What can I see through a medium-large binocular?(70mm)

[spacegalaxy]

I am thinking of an upgrade, and the binos are so cheap that I am drawn to them, so what can I see?

Celestron Skymaster 15x70 (4.4 deg fov):

https://tejraj.com/celestron-skymaster-15x70-binocular.html

Also, can I make a tripod for these or should I buy them?

Tripod:

https://www.amazon.in/PRO-Tripod-Camera-Operating-Height/dp/B095WFFMB1/ref=sr_1_5?crid=37FG43JW6R9HH&keywords=binocular%2Btripod&qid=1648274102&sprefix=binocular%2Btripo%2Caps%2C477&sr=8-5&th=1

Also, what about these book:

https://tejraj.com/night-sky-observation-book.html

All comments are accepted, thank you!

Starry nights

[NGC 1502]

Hi and good wishes from the UK, I have fine friends in your country near to Hyderabad.

I think the best thing you can do to answer your question is to read as much as you can in the binocular section of this forum.  There’s much to learn from all sorts of people offering advice and help.

Best regards from Ed.

 

[Mick H]

3 hours ago, spacegalaxy said:

so what can I see?

You should be able to see plenty of DSO's, Open Clusters are brilliant in my Orion Giant View 25x100 binoculars.

I have Orion Monster Parallelogram Mount for those, but others will have better info than I for 15x70's.

Nice pair of Oberwerk Ulra 15x70's in the for sale thread here:

Edit: Sorry just seen your location. 😳

 

Edited March 26, 2022 by Mick H

[Astronerd76]

I would advise against the Skymaster 15x70. Quality control is non-existent. I have the Skymaster 15x70 and 20x80 and both were out of alignment when they arrived.

Celestron is very hit and miss. Most (if not all) their binoculars are made in China -- some are good (like the Nature DX models and the more expensive roof prism binoculars, or the Celestron 8x30 Ultima which I just bought and which is also sold under the Opticron brand as "Adventurer") -- but others not so much.

Depending on light pollution I'd prefer something like a Nikon Aculon 16x50 -- less aperture and therefore smaller exit pupil which will lead to a slightly darker sky. But I never had any issues with quality control on a Nikon Aculon -- I got the 7x35 and 16x50.

Edited March 27, 2022 by Astronerd76

[spacegalaxy]

9 minutes ago, Astronerd76 said:

I would advise against the Skymaster 15x70. Quality control is non-existent. I have the Skymaster 15x70 and 20x80 and both were out of alignment when they arrived.

Celestron is very hit and miss. Most (if not all) their binoculars are made in China -- some are good (like the Nature DX models and the more expensive roof prism binoculars, or the Celestron 8x30 Ultima which I just bought and which is also sold under the Opticron brand as "Adventurer") -- but others not so much.

Depending on light pollution I'd prefer something like a Nikon Aculon 16x50 -- less aperture and therefore smaller exit pupil which will lead to a slightly darker sky. But I never had any issues with quality control on a Nikon Aculon -- I got the 7x35 and 16x50.

I am from India, so what do you think of these:

https://tejraj.com/celestron-upclose-10x50-binocular.html

https://tejraj.com/bresser-hunter-10x50-binoculars.html 

https://tejraj.com/celestron-upclose-20x50-binocular.html

[Astronerd76]

I think the "UpClose"-models are not bad for the price. I have the Celestron "Solar Safe" binocular for solar observing with built in filters and it is okay -- I think it is very similar to the UpClose models. The ocular bridge is plastic however. So if you put pressure on the eyepiece it will wobble.

So far the best for the money that I found are the Opticron Adventurer models but I don't know if you can get those in India.

https://www.opticron.co.uk/our-products/binoculars/adventurer-t-wp-binoculars

But they have no model with a higher magnification than 12x.

[Guest]

I have a set of Orion 20x80s.  The included a tripod that was better then expected and not junk.  They run about 300 USD.  The planets are chip shots for it, I chased the Leonard comet with it last year and the brighter deep sky stuff is visible.  I have been using them for six months now and have had no issues with them.  I am certain they are available under different names where you live.

 

 

 

[nfotis]

On 27/03/2022 at 19:54, Mike Q said:

I have a set of Orion 20x80s.  The included a tripod that was better then expected and not junk.  They run about 300 USD.  The planets are chip shots for it, I chased the Leonard comet with it last year and the brighter deep sky stuff is visible.  I have been using them for six months now and have had no issues with them.  I am certain they are available under different names where you live.

 

 

Regarding planets, how large do Jupiter and Saturn appear in such a binocular?

Or even a 25x100 might not be enough to discern the rings of Saturn?

 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, nfotis said:

 

Regarding planets, how large do Jupiter and Saturn appear in such a binocular?

Or even a 25x100 might not be enough to discern the rings of Saturn?

 

You can tell its Saturn.  You can see the rings, you wont see details, they are binoculars not a telescope.  A lot of it has to do with the sky itself, just like a scope the clearer out the better.    Just a note about the Orion 20x80s.... they lasted about a year and something broke inside them.  They have been replaced by a set of 20x80 Oberwerks.  The images thru the new binos are much better.  

Edited August 17, 2023 by Mike Q

[nfotis]

On 18/08/2023 at 02:19, Mike Q said:

You can tell its Saturn.  You can see the rings, you wont see details, they are binoculars not a telescope.  A lot of it has to do with the sky itself, just like a scope the clearer out the better.    Just a note about the Orion 20x80s.... they lasted about a year and something broke inside them.  They have been replaced by a set of 20x80 Oberwerks.  The images thru the new binos are much better.  

 

Yeah, I am looking at an 25x100 Oberwerk myself as a large binocular solution.  I have a carbon fibre tripod with a 12 kg load limit and a heavy duty video head with 12 kg load limit, which should be (almost) workable (?).

Beyond this size, we are speaking about 4-digit prices, where a regular telescope has a big advantage in magnification and mass (and you can use different eyepieces etc)

 

[Guest]

14 minutes ago, nfotis said:

 

Yeah, I am looking at an 25x100 Oberwerk myself as a large binocular solution.  I have a carbon fibre tripod with a 12 kg load limit and a heavy duty video head with 12 kg load limit, which should be (almost) workable (?).

Beyond this size, we are speaking about 4-digit prices, where a regular telescope has a big advantage in magnification and mass (and you can use different eyepieces etc)

 

I actually drove down to Oberwerk and picked up my 20x80s.  They are only about 2 hours south of me.  I would have gone 25x100 but i already have solar filters for the 80 so i didnt change 

[The60mmKid]

Where in India do you live? Depending on the light pollution, 70mm binoculars could be splendid (if there isn't much light pollution) or perhaps disappointing (if you live in/near a large city). Binoculars such as these come to life from dark skies, in my opinion.

[bosun21]

I use a pair of Helios Apollo 15x70 binoculars and they show pleasing bright views of many targets. Regarding the planets I just have the occasional look at them as that’s not what binoculars are good at. You can see that Jupiter and Saturn are planetary discs with Jupiters moons being visible. Saturn to my eye looks like a disc with ears. To define the rings clearly you will need a telescope. Binoculars are good for star clusters and bright DSO’s. I do miss the wider field views I used to get from a pair of 8x40’s I used to own. So much so I think I’ll have to get myself another pair. Good luck.