Sakura binoculars. Any good?

[8spokes]

has anyone used Sakura 30x260x160? I've just seen them about a week ago but ordered Orion 20x80...I'm just looking for a comparison and if they are any good for DSO. Thanks.

[Cornelius Varley]

Are these zoom binoculars ? If so you should avoid them.

[Owmuchonomy]

I have no idea but going off topic Sakura is Japanese for 'Cherry Blossom' and thus is verging on the sacred. 

[BinocularSky]

Those are not binoculars, but BSOs (*). As such, they might be useful as a "talking point" paperweight, but not much else.

* Binocular-Shaped Objects

[8spokes]

very informative...a swerve and a cool sharp harp on tap.

[Stormbringer]

think you will be lot better of with the Orions mate 

zoom bins have narrow field of view , well my celestron 10-30x50 bins the fov is about 50% of 10x50 bins

OMG did i just admit to owning zoom bins , must be early onset old timers disease 

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

The very designation Sakura "30x260x160" is meaningless. Is it a 30x (high but possible)? is it 30-260x (from high to ludicrous)? It certainly isn't 160mm (unless they count 2 80mm objectives as one 160mm). If I ever got one I might take it apart, throw away the zoom EPs, and make two finder scopes out of the objectives. That is the only way I can see these BSOs bein useful in astronomy

[Marci]

Brand: Sakura
Model: Sakura 30-260x160
Material: Metal body covered with rubber, which anti-slip and durable
Color: Black
Lens Coating: Fully coated
Magnification: 30-260X
Field of View: 180FT/1000YDS at 30X, 60M/1000M at 30X
Length: 370mm
Eye Lens Diameter: 17mm
Objective Lens Diameter: 80mm
Weight: 2123g

 

(For reference)

searching SGL for Sakura shows they have a reputation for "misprints" on their equipment...

TL:DR - Avoid like the plague...!

 

[wiseone]

At that price, would be useful to strip down for the objective lenses and eyepieces - make good finderscopes!

Had a good laugh at 260x with 70mm aperture. Keeping in collimation would be a nightmare.

Peter

[LukeSkywatcher]

No bins (no matter the aperture or mag), will ever come close to to giving you the same view of DSO as a telescope will.  I have a set of 20x80, and Andromeda still is a faint fuzzy.

Edited July 29, 2018 by LukeSkywatcher

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

12 minutes ago, LukeSkywatcher said:

No bins (no matter the aperture or mag), will ever come close to to giving you the same view of DSO as a telescope will.  I have a set of 20x80, and Andromeda still is a faint fuzzy.

But bins are brilliant at sweeping large swathes of sky.

[BinocularSky]

9 hours ago, LukeSkywatcher said:

No bins (no matter the aperture or mag), will ever come close to to giving you the same view of DSO as a telescope will.  I have a set of 20x80, and Andromeda still is a faint fuzzy.

Yet many DSOs such as the larger Melotte and Collinder clusters, the Pleiades, Kemble's Cascade, and the Andromeda galaxy, overflow many telescope fields of view unless you use low magnification like that of a binocular (even my 37x100 magnifies too much for these). And I don't think the telescopic view of pretty starfields, like the one at the back of Leo, comes close to that in binoculars in which you can take in the whole thing. Since I started the "Binocular Sky" website & newsletter, I have had several correspondents tell me that they have subsequently "down"graded to binoculars, and get much more observing done and enjoy it more.

But agreed, it's not everyone's cup of tea. Horses for courses, I guess, if I may mix my metaphors.

 

[Luger]

If you buy 20x80 binoculars for astronomy, you are making things difficult for yourself. When you have full night vision, your pupil will dilate to around 7mm. An exit pupil that size is perfect for best light transmission through your eyes. 20x80 gives you an exit pupil of 4mm (80/20=4). I bought a pair of Celestron 8x56 which are fully multicoated. A 7mm exit pupil and fully multicoating is perfect for light transmission which is obviously what we want in astronomy and a good reason why I'm not keen on high powered binoculars. If they are used during the day, it won't matter too much about the exit pupil unless it's rediculoulsly small.  If people are going to spend lots of money buying high powered binoculars with small exit pupils for astronomy, they are better off buying a telescope instead.

Edited April 1, 2020 by Luger
Tipo

[BinocularSky]

On 01/04/2020 at 07:29, Luger said:

When you have full night vision, your pupil will dilate to around 7mm.

Not necessarily:

[bsshog40]

I know this post is a little dated but I have a pair of Sakura 20-180x 100mm binoculars. I bought them probably 8 yrs ago. I use them mostly for looking for oilrigs out on long lease properties. I get a decent FOV with them also.  I have used them to look at the moon occasionally. They actually aren't that bad. I think I paid $80 for them. The only thing I don't like about them is they don't have a base to put them on a tripod.  That becomes a problem when I zoom all the way to 180. Hard to stabilize them. 

[Kimboman]

Hi I really am a fan of using binoculars for astronomy ,and have several pairs ie 15x70,12x60.10x50,8x42 and a 7x50 monocular.

With our fantastic weather I find that to set up binoculars takes minutes and if the weather turns bad seconds to pack away.really great views are available with binoculars and they are far cheaper than most telescopes.

I have a Celestron 6se, a Meade ETX90 and a couple of small refractors but I use the binoculars the most. but this is my opinion

[Brutha]

I know this is an old thread, but it is amusing that amongst such things as outdoor camping and formula 1 races that the Amazon description claims these are particularly suitable for is “blurred vision”.

https://www.amazon.com/Binoculars-30-260X160-Professional-Telescope-Stargazing/dp/B07SRZNNLF

[wulfrun]

2 hours ago, Brutha said:

I know this is an old thread, but it is amusing that amongst such things as outdoor camping and formula 1 races that the Amazon description claims these are particularly suitable for is “blurred vision”.

https://www.amazon.com/Binoculars-30-260X160-Professional-Telescope-Stargazing/dp/B07SRZNNLF

And even better, "vision of the future". Now they'd be very handy for any race-going punter! I see they also have the "exit of the student: 18mm", chinglish at its best 🙂

[Brutha]

On 31/01/2021 at 11:41, wulfrun said:

And even better, "vision of the future". Now they'd be very handy for any race-going punter! I see they also have the "exit of the student: 18mm", chinglish at its best 🙂

Hehe, of course, student = pupil, took me a while to work that out!