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Celestron Skymaster 20 x 80 Observation Binoculars any comments


iwols

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hi all just not getting my ed80 out lately because of the weather ,slight breaks in the cloud and i just want to look at something so was considering the above binoculars ,just wondered if they were worth the money and would i see much through them(is the magnification enough?) any comments welcome as always cheers

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Hi . I have got Helios 22x80 bins . U will find U will need a tripod to hold them @ this sort of power. I would not get any thing with less power.

I use mine a lot for terrestrial use as well. 20x to 25x is what U want to go for. The moon looked amazing . Was looking @ Saturn through

them last year.  Been a good buy.

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1st Pair Susie and I bought. Thoroughly enjoyed using them. Little heavy and difficult to hand hold. But we both managed it, but they benefited from being tripod or monopod mounted. A pistol grip made it even easier.

We've moved on to a pair of 10x50 Pentax and 20x60 Pentax Binoculars now. But still have The Celestrons and enjoy using them.

They are far from the best. But they do the job at the price point well.

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They will be a good buy at the current Celestron sale price of £79. I ordered mine from FLO yeterday.

 20x will be nice for deep sky :Orion neb, M45, open clusters like m35, will show globs as a little fuzzy balls etc. Planets will show a small discs, but you'll see Jupiter's moons in a line around its disc. The Moon should be very good, it has been with all my other large bins previously owned. 

These are budget binos so their optical quality will be ok but not amazing, and the buyer does the QC i.e it's not too unusual for them to arrive out of collimation. If so they can be either tweaked or sent back for a replacement.

They will need mounting as said, I'm not sure how to mount mine at the moment, I'll need to put my thinking cap on. 

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2 hours ago, iwols said:

thanks guys is there anything else a little further up the scale you would recommend

These reviewed quite well for the cost:

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/helios/helios-stellar-ii-70mm-wp-binoculars.html

Then there is the next step up from that which are the Apollo's:

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/helios/helios-apollo-high-resolution-70mm-binoculars.html

The Apollo's are BA8 class (very very good in other words), and come in various sizes. I've tried the following 10.5x70, 15x85, and 28x110 (Monsters...too big without a specialist P-mount I thought). The 15x85's were my favourites but I suspect I'd prefer the 15x70 even more due to being more manageable.

The Pentax 20x60 as mentioned are also suppose to be excellent :) 

Probably the ultimate sensibly priced bins are the Lunts (superb reviews):

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/lunt-engineering/lunt-70mm-magnesium-binoculars.html

Then again the new Helios light Quest look very good too:

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/helios/helios-lightquest-hr-80mm-binoculars.html

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/helios/helios-lightquest-hr-70mm-binoculars.html

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/helios/helios-lightquest-hr-100mm-binoculars.html

Getting a bit pricey now though! 

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30 minutes ago, happy-kat said:

Looking at your signature i don't think your issue is your ED80 but might be your tripod heq5. 80mm binoculars will still need a tripod so why not a good easy fast setup altaz tripod for your ed80.

thanks the heq5 mount is used for my astrophotography

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29 minutes ago, iwols said:

looks like the pentax may be better pound for pound now,what does saturn look like through these for example

Saturn hasn't been visible since we've had them

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1 minute ago, iwols said:

thanks racey  what do the other deep sky objects look like

 

We've been very pleased with what we've seen with them. To put things into context they are an option to grab when, we don't have the time or inclination to set up our other scopes. They compliment the wide ranging views of the 10x50s very nicely.

Field of view is a tad narrow. But with the pistol grip we have we're always scanning so that doesn't really concern us. 

A friend has seen Saturn's riings through his, but as I say we haven't got that yet. Clusters nicely displayed, M31 easy to discern with or without averted vision, same with M42. Doubles and coloured stars easily seen. We like them a great deal when a quick scan or a monopod session is the order of the day...

 

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I'm thinking more about the 15x70 sky master pros at the moment . Would I still need to mount these ? I just wanted something quick and easy whilst imaging and I think the 20x80 would be to heavy ? 

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2 hours ago, Ken82 said:

I'm thinking more about the 15x70 sky master pros at the moment . Would I still need to mount these ? I just wanted something quick and easy whilst imaging and I think the 20x80 would be to heavy ? 

The 15x70s can be held. But again they benefit tremendously from a monopod... 

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6 minutes ago, iPeace said:

I am considering these and would very much like to know (see?) how you mount them.

:happy11:

Mike, consider it done Sir. I'll get photos taken and posted shortly 

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Mike

Simple Opticron Metal Binocular Mount sourced from Amazon.

Pistol Grip also sourced from Amazon, together with a somewhat more weighty camera tripod.

Gitzo Carbon Tripod with quick levelling platform sourced from Camera Bag.

My, soon to be assembled, DIY aluminium pier extension to be included in the set up. As well as when the Mini Giro arrives.

Not shown, a climbers chalk back that is slung beneath the tripod with a 5KG or 1.9KG Counterweight in it if required.

The Pistol Grip also mounts nicely to my Carbon Gitzo Monopod when I wish to use that.

Simon

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2 minutes ago, Racey said:

Mike

Simple Opticron Metal Binocular Mount sourced from Amazon.

Pistol Grip also sourced from Amazon, together with a somewhat more weighty camera tripod.

Gitzo Carbon Tripod with quick levelling platform sourced from Camera Bag.

My, soon to be assembled, DIY aluminium pier extension to be included in the set up. As well as when the Mini Giro arrives.

Not shown, a climbers chalk back that is slung beneath the tripod with a 5KG or 1.9KG Ciunterweight in it if required.

The Pistol Grip also mounts nicely to my Carbon Gitzo Monopod when I wish to use that.

Simon

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Excellent. Well manageable and looks the business. Is there a particular type / bolt size (on the upper, binocular side) to specify when sourcing the L-bracket?

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