Which binoculars

[Cheychi]

Hi folks I've recently been looking at upgrading my old 10/50s.

I've been looking at these

orion 20/80s

Omega 20/80s

Skymaster 20/80s

Orion 20/80s

And finally some skymaster 25/100s.

 

Has anyone owned any of these and what are your thoughts on quality and best for night sky viewing.

 

Many thanks.

 

 

 

[Cheychi]

Think I've narrowed it down further to skymaster pro 20/80 or skymaster 25/100.

Would love to hear the pros and cons of either binocs from more experienced users.

[John]

What ever you go for, budget for a really tall strong tripod to hold the binoculars. The 20 x 80's are easier to mount steadily than the 25 x 100's. Don't under estimate the size and weight of the 25 x 100's - they are really large and heavy.

 

[Mark at Beaufort]

I have used 15x70, 20x80 and 25x100. As John said you need a very stable tripod to hold big binoculars. In the end I settled for 15x70 as the most useful binoculars for observing. I don't know your budget but these are my prime binos for observing - https://www.firstlightoptics.com/helios-binoculars/helios-apollo-high-resolution-70mm-binoculars.html

I bought these because I am able to screw filters into the eye cups for viewing certain types of objects.

There are other models that would fit the bill - https://www.firstlightoptics.com/helios-binoculars/helios-stellar-ii-70mm-wp-binoculars.html

However, I have a look at this website - http://binocularsky.com/index.php   - Steve is a member of SGL

 

[RT65CB-SWL]

Hi @Cheychi and welcome to SGL. 

@John & @Mark at Beaufort have said it all.

I have a pair of 20x80's, (image below) and 7x50's (not shown).

A well known online warehouse, (sounds like a South American rainforest), often have a combined deal of tripod & trigger grip, or they can be purchased as separate items; like I have for mine. You can also use a monopod & suitable head. 

Another option is the parallelogram mount. Some prefer the parallelogram mount because there is virtually little or no chance of tripping over the tripod legs/feet or use it when you are in a chair/on a stool/reclining on a lounger, etc. 

There are also books dedicated to binocular astronomy. One of my favourite binocular astronomy book was written by the late Sir Patrick Moore. 🧐

[Cheychi]

Thanks mark, John and Phil for your replies.

I've opted for binocs because I figured they'd be better than a scope of similar price (I could be wrong).

Phillip what make are your 20x80s and what can you see with them in the night sky?

 

Thanks again guys.

 

[RT65CB-SWL]

Revalation Astro... (I need to get them collimated. I could do it myself, but looks a bit difficult; even though @BinocularSky sent me a link on how to do it). Tripod is a Manfrotto 055PROB.  

I normally use them for viewing: the Moon, Jupiter's moon's, Saturn; (not brilliant view of the rings), terrestrial; (inc. high-altitude plane spotting).

[Cheychi]

Would you get a much better view with 25x100s?

Is the difference worth the extra cost do you think?

[RT65CB-SWL]

It depends on two things...

1. your financial budget
2. what do you want to view

If you want detail, then go for a 'scope. Binoculars are a good introduction to this hobby.

I cannot comment on 25x100's as I have never used or seen through them for astronomy.

[Cheychi]

I'd like to view as much as possible the 25x100s are priced at £300.

I have no knowledge of scopes at all.

[BinocularSky]

42 minutes ago, Philip R said:

Revalation Astro... (I need to get them collimated. I could do it myself, but looks a bit difficult; even though @BinocularSky sent me a link on how to do it).

Seriously, it's not that difficult. Probably the most difficult part is getting the glue out of the screw holes without doing unto the screw-heads what COVID-19 is doing unto the global economy! 🙂 It's put there as an anti-tamper measure, which is silly, given that so many of the models with that prism housing eventually need tweaking.

 

Edited April 1, 2020 by BinocularSky

[John]

I have had a pair of 25 x 100's but found them heavy and unwieldy despite having a decently tall and stable tripod. I found that I was seeing more with 15x70's and 20x80's simply because they were that much easier to use.

If I ever own another pair of 100mm binoculars they would be the type with 45 or 90 degree angled eyepieces and mounted on a sturdy fork mount. Something like these:

[Cheychi]

So it sounds like 20x80s would be the better bet then.

How much different are they to your standard 10/50s that I own?

[Ships and Stars]

There are some really nice Helios Lightquest HR 20x80s on a certain online auction website for £300 buy it now or best offer. They have been on there ages, probably because the listing is not very good (The title simply reads: 'Binnoculars'). They don't look like they've been used.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/binnoculars/184155808124?hash=item2ae08aa17c%3Ag%3A5GcAAOSwzG9eNYIb&LH_ItemCondition=3000

A saving of c.£189 or whatever you can negotiate. Always a tiny chance they are out of collimation, but that's just part of the territory and it's fairly unlikely, these are some robust binoculars.

They are collection only, but I just arrange a courier (Parcel Force actually, they will bring the label and collect from their doorstep) to stop round as usually the people are tired of the item not selling (collection only doesn't sell well), have done that with my last two pair of bargain binoculars, 15x70s and some gigantic 20/40x100mm obsy bins.

Just a though.

 

[Ships and Stars]

48 minutes ago, Cheychi said:

So it sounds like 20x80s would be the better bet then.

How much different are they to your standard 10/50s that I own?

A fair jump up in size and weight, but not unreasonable with a tripod or perhaps a monopod at a push. I just lean my elbows on my van bonnet, car roof or a wall. On the other hand,  25x100s are getting into seriously big territory. 

[MartinHiggins]

1 minute ago, Ships and Stars said:

There are some really nice Helios Lightquest HR 20x80s on a certain online auction website for £300 buy it now or best offer. They have been on there ages, probably because the listing is not very good (The title simply reads: 'Binnoculars'). They don't look like they've been used.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/binnoculars/184155808124?hash=item2ae08aa17c%3Ag%3A5GcAAOSwzG9eNYIb&LH_ItemCondition=3000

A saving of c.£189 or whatever you can negotiate. Always a tiny chance they are out of collimation, but that's just part of the territory and it's fairly unlikely, these are some robust binoculars.

They are collection only, but I just arrange a courier (Parcel Force actually, they will bring the label and collect from their doorstep) to stop round as usually the people are tired of the item not selling (collection only doesn't sell well), have done that with my last two pair of bargain binoculars, 15x70s and some gigantic 20/40x100mm obsy bins.

Just a though.

 

I've got the 16x70 Lightquest  and really love their relative lightness and excellent optics. Mmmm, tempted by those above.

[Stormbringer]

7 minutes ago, MartinHiggins said:

I've got the 16x70 Lightquest  and really love their relative lightness and excellent optics. Mmmm, tempted by those above.

So am i but already have the Helios Apollo 22x85's but still very tempted 😍

[MartinHiggins]

Just checked out the listing that Ships and Stars pointed out. It looks pretty good and  I can almost believe it's just been used a couple of times if the seller was using it with just the neck strap as shown in the photos. You would need a tripod to get the best use out of it but not a particularly heavy duty one.

[Cheychi]

1 hour ago, Ships and Stars said:

A fair jump up in size and weight, but not unreasonable with a tripod or perhaps a monopod at a push. I just lean my elbows on my van bonnet, car roof or a wall. On the other hand,  25x100s are getting into seriously big territory. 

May be I'll go for the 25x100s at a later date.

[PeterW]

If you need to collimate binocukars when you receive them, pop them back in the box and send them back. Binoculars should arrive collimated and should help the collimation unless abuse/drop them! 
Proper collimation takes a custom jig, you can do a reasonable job, but it’s not ideal.

Peter

[Cheychi]

Ok so I'm struggling to find a tripod adaptor online to fit my Skymaster 20x80 to standard tripod.

Anyone else got one?

Edited April 3, 2020 by Cheychi

[Stormbringer]

it should be a standard 1/4 inch screw that fits into the built in adaptor on your bins ?

what tripod do you have ?

[Cheychi]

Photography tripod 

[Stormbringer]

On your 20x80's there's/or should be a built in adaptor on a rail 

theres a knurled knob on bottom of it that the screw in the tripod head screws into 

is the celestron 20x80's you got ?

sorry had to edit this as i read it completely wrong having just woke up from a nap lol

Edited April 3, 2020 by Stormbringer

[Cheychi]

Yes celestron