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hooray for binoculars

Pete Presland

By Pete Presland
in Observing - with Binoculars

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Pete Presland

Pete Presland

Posted
Posted

sometimes there just isnt enough time to drag the scope out so its over to the binos my celestron 15x70 are the best £70 i have spent.

well at the weekend i saw M36,M37,M38 all clear misty clusters in Auriga.

M35 distinct smudge in Gemini.M44 the beehive was fantastic in cancer.Hyades & Pleiades both looked great much better with a larger field of view.but the real surprise was M42 the Orion nebula i swear there was more nebulosity through the bino's than my c8!

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russ

russ

Posted
Posted
sometimes there just isnt enough time to drag the scope out so its over to the binos my celestron 15x70 are the best £70 i have spent.

well at the weekend i saw M36,M37,M38 all clear misty clusters in Auriga.

M35 distinct smudge in Gemini.M44 the beehive was fantastic in cancer.Hyades & Pleiades both looked great much better with a larger field of view.but the real surprise was M42 the Orion nebula i swear there was more nebulosity through the bino's than my c8!

Nothing better than a pair of 15x70's to trawl through the Open Clusters in Auriga. Also checkout M31, drop down to M33 and then back up to the open clusters in Cassiopeia....great stuff.

I found those bins a perfect combination of size, weight and FOV.

A definate Hooray for binos :eek:

Russ

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jgs001

jgs001

Posted
Posted

Nice one BG1

I have multiple pairs of bino's 10x50's and 15x70's and various other smaller ones. I frequently setup the scope rig for an imaging run, mount the 15x70's on my camera tripod and have an observing session. Or if there isn't the time or only gaps between clouds, they are great then too.

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LukeSkywatcher

LukeSkywatcher

Posted
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Hello Brian,

Yes it is :eek:

I already have enough trouble from the Luddites from Yorkshire that keep penetrating the defences a mile from the Lancashire/Yorkshire border where I live:D

Now if that doesn't get them going nothing will :evil6:

Surely you can see them coming, in your bins!!!

P.S.~~~nothing wrong with Geordies. My mother is one. Maybe she is the exception to the rule.

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LukeSkywatcher

LukeSkywatcher

Posted
Posted

Sorry John. You are right.

I love my 20x90 bins. They are so quick and easy to setup. I have seen a couple of galaxies in Leo with them (i was hunting down a comet). The Auriga clusters are lovely in bins. The Beehive is simply stunning. Dont forget the double in Perseus. If you havent seen it yet....have a go.

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fmeireso

fmeireso

Posted
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Yes, binos are great. I really discovered this in the last 18 months or so because i always had an el cheapo 10x50 that was not impressive. It all changed when i got a 'descent' (not expensive!) 8x40 chinese bino and was simply stunned by it's contrast and brightness ...and so it went on and stopped by a BA8 series 22x85. Thisone is amazing, this week there were some clear moments and at our dark spot M81/82 was most fabuluous and even NGC 3077 joined the club! M35 and NGC 2158 , the small companion cluster was quite easy to see.M42 rather big nebuale very well seen in his environment.M78,M1,M51 all impressive and bigger then expected. the dubble cluster incredible. My deepsky friend Stefan was quite impressed by the view, just like me.

The most versatile specimen is the 15x70. It has a wide field, pin pricks star fields a can eventually be handholded for short periods of time. You can even use it as a finder.

This said, i will not give up my scopes. At 18" there is much that will blow off the socks too...in my case : bright globulars. I never forget the night I saw M3,M13,M5. those are just unbelievable.

I guess i just like optics(if they are descent). And binos are a very good part of it wich unfortunately i underestimated for a too long period of time.But not anymore.

It's very funny , i always struck deals with binos. 3 of them i obtained with at least 30% discount because of a sell out at a local dealer over some months. My Apollo, obtained from FLO was a very good price also, due the the weak pound against the euro, the allready low price at FLO and the low VAT rate in Britain wich has gone up a few weeks after i got the Apollo.(i was ignorent about that)

Now i got myself secondhanded a sturdy bino mount, 20 years old but steady as rock , again a lucky deal....

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argonaut

argonaut

Posted
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Hi Freddie,

You got that right. I have the Garrett signature 15x70, same series of binoculars. Stunning performance from these. I must say though that since I got my Garrett 100/45°'s I don't use the 15x70 much at all. It's so comfortable this 45° viewing :eek:

Clear Skies.

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fmeireso

fmeireso

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45° binos must be very easy to use. But they are not grab and go. That is the reason i use my 15x70 all the time.

Using my 'heavy' mount and the 22x85 i have the possibility to tilt the center column(yes really) makes it easier to look high up without too much of a hassle. I almost reach the zenith because i can get under the binos. Still not quite as easy as with 45° or 90° binos but allready very usefull.

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argonaut

argonaut

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Hi Freddie,

They are not bad for grab and go. I have them on a Manfrotto 028 tripod with a Manfrotto HDV503 head. I just crank the centre column up about 150mm and carry it out one handed. I just wish the optics were as good as the 8series.

For real G&G I use my vortex 8x42 Razors :eek:

Clear Skies.

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argonaut

argonaut

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Hi Freddie,

Yes,those are the ones I've owned for nearly a year now.

I find that mine suffer from a little more CA and SA than the 15x70 signatures.

I did also own until recently the 70/90° Garrett,again that was slightly better than my 100/45°. It was a mistake selling those for sure.

I am very satisfied with them even with all there shortcomings.Afterall they are f/5.3 achromats. They are excellent for DSO's.

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