Do you have a preference for body design and focusing

[25585]

Do you have a preference for binocular body design i.e. roof prism - one piece body slimmer whole, Zeiss/German - OG LENS turrets screwed onto porro prism body, Baush and Lomb/US - single body for porro prisms and OG lenses?

There are for the latter two mixed designs, especially as bins get bigger. Not sure what design the giants use.

And do you have any preference for individual eye piece focusing or central focusing (with a single eye diopter adjustment)?

[RT65CB-SWL]

18 hours ago, 25585 said:

...especially as bins get bigger...

How about these... 

 

I just hope she has got some solar safety film or other type of solar filter on these! 

Back to the subject in question now and I am being sensible... I just wish my Revalation Astro 20x80's had individual eyepiece focussing.  

 

[25585]

I think individual focusing is better for tripod mounted bins but centre is better for hand holding. 

Prefer Baush & Lomb bodies as they are more robust and porro prisms have wider FOV and brighter images for lower prices. 

[BinocularSky]

Where "bang for your bucks" is the issue, all else being equal, Porros are generally a better bet. I prefer IF for astronomy (set it and leave it), CF for terrestrial.

[Charic]

As above, I too like IF (Individual Focus) JUST set and forget, however what's  more spectacular, on my present 10x50's is the depth of field. I wonder why I need to focus at all?

My 10x50s are rugged enough for general purpose and now reside in the car, the 8x40s get the most use here for astro work, followed by the 15x70's.
All my  regular bino's are Porro by design, though I'm surrounded up here with  very expensive Dach (German for roof) Roof prism binoculars, though I have a small 25mm pocket Dach prism  buried somewhere in the fishing box. 

[25585]

I use a pair of Swift Osprey 7.5x42 for bird watching. BCF,( rubber armoured) good eye relief with the cups rolled down. 

For astro hand held Celestron 8x56 Nature DX (roof CF) or Strathspey 7x50 Marine ZIF. Tripod use Helios 11x70 and Fujinon 16x70 both BIF. 

Considering the Helios 20x100s HR (BIF), but they are expensive. 

Overall my 8x56 get most use. 

[ollypenrice]

For two reasons I prefer central focus. Firstly I'm an astronomy provider so our binoculars get passed around a group. A bit of compromise on the focus of the weaker eye is acceptable in these circumstances and avoids the need to explain individual focus to beginners who might need a few minutes to get the hang of it. Secondly our bins double up for nature watching by day and dual focus is a bit slow for that. For astro-only binoculars, and for my own use, I'd be perfectly happy with dual focus.

I think roof prisms are easier ergonomically but are more expensive. So we have a pair of Leica 8x42 which meet this collection of needs very well. I don't like the leather case, though, which is one of those designs which seems like a good idea on paper but is actually a darned nuisance!

Olly

[25585]

Good reasoning. I find Leica eye relief too short but Zeiss OK.

Leather cases, if the traditional kind give good protection. I usually buy them to replace the soft fabric cases. 

[Sky-J]

On 04/10/2017 at 12:12, ollypenrice said:

For two reasons I prefer central focus. Firstly I'm an astronomy provider so our binoculars get passed around a group. A bit of compromise on the focus of the weaker eye is acceptable in these circumstances and avoids the need to explain individual focus to beginners who might need a few minutes to get the hang of it. Secondly our bins double up for nature watching by day and dual focus is a bit slow for that. For astro-only binoculars, and for my own use, I'd be perfectly happy with dual focus.

I think roof prisms are easier ergonomically but are more expensive. So we have a pair of Leica 8x42 which meet this collection of needs very well. I don't like the leather case, though, which is one of those designs which seems like a good idea on paper but is actually a darned nuisance!

Olly

I totally agree with Olly, especially when it comes to sharing binoculars, which is one of the joys of binocular astronomy.

I also find roof prism binoculars (I include Canon IS bins in this as the eps adjust more like roof) fit a greater range of EDP's. I include myself in this as I recently bought myself an expensive pair of APM APO porro prisms and have found that their EPD and mine don't get along too well. So I'll be selling those shortly.

My goto binoculars are the canon 15x50's which I love. However, I was very surprised by the quality of a recent pair of Celestron Trailseeker 10x42s that I bought for teaching, great views for terrestrial and astronomical.

Clear skies all!

[25585]

Having bought Strathspey Marine 7x50s and also owning Celestron 8x56 Nature DX, which are CF roof prism, I use the latter more. Weight is anout the same but the Celestrons are bright & narrower, so I can keep my elbows tucked in more straining shoulders less for hand held viewing, which makes more comfortable viewing, especially at high up.

[F15Rules]

+1 for centre focusing. I don't mind porros OR roofs but porros tend to be cheaper for the same aperture and, to me, more tactile to hold.

But the main considerations for me are optical quality, comfort and cost ( the latter as bins are an added extra cost to my scopes). Hard to beat bins for quick peeks though!?

Dave

[25585]

Eye relief and weight are important for hand held. Porros I agree are better generally. They give brighter views compared to roofs (ultra expensive models may be better). 

Buying ideal binos is much easier to choose than eps, many more shops & different ones can be tried out!