Which binoculars?

[willcastle]

I made a previous thread about trying to put a small scope on a camera tripod, but today I want to a nature reserve and they had six pairs of binoculars to try. I was BLOWN away by the incredible optics (since when did binoculars look so good?!). That being said, I have never looked through binoculars that were between the £400-700 mark. As a super portable grab and go option though, I don’t think they can be beaten. They are tiny, waterproof, fine with a case and the view was astonishing. 

But here is the question(s):

- the binoculars I tried were RSPB (both BG.PC and HD). One was 8x42 and the other was 10x42. Which do you think is best suited for astronomy? The 10x certainly got me a far closer view of the birds I was looking at, but both looked amazing, and perhaps a wider field of view could be more useful for looking at constellations?

- I have found another brand called Hawke, and I was looking at the Frontier ED X 8x42. I may not have an opportunity to look through these. Anyone have any experience with them? If anyone knows how they compare to the RSPB models mentioned above, that would be even better. 

- I’m also generally interested in hearing people’s experience with using binoculars for astronomy. I have been excited with just the views through my finderscope so I can’t see why I wouldn’t be impressed with what I see through some good binoculars. 

Many thanks,

Will

[Ships and Stars]

I have some cheap and cheerful Celestron Cometron 12x70s that I picked up second-hand on ABS for £30. They have sharp views and excellent light gathering capability with a tripod adaptor for longer observations without fatigue and shake. They also have fairly wide-angle eyepieces which give the full field of view with glasses and are a pleasure to look through. I think they have now been replaced by Celestron 15x70s. Needless to say, the general word is avoid zoom binos at all costs - if someone knows of a good zoom bino, please let me know!

Also have 12x50 Bushnells, but the Cometrons are miles better.

Prior to the 12x70s, I had some massive 25x100 Celestron Skymasters on an AZ4, but were a lot to lug around and set up, you might as well just use one of your scopes by that point, though I still liked the views from the 25x100 but felt like I wanted more magnification most of the time given the weight and bulk (hence just use a scope).

I've not tried any higher-end binos like Nikon or Pentax, but both of those understandably get great reviews. I've been tempted to try the Pentax range (the S or SP series), they are a lot more affordable than I thought they would be (£85-£290), but I don't feel the need just yet. 

With binos in general, I have a couple of decent-sized dobs, and I always take a break during a viewing session to sweep the sky with the 12x70s and then do it again at the end of the night after the scope is loaded up. Binocular astronomy is just a blast, I saw so many star clusters last time at my dark site and scanned the Milky Way back and forth a few times. It's total freedom, like flying after aiming a bulky scope at tiny bits of the sky. Also binos are great for a quick look outside from home if you don't have a chance to set up your scope or the weather is just hit and miss but a clear patch rolls through.

Am sure others will add their experiences, binocular astronomy in general is simply brilliant.  

 

Edited January 25, 2020 by Ships and Stars

[willcastle]

19 minutes ago, Ships and Stars said:

Needless to say, the general word is avoid zoom binos at all costs

Being inexperienced with binoculars, what do you mean by zoom binoculars?

the two I am looking at are either 8x42 or the same pair but 10x42. I don’t know which is more suited to astronomy 

[Ships and Stars]

3 minutes ago, willcastle said:

Being inexperienced with binoculars, what do you mean by zoom binoculars?

the two I am looking at are either 8x42 or the same pair but 10x42. I don’t know which is more suited to astronomy 

Zoom binos are say 12-20x zoom x 50mm objectives lenses, not a fixed magnification. I don't think there much difference between 8x42 and 10x42 to be honest, I prefer more magnification personally, they would both be good for astronomy but do some shopping around online and see what others recommend. 

[DaveL59]

either would probably be fine, just depends on how stable you can hand-hold and/or how easily they can be mounted to a mono/tripod. Also what's the FoV, are they wide enough for what you want to do with them?

Larger aperture objective may catch more light but for roofs there's a physical limit at IIRC 56mm, porro types can go larger hence some are 60+mm, but of course bulkier. The high-end of either tend to have good coatings etc so do give great views.

[Kimboman]

I have recently purchased a pair of Hawe 12x50 binoculars and they are crystal clear .I have always enjoyed using binoculars to scan the night sky they are simple to set up 

 

[Space Hopper]

Agreed on zoom binoculars. Avoid them.

If only you lived a bit closer, i'd let you try out a pair of my Canon's.

Image stabilised binoculars are well worth looking into, and when i let others try them out they never fail to impress.

 

[Ciaran Meier]

I've have a pair of Elinor 10x50"s poro's which seem to have decent optics and give sharp bright views.  I've also recently bought myself a pair of Helios Stellar II 15x70's which are giving me incredible views of the stars and the open/globular clusters.  They are now my main bino.  I would go so far as to say I now enjoy the 15x70's more than my 8 inch newt.  I've also a set of Helios roof prism 8x42's  for when out and about, birding etc,  but they do seem to struggle a bit when used as astro binos, though they are very light and handy to quickly grab for short viewing session.  As for image stabilised bino's I've not tried these but others on here who have them just love them. They are quite expensive though. 

 

 

Edited January 26, 2020 by Ciaran Meier
Error

[Second Time Around]

12 hours ago, Space Hopper said:

Agreed on zoom binoculars. Avoid them.

If only you lived a bit closer, i'd let you try out a pair of my Canon's.

Image stabilised binoculars are well worth looking into, and when i let others try them out they never fail to impress.

 

I was dubious until I tried them, but I'd agree about image stabilised binoculars.  

We're all different, but I can see as much detail in 8x binoculars compared with 10x when handheld because of shake.  But with my 12x36 image stabilized Canons I can see even more, despite the smaller objectives.  Just push the button and shake disappears!

The Canons are very good quality with a lovely flat field.  The 12x36s cost about £600, the 10x30s about £400.  If this is your price bracket I think you really should try them out.  In fact, for hand-held binoculars I can't ever imagine buying non-image stabilised ones ever again!

 

Edited January 26, 2020 by Second Time Around

[Ciaran Meier]

Hopefully the price of image stabilization will come down and the technology will port over to other manufacturers. Just image what view a 15x70 image stabilized bino would offer !  

[Space Hopper]

23 hours ago, Ciaran Meier said:

Hopefully the price of image stabilization will come down and the technology will port over to other manufacturers. Just image what view a 15x70 image stabilized bino would offer !  

I think they'd be too heavy. If they were viable, i think Canon would have done a pair by now. They've been around for about 20yrs.

My 15x50s are nice to use but they are on the heavy side. And optically i don't think they are that good. Ok but not that good.

I've always fancied the L series 10x42's but the price of them puts me off. I'd certainly look in a second hand pair though.

I also have 10x30's which are great although i tend to use them terrestrially more than for astro.

[Louis D]

On 26/01/2020 at 06:15, Ciaran Meier said:

Hopefully the price of image stabilization will come down and the technology will port over to other manufacturers. Just image what view a 15x70 image stabilized bino would offer !  

They might have come down slightly in inflation adjusted prices over the last 20 years since they were introduced, but they're still very expensive.  They've never reached mainstream volumes, so I doubt their prices will ever come down.

The original Canon IS binos' rubber armor turned to goo about 5 to 10 years ago, so there might be deals to be had on them.  The same thing happened to my original 2003 Canon Rebel DLSR.  I gave it away to a friend of my son's to learn on.  I have no idea what he did to avoid the dreaded sticky, black hands syndrome from using it.  I often had to resort to acetone to get it all off my hands.

[Space Hopper]

10 minutes ago, Louis D said:

The original Canon IS binos' rubber armor turned to goo about 5 to 10 years ago, so there might be deals to be had on them.  The same thing happened to my original 2003 Canon Rebel DLSR.  I gave it away to a friend of my son's to learn on.  I have no idea what he did to avoid the dreaded sticky, black hands syndrome from using it.  I often had to resort to acetone to get it all off my hands.

I never knew that was an issue @Louis D 

My 15x50s are rubber armoured and date from 2004, and they are as good now as they were back then.

Mind you, i live in Derby UK, not Texas !! It's a bit cooler (make that about 20ºC cooler) here. They're not going to melt here in any hurry, believe me ! 😄

[Louis D]

32 minutes ago, Space Hopper said:

I never knew that was an issue @Louis D 

My 15x50s are rubber armoured and date from 2004, and they are as good now as they were back then.

Mind you, i live in Derby UK, not Texas !! It's a bit cooler (make that about 20ºC cooler) here. They're not going to melt here in any hurry, believe me ! 😄

I found a CN thread on this very subject.  It is definitely hit or miss.

I also had it happen to me on a 1992 vintage Sony Hi-8 video camera.  The black rubber grip on top turned to goo in storage after having used it regularly without issues until switching entirely to digital in 2008.  I dug it out again about 5 years ago only to discover it had turned to goo in storage.  Neither the Rebel nor the camcorder had ever been exposed to solvents, Deet, temperature extremes, or humidity extremes, especially in storage which is when it happened.

[willcastle]

i think I am going to get a pair of hawke frontier hd x 10x42

they do two versions, the more expensive ones (just under £400) that have ED glass that removes most of the chromatic aberration, or the cheaper ones (just under £300) that many reviewers say are extremely close to the ED version and have very little CA anyway. So to save £100 I think I will get those. I have found a store nearby that says they stock Hawke binoculars so I will head there next weekend and see if they have the ones I want to try. 

I just totally was astounded and blown away by the RSPB binos so I want something comparable to those (although a little cheaper hopefully). Many reviewers did say they were a bit on the expensive side for what they were. 

As for hand shake.... I was looking at birds on an island quite far away and I could hold the binos steady enough to get a really clear view. I think that 42mm is a sweet spot. They aren’t too heavy. Who knows how that will change when I point them up to the night sky. But for terrestrial viewing the ones I tried were staggeringly good. 

[Cotton]

What's the verdict?

[Swgogtrs]

I have had a pair of Celestron 10x50 fixed focus ones for over 15 years and really like them. I just recently after doing a lot of research on eye relief/ pupils field of view went to a pair of 15x70's. The pair came with a quick tripod mount, which comes in handy, holding those for a long period of time is a workout. 

Used them the other morning on the tripod to take a peek at Jupiter and it's moons, the Moon was there too. You want good magnification like everyone says and a tripod is a nice quick set up, easy on the arms and you can let others take a quick peak too. (If you let them).   

[BinocularSky]

You can also find out more about what we bino users use and observers on the SGL bino forums (we don't bite 🙂  )
https://stargazerslounge.com/forum/133-discussions-binoculars/

https://stargazerslounge.com/forum/80-observing-with-binoculars/