Binocular reviews

[argonaut]

Please could we have more binocular reviews.

It doesn't have to be technical,mine never are. It may help some newcomers,and old hands to decide on what they need.

Thanks people.

Glen.

[digitaldave]

I'll see if I can come up with something for my 15x70s. Would it be OK to post them in here, as they relate to binoculars specifically, or should we post them in the reviews section?

[argonaut]

I think I agreed with Ant that it would be quite an open binocular forum,so it should be OK. If not,Ant will be in touch

Glen.

[ron.s.g]

My Bins are quantum 4 25x100 by helios,

central stabilizing bar with screw adaptor to attatch to tripod which is needed as they are very heavy,

good optics bak4, individual focus, used quite a lot lately clouds etc,

images are nice and clear and not noticed any problems,

very large in size,

also have 10x50 miranda which are also good but much lighter.

hope this helps and any questions just ask.

ron.s.g

[argonaut]

Thanks for that Ron.

How much of the FOV is usable in these binoculars? My biggies are OK out to about 70%. It does degrade a lot after that.

Is the CA controlled in the bino's? Mine are not very good with CA.

Glen.

[high25]

Here is a quick review of the Revelation 25x100mm astronomical binoculars , tested only in daylight.

Look and feel -

At almost 16 inches in lenght and weighing around 3.8 kilos these are large heavy binoculars with most of the weight at the objective end , a good tripod and mount head is a must for any kind of observing !

Build quality -

Excelent with only rubber and plastic used for the coverings and eye cups, everything else is of metal construction and feel very sturdy when held or picked up.

As i mentioned above the weight and size of these binoculars demand the need for the central mounting bar feature, and this does the job just fine.

A chrome finish sets off the look.

Optics & focusing

Well then 100mm objectives means bucket loads of light grasp! fully multicoated, however i cannot prove nor dissprove that all of the bak4 glass is multicoated, inc the porro prisms.

All optics seem to be well aligned.

Douple diopters are great and the focusing is smooth and positive, giving a deffinate 'snap' into focus when in use , (A very strong point )

Colour in the daytime with bright sunlight is apparent, this is something i did expect but only shows as a very faint violet edge to roofs and walls when viewing near objects.

Tested this afternoon against my ultima 80 spotter shows a good deal more correction. However this was not a fair test ! but i thought it was a comparison i needed to do.

Conclusion -

Far more able in the daytime that i had expected, the contrast given to what you are looking at even in low light conditions is just great ! always bright and sharp with nice focusing these are a wonderfull tool.

Only one thing goes against them, and that is due to the size and weight you wont be taking them for a walk in the park or just nipping out with them to catch that wild bird etc , ok yes u can sit with them for a few minutes or stand without a tripod but the need to have both hands free to focus them ! and not hold them means you will reach for your compact bino's if u need to be quick ! i too have smaller compact binoculars for this.

Watch this space for the Night time review !!!

[argonaut]

high25,

Thank you for taking the time for the daylight review. It does show what this binocular could be capable of at night. The CA doesn't sound to bad. It's a severe test with bright sky and a dark object in the foreground. When I use mine during the day(100mm) it frightens me

Looking forward to your night review.

Clear Skies.

Glen.

[FLO]

We will have a number of binoculars at SGL-4 that will be made available for people to use. In particular we will have three of the Helios Apollo binoculars (10.7x70, 15x70 and 22x85) so if anyone fancies putting together a group-test please find us there.

Also, we will have the Opticron-Miyauchi 20x77 which is well worth a look and the Opticron Aspheric 8x40 WA

HTH

[acme]

I have a pair of 9x63 BAK 4 roof prism binoculars bought from Skopes N Skies

Adler "Wildnis" not a single sticker badge or manufacturers mark on them so I assume they are cheap imports from god only knows where.

Advertised as night glass with near APO lens performance.

Daylight use is good, nice sharp images with good colour and contrast. Looking into the clear night sky has proven these to be worth the price, nice sharp bright images good contrast with nice defined star points plus the field of view is quite good.

They are quite big and heavy so I have them mounted on a Benbo trekker tripod with a ball head so they are nice and stable, compact, versatile and easy to grab and go when the clouds clear.

Build quality is not the best, looks and feel are not that great either but as they were quite cheap I can overlook the aesthetics.

I don’t have any APO equipment to judge the optics on but to be honest I have never used binoculars before so overall I am quite pleased with them.

These were brought as a cheap foray into astronomy with binoculars. I have the bug now so know doubt I will be reading the reviews for the more expensive bins with great interest.

[argonaut]

Welcome to the binocular forum.

Thank you for the report on your 9x63's. Reviews are always interesting reading.

If the bug bites,it does get costly

Clear Skies.

Glen.