Orion 14 x 100

[henry1983]

Hi everyone, I’d really appreciate some help. I have just bought these Orion 14x100 binoculars for £50 as a foot in the door into astronomy. I also bought a manfrotto 55c tripod and head. I would love to start looking into the sky. Is this a reasonable set up to do this? What is the best way to get started? Does anyone know the history of these binoculars. Receipt says they were purchased in 1992 in California 

[StarryEyed]

That's a big pair of bins. Your going to need quite a mount for them and I suspect a lot of the normal binocular center adapters would be overwhelmed by these. How are you going to connect then to the tripod? 

[F15Rules]

Hi Henry..

Welcome to the Forum😊👍.

Some quick initial online searches suggests the following about your new binoculars:

- £50 is a bargain if the binoculars are in good optical order, well collimated etc (ie they give a merged, single and sharp view.

- Made in Japan, quite probably by Vixen

- They have quite a narrow field of view (fov), at 3.3 degrees, so not really ideal for learning the night sky, something with 6 degrees or more would show you wider areas of sky.

- the exit pupil is also rather large at just over 7mm ( divide aperture 100mm by magnification x 14 = 7.14mm). The normal human eyes' maximum dilation is around 7mm, but this usually decreases with age..if you have a 5mm maximum dilation, for example, you are wasting about 40% of the light entering your bins, so a smaller pair of bins would show objects just as brightly.

Also, you need a very dark sky to maximize the performance of bins like these.

- the stated loading maximum for your tripod/head appears to be c 9kg, so they should handle the bins ok, make sure you get a robust support to connect your bins to the mount (if you don't already have one).

Some more info here...https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/90640-anyone-know-the-origins-of-the-orion-14x100/

All that said, for £50 you aren't risking much, and if well mounted these binos will show wonderful views of the moon, for example.

If you add a modern, cheap pair of smaller starter bins, such as a 10x50 Nature sport, you can learn the night sky much faster, and use the big ones for more close up views later on..

A good investment would be to buy this book..

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.firstlightoptics.com/books/binocular-astronomy-book.html&ved=2ahUKEwjWpsuzj5H5AhXUhFwKHfpSCUwQFnoECAkQAQ&usg=AOvVaw2MXWdha_niuaKybZHnAEd6

Hope that helps a bit.

Edited July 24, 2022 by F15Rules
Typo

[DaveL59]

Hard to tell for sure from the last pic but that may be a tripod mount screw thread in the objective end of the hinge? If so as said above you'd need a substantial bracket to hold these steady, such as one of the L brackets shown here (the 50mm+ one probably best)

Binocular Tripod Mounts | Opticron

If not then the centre focus bar version may work if it'll fit onto the hinge and not obstruct the prism housings when you adjust for your IDP.

For a 20 year old pair of bins those do look in nice cosmetic condition and a bargain price at that. Hopefully they perform well optically too 🙂 

Edited July 24, 2022 by DaveL59

[Pixies]

15 minutes ago, DaveL59 said:

If not then the centre focus bar version may work if it'll fit onto the hinge and not obstruct the prism housings when you adjust for your IDP.

I have one of these for an old pair of 10x50s. I doubt it'll work with such a heavy pair, as the 2 sides will probably twist down, bringing the IPD really close.

Modern big binos have a shaft that runs the length, attached at either end,  and allows you to adjust the balance at the mounting point:

what about something like this:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/333434041534

or a DIY version?

 

[DaveL59]

3 minutes ago, Pixies said:

I have one of these for an old pair of 10x50s. I doubt it'll work with such a heavy pair, as the 2 sides will probably twist down, bringing the IPD really close.

Modern big binos have a shaft that runs the length, attached at either end,  and allows you to adjust the balance at the mounting point:

what about something like this:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/333434041534

or a DIY version?

 

I think those big 14x100's will be too heavy for something like that unless you custom make one from ally plate.

Agree tho that a centre bar like your first pic is the way most are done, I briefly considered a pair of big Swift 20x80's but decided I'd rarely use them so passed on those.

 

[henry1983]

Thankyou all for the responses. In amongst all of the bits was this mount below. Seems to fit well and if solid. I have ordered the book recommended above and am looking forward to having a play with the kit when I have a clear night. I have no experience with binoculars but a fair bit with cameras. The lenses have cleaned up well. One had some slight spores in the middle which came off with an alcohol wipe and cleaning cloth. Looking through them they seem spot on. I’m impressed with the sharpness of them and colour. For £50 including mount and tripod I’m very happy.

[DaveL59]

now that's a serious looking tripod mount and needed to keep those long heavy barrels stable, looks like they get the centre of balance set just right too.

For sure one heck of a bargain you landed on there 🙂 

[F15Rules]

Henry, 

That's a great result👍.

As DaveL59 said, that plate is ideal to support the binos, and is a serious piece of kit. You have made a wonderful purchase there!

I think you will find Steve Tonkins' book fascinating and invaluable, and you may be interested to hear that Steve is an SGL member, under the name BinocularSky (you can search him under the"Members" search option).

Steve also issues a free monthly guide for Binocular observers, which you can sign up for at http://binocularsky.com/

Hope that helps and we look forward to hearing your impressions of the binos in coming weeks and months..

Clear skies,

Dave

 

Edited July 25, 2022 by F15Rules

[Pixies]

👍Result. 

Take a pic down the objectives too, with a flash, and check how much they have been stopped down. 

And older Japanese model, so hopefully not too much.

[henry1983]

What do you mean? Take a shot down the larger end of the lenses? Sorry for my ignorance 

[Pixies]

1 hour ago, henry1983 said:

What do you mean? Take a shot down the larger end of the lenses? Sorry for my ignorance 

Yep.  See these two 10x50 binos (sorry about the rubbish pic):

The top  one is my 50 year old Japanese-made pair. £10 from a charity shop. Big-ol open barrel that fully utilizes the whole objective lens. It is a 50mm 

The lower one is a budget Chinese-made pair (no offense to Chinese manufacturing) that has the barrel stopped-down to a much narrower diameter; to avoid the aberrations that arise from the cheaper optics. More like a 40mm objective.

The difference in views are like night and day (figuratively and literally).

[henry1983]

What do you think of the below? 

[F15Rules]

On 26/07/2022 at 14:29, henry1983 said:

What do you think of the below? 

I think I want to buy them from you..

How about £51? 😎😂😁

..but seriously, those objectives look superb!👍

Dave

Edited July 27, 2022 by F15Rules

[henry1983]

Haha What do you think they would sell for? Not that I want to at all but just curious?

[DaveL59]

5 minutes ago, henry1983 said:

Haha What do you think they would sell for? Not that I want to at all but just curious?

hard to say but I've seen big Swift 20x80's go for upwards of £80 even with some minor issues. yours tho are in good condition and have the tripod carrier too as well as more aperture so >£120-150 maybe. All depends tho on if there's a target audience wanting them. Then again rarity could bump that much higher.

As a total contrast...

Nikon Binoculars MIKRON 7 x 15 M CF Black from Japan 4960759207715 | eBay

and that's lower than I've seen them in the past, thankfully I paid a lot less for the ones I have 😉 

Edited July 28, 2022 by DaveL59