Starter binoculars (another one)

[John88]

Hi guys, 

So I'm sure you get a lot of questions about which binoculars to get for newbies sorry to add another one. 

After trawling through reviews and forums I was thinking about getting some celestron skymaster 15 x 70 as my first pair of bins. 

 

However I saw a pair of Esslnd 13-39 x 70 which seemed interesting because of the zoom feature. But not too much out there on them a few websites recommend them and amazon reviews. 

 

I just wanted to see if anyone has had any experience of the Esslnd binoculars or thoughts on them? Not sure if the zoom will affect clarity? 

Here's the link for them 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/ESSLNB-Astronomy-Binoculars-Binocular-Sightseeing/dp/B07GSSTCV7

 

Thanks a lot for your time and help

 

[Ruud]

Hi John, avoid zoom binoculars. Regular ones usually are much better!

[DaveL59]

same for any that are fixed (perma) focus, not suited for astro use.

Are you planning to be hand-holding these bins? If so then you may find that above 10x they get difficult to keep steady which will make the stars look very shakey and hard to see. For hand held generally 8 to 10 is the sweet spot but you may find you can manage, hard to know until you try. Bear in mind cool breeze and holding them inclined upward takes its toll though  

For the bigger bins a recliner might help, or a good monopod/tripod or better yet a parallelogram mount and chair, all depends how much you'd want to spend and where you'd be using them.

[John88]

I thought might be something to aviod as didn't see much out there, thanks. 

Im looking for something to use in garden sitting  in a chair and was gonna see how I got on if I needed a tripod (think I have a camera one somewhere but prob not ideal) 

I was hoping the 15x70 might keep me happy for a while, but maybe I should consider some 10x ish ones. 

Any recommendations for either smaller 10x ones or  either alternative 15x70 ones? 

 

Thanks 

[DaveL59]

maybe give us an idea of your budget and what sort of skies you have where you are, light pollution etc.

General recommendations seem to be 8x40 to 10x50 like Olympus DPS, ideally go for a waterproof pair, gas filled to save internal fogging up issues. Also check there's a tripod mount in case you want to use that later on. I've Minolta 10x50's WP 6.6 degree ones myself among several other vintage pairs, recently a Swift Audubon 8.5x44 8.2 degree FoV. Ideally you want a field of view as large as you can find, most 10x50's are around 5-6.6 degree. Roof prisms are more compact but also more expensive and maybe not so simple to use on a tripod depending on make/model. Above 8x you want those to be phase coated prisms too

Edited April 26, 2020 by DaveL59

[John88]

I don't really wanna spend more than £100. I suppose there is a bit of light pollution not pitch black. 

I did see Opticron Imagic TGA WP 7x50 Binoculars on first light which are on sale

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/all-binoculars/opticron-imagic-tga-wp-7x50-binoculars.html

Wondering if these might be a good choice 

[tooth_dr]

I have the 15x70 you mention above.  I rest them on a fence top or roof of jeep or vertical corner of house and they work well. Heavy enough to hold and a little jittery if not rested on something, but I grab them as my #1. I also have a pair of 8x21 but these are really just for bird watching and the likes, I haven’t tried them for astro.

[Pixies]

Even with 10x50s, if you want to start looking for anything faint and  relying on star charts to find them, you'll need a tripod. You can't keep checking chart/app and star-hopping without knowing your bins haven't moved since you last looked through them!

So I'd include this in your budget. I'd recommend getting a used beefy Valbon tripod (30+ years old is fine). They might not be what you want to take with you bird watching, but they won't move with some big bins on them!

 

[John88]

Thanks, I will def add a tripod to the list. 

I think I'm going to go for a pair of Olympus Binocular 10 x 50 DPS-1 they seem to have pritty favourable reviews. 

And think they might be easier pair bins for me to start off with being lighter and smaller

 

[DaveL59]

Must admit I picked up my Minolta's used, bargain at £22 and very good. Light and waterproof and a nice FoV. As mentioned if you want best views a tripod is well worth having, you'll need the appropriate adaptor to mount the bins too tho which is best will depend on the bino you get. Something like this for Porro's should work well
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Opticron-Binocular-Tripod-Mount-Binoculars/dp/B005F51HE8?ref_=fsclp_pl_dp_1

Add then perhaps a ball/trigger head so you can quickly redirect them around the sky, like the manfrotto 222 which can often be had for good money off ebay etc, though you would need a 3/8-1/4 adapter for a regular photo tripod which is inexpensive to obtain.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Manfrotto-222-Joystick-Head-Replaces/dp/B0018QOGNW

Alternatively a good monopod can work especially if you plan to be seated while observing where a tripod would get in the way. I now have a Giottos M5570 which gets to a good height and has feet for stability and works really well, again a bargain via the bay-of-e  

You can quickly find you spend a bit just to get to the bits to make life easier so build slowly based on what you find you need rather than jump in and get everything, perhaps  

 

[John88]

Thanks Dave, I do have a camera tripod so will maybe grab a mount and see how I get on. 

Thanks a lot guys for your time and advice

I'm sure I will be back here soon asking lots more questions