Posted
Posted

I just treated myself to Nikon Prostaff 7s 8x42, Kerry.  £158 on Amazon. Beautiful roof prism bins, light & very comfortable, *superb* view - plus great for day/birding. Only 'downside' is the FOV, 6.8. But that's fine for me ( the Hyades are very nicely framed for example), may be too narrow for you? 

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kerrylewis

kerrylewis

Posted
Posted
48 minutes ago, ghostdance said:

I just treated myself to Nikon Prostaff 7s 8x42, Kerry.  £158 on Amazon. Beautiful roof prism bins, light & very comfortable, *superb* view - plus great for day/birding. Only 'downside' is the FOV, 6.8. But that's fine for me ( the Hyades are very nicely framed for example), may be too narrow for you? 

Ah - I knew someone would suggest another option! They do look good, but you are right, all things being equal I would prefer a wider FOV 

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