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Large binocular query


bomberbaz

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Hello all.

I have been thinking about buying a pair of large binoculars and currently have some 20x60 but was looking more at a some with the offset eyepiece adaptor (45 degree), more aperture and interchangeable eyepieces for variable power.

I have already spoken to a respected member on here but wanted to garner a wider view before I do anything further.

I may have ruled out 100mm objectives due to the weight but I am open to ideas.

The problem as I see it is wanting a good sized objective with a suitable off the shelf mount to go with it. I have a skywatcher stainless steel tripod so that is my preferred option but again open to suggestions.

I did look at the Orion monster parallelogram but a review I read gave it good marks for usability but wasn't great in terms of ease of set up and transportation. I wanted something a little more user friendly.

The problem with other parallelogram options was maximum weight issue. There is one made in the Ukraine that does fit the bill but am a little cautious buying from this region.

There are a lot of binocular that fit the bill including offerings from Vixen, Altair, Explore Scientific and Helios. There may be others but as often happens when one starts researching you end up suffering with research fatigue.

Budget wise I am thinking up to around £2K  but may go higher if it seems like a perfect solution.

So anyway, please fire away with personal experience and ideas, I am as I said open to ideas.

Steve

 

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1 minute ago, Peter Drew said:

Something like this?

 

Is that one of your hand made versions peter?

When opening this thread I remembered seeing some of your own amazing builds when I have been up to the observatory, however that looks quite a beast to move around. Maybe its the perspective from where you are standing, not sure.

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8 minutes ago, Peter Drew said:

Yes, that was one of mine.  It's as least as big as it looks, 8" F25 optics  folded and focal reduced to about F12.  A two man lift!     🙂

Very nice peter but sadly fails on my portability requirements 😅

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I have the 79mm 45degree as I wanted it for daytime backpack able use… lovely wide, high power views.

My choice was made by the size of backpack I had and my desire for carrying heavy things long distances. 
 

for purely nighttime I would go 90 degree, though with a little contortion I can get pretty much to the zenith. I use a medium camera tripod and fluid head that I adjust the locking on to hold things in place. Likely under mounted, but it works fine for giving me nice views and avoids the need for a parallelogram the size and weight of a small battleship.

there is a “centre mount” that APM sell and that can be popped onto a tripod and hold these types of binocular, seems interesting but I’ve not found too many reviews of it.

makensure you have some budget for eyepieces…. You’ll be needing pairs of them which can get costly quickly.

Peter

 

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13 hours ago, bomberbaz said:

Orion monster parallelogram

I have the Orion Monster Parallelogram Mount with 25x100 Bino's, it is very quick to setup, but for portability I would say not good, as the two counter weights are heavy as are the 25x100 bino's.

My setup works best with reclining camping bed, lovely wide field views.

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21 hours ago, Mick H said:

I have the Orion Monster Parallelogram Mount with 25x100 Bino's, it is very quick to setup, but for portability I would say not good, as the two counter weights are heavy as are the 25x100 bino's.

My setup works best with reclining camping bed, lovely wide field views.

Cheers Mick.  How do you find the mount for using and panning around? 

Also are your bins 45 or 90 degree eyepiece and how do you find viewing at zenith please.

Oh one more and I realise it may sound obvious but is the counterweight requirement at least the same as the bins?

TIA

Steve

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2 hours ago, bomberbaz said:

Cheers Mick.  How do you find the mount for using and panning around? 

Also are your bins 45 or 90 degree eyepiece and how do you find viewing at zenith please.

Oh one more and I realise it may sound obvious but is the counterweight requirement at least the same as the bins?

TIA

Steve

Hi Steve, panning around is spot on.

The Orion 25x100 are 90 degree eyepieces and viewing at zenith is a breeze when lying down on reclining camping bed.

 The two counterweights balance these bins perfectly, takes a minute to move them until it is fully balanced.

In the future I might purchase these so I can change eyepieces:

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/helios-binoculars/helios-quantum-52-2040x100-semi-apo-binoculars.html

All the best 

Mick

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