Recommended bins?

[thrax30]

Hi

I'm in the process of purchasing a new scope, but I'm wanting to purchase some bins as well to accompany it. I feel I will learn the night sky much quicker and easier with them helping me in preparation with using the scope. Can anyone recommend a good pair, something not too heavy that I can pick up and get decent planetary and lunar views with?

[Darren B]

Helios Naturesport 10x50 for £79. Clear bright images, solid build quality, but not heavy, nice to hold in the hand.

[dave1978]

I use Bushnell 15 x 70's a little large but superb clear bright images. Identical to the Celestron 15 x 70's but less than half the price.

[neilm]

I've some Nikon Action EX 10X50, very light, just over a kilo, good optics, wide field of view but not exactly cheap, around £150.

Niel

[thrax30]

Thanks for the replies guys

What about Bresser Travelview 10x50 porro binoculars? They're on sale at the moment for £29.99 at scopesnskies.

Bresser Bresser Travelview 10x50 porro binocular

Any good?

[thrax30]

or these Meade 10x50 bins -

Meade 10x50 Binocular Special Offer

[LukeSkywatcher]

Thanks for the replies guys

What about Bresser Travelview 10x50 porro binoculars? They're on sale at the moment for £29.99 at scopesnskies.

Bresser Bresser Travelview 10x50 porro binocular

Any good?

These look the same as the Bressers available from Lidl every now and then. If they are the same they are really pretty good bins for the price.

[Moonshane]

Hi

I'm in the process of purchasing a new scope, but I'm wanting to purchase some bins as well to accompany it. I feel I will learn the night sky much quicker and easier with them helping me in preparation with using the scope. Can anyone recommend a good pair, something not too heavy that I can pick up and get decent planetary and lunar views with?

I answer to your question, there are no bins (that are 'normal') that will give you planetary views. you can find planets and see eg moons around Jupiter with almost any bins but you won't see detail.

The same is largely true of the moon. you'll see some crater detail but not masses unless you get really quite large bins.

I have two pairs. A small but good quality pair of 7x36s which are really my birding and insect watching bins. They are quite nice for a quick check on where something is or to look at eg the Beehive cluster etc but not much detail.

I also have a pair of brilliant but heavy 15x70s which show a LOT more detail, stars etc - not looked at the moon yet but expect them to be good.

You can get much lighter and cheaper (but really quite good) versions of these eg Celestron - Celestron Skymaster 15x70 but you really need to mount these on a tripod or similar to get best use from them.

as has been suggested a pair of 10x50s might be good or even 8x40s but even then need a quite steady hand to get good use out of them - albeit easier than the 15x70s to hold still.

so it depends what you will be using them for really. I bought my 15x70s as my 'holiday scope' and that will be their main use although I will certainly also use them at home and will be making a parallelogram mount for them in time soon for those occasions.

hope this helps and good luck with your choices.

[thrax30]

Thanks for the replies guys, I think I'm gonna purchase the Bresser bins, don't want to spend too much of them as all of my money is going on my dob and decent eye pieces. The bins are for just running my eyes through the sky quickly and finding what I want to view with the scope, plus also doubling as a 'holiday scope', something me and my son can use with ease when abroad.

[Moonshane]

sounds like a plan - I agree on spending the bulk of your money on the scope - this is the right way round as far as I am concerned too.

[JamesC]

Don't know the Bressers, but I think you're on the right lines: 10x50 (as much magnification as most people can hand hold and not too bulky), 6.5 degree field (nice and wide for finding that elusive object), BAK4 (fully illuminated exit pupil), porro prism (better light transmission), fully coated (actually fully multi coated would be better, but I'm sure fully coated is fine). The price seems alarmingly low, so I hope they are collimated OK and have a reasonably sharp field (although some softness towards the edge of the field is inevitable unless you spend $$). The helios naturesport, suggested by Darren, would probably be my pick as well, but if you're on a budget then perhaps the Bressers are worth a go.

I quite often use a pair of binoculars like these for first locating what I want to look at, then finding it in the finder scope and finally looking through the telescope at it. Of course some objects are easy to find, so you can go straight to the finderscope or even the telescope. Binos are great for sweeping the milky way and looking at dark nebulae.

Ignore the people suggesting 15x70. These really need a tripod and it will be harder to find your way around the sky with the narrower field of view.

[JamesC]

...and of course fully broadband multi coated is even better...

[LukeSkywatcher]

...and of course fully broadband multi coated is even better...

Absolutely. But they come at a price.