7x50 or 10x50?

[PeterW]

Yep, I know a birding chap whose brother has a pair, used for long distance peregrine spotting. Tripod mounted, individual eye focus and with nasty eyecups. spent an afternoon at the London wetland centre with them looking out of their observatory once.
The view is perfect and probably too wide… you can peek round the corner to find the real field stop, not the edge you think is the edge when you look through them. As expected it’s sharp to the absolute edge. The original tripod mount was pants, I believe they’ve released a more rigid one.

certainly not for handholding unless you’ve been at the gym for years. Of course it’s only 10x, there are other (much cheaper) options for when you need a bit more power as @Captain Scarlet can attest…

Picture attached, as someone will ask for proof!

Peter

[josefk]

I'm a  bit jealous of your having the chance to look through them @PeterW. I understand from reading about them that they are as much a demonstration of engineering and optical engineering prowess by Nikon as they are a serious commercial product offering. They were seriously limited in numbers made weren't they? Sorry to the OP for chatting off topic now.

[PeterW]

I think there is still availability and yea they were a challenge to the engineers for optical perfection at all costs for Nikons 100th anniversary.

you can find some good reviews 

https://binocularsky.com/binoc_reviews.php

https://neilenglish.net/category/binoculars/

£200 should get a nice solid pair of 10x50 than should keep going for longer than you will.

Peter

[Wonderweb]

On 17/12/2022 at 08:34, josefk said:

I'm a  bit jealous of your having the chance to look through them @PeterW. I understand from reading about them that they are as much a demonstration of engineering and optical engineering prowess by Nikon as they are a serious commercial product offering. They were seriously limited in numbers made weren't they? Sorry to the OP for chatting off topic now.

Its absolutely fine! 👍 Nice to know for future if I ever see a pair for a fiver af a car boot sale!🤣

[F15Rules]

These look very nice and a good price...

(I'm not involved in the sale in any way)..

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/255860168742?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=ejB2bcQqTQ2&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=GThsQlXySw-&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

Dave

 

[Wonderweb]

Hi all. 

I ended up going for a really nice set of Barr and stroud series 8 8x42's and to be honest I'm loving just scanning round on clear nights while my astrophotography rig snaps merrily away. 

My wife finds them really easy to use and hold when she can grab them from me (well I did buy them for her so i suppose I ought to let her have a go every now and then). 

Just like to say thanks for all your advice and support and also to the shop who were very patient and helpful while I tried every set they had! 

Clear skies

Darren 

[Optiview Finder]

Both binoculars have similar aperture sizes (50 mm vs 42 mm) but different magnification powers (7x vs 10x). Therefore, their main trade-off is between the field of view and brightness. 7×50 binoculars have a wider field of view but a lower intelligence than 10×42 binoculars. You can choose the type that suits your purpose and preference better.

[Stu]

On 05/01/2023 at 17:20, Wonderweb said:

Hi all. 

I ended up going for a really nice set of Barr and stroud series 8 8x42's and to be honest I'm loving just scanning round on clear nights while my astrophotography rig snaps merrily away. 

My wife finds them really easy to use and hold when she can grab them from me (well I did buy them for her so i suppose I ought to let her have a go every now and then). 

Just like to say thanks for all your advice and support and also to the shop who were very patient and helpful while I tried every set they had! 

Clear skies

Darren 

Good choice Darren. I have a pair of B&S 8x42 as well, earlier model but they are very convenient to use and give excellent, bright views. Enjoy 👍

[Xilman]

As with many things concerning astronomical equipment, it's not how big they are but what you do with them.

Do you rate a large field of view higher than a larger image scale? Do you have steady hands? And so on.

If, for example, you wish to observe variable stars the larger field of view makes life markedly easier. If you wish to look at double stars or the moon, a higher magnification helps.

Horses for courses.