Helios Quantum 7.4 (Big) Binocular Review

[mike.brightmore]

I’ve been the proud owner of a pair of Quantum 4 (25 x 100) for several years now and have and still do thoroughly enjoy using them. Accident damage has reduced this enjoyment a bit but I was eventually seduced by the Q 7.4’s through;

(a) A good Sky at Night mag. review which is quoted by every retailer.

( Enhanced optical quality and contrast.

© The ability to swap eyepieces (higher magnification and/ or wider angle).

(d) The angled eyepiece holders (45 degrees) to save my rapidly aging back and neck when looking up towards the zenith

(e) The intriguing prospect of incorporating filters.

(f) A solution to my dark sky site portability problem

(g) And, ok, they look fantastic (but what mere man has not so been seduced).

A few Q 7.4 owners in SGL have in the past promised reviews, but I haven’t been able to find any. So for what it’s worth here is one.

This model has been out of stock for a while (mm why?) and I eventually got my pair of Q 7.4’s from Peter and George at Opticstar. Although I have great respect for FLO and RVO, on this occasion they didn’t cut the mustard. As ever Opticstar’s service was excellent and the binoculars arrived very quickly by FedEx direct from the distributor - Optical Vision Ltd., (OVL). In fact A pair of binoculars arrived in four boxes (3 large and one medium sized). The largest box (tatty and damaged – you’d think that distributors would understand better the excitement and anticipation felt by amateur astronomers awaiting delivery of substantial purchases) contained the binos and the others were for the (1) tripod, (2) fork mount and (3) finderscope and an extra pair of lenses. These three boxes were very well packed.

I was expecting a nice foam lined aluminium case consistent with the style, quality and price of these binoculars. Opening a tatty cardboard box only to find an indifferent soft bodied suitcase (slightly damaged) was not what I anticipated. Still it has wheels, a handle and a pocket and has nice cut-out foam inserts so probably does the job of carrying / storage quite well – but its just not consistent with the product.

The tripod, mount and binoculars were assembled quickly and easily and, forget the tatty box and suitcase, these bins are gorgeous. They exude style and quality and just look and feel the business. The hardwood tripod is very stable and easily adjustable. The fork mount securely screws down onto the tripod to make a rock-solid platform for the binoculars – which then attach to the mount very securely and in a manner that gives total confidence (I never really felt this confidence with the Q4’s and Horizon tripod). Unfortunately the finderscope was damaged and the extra pair of 40x magnification eyepieces did not fit this model - but these issues are being resolved.

Another shock was that nowhere on the packaging, instrument or documentation was there any mention of Helios or Quantum. In fact the model I received is a SW100/Q45-B with no makers badge. I have been assured that this is nevertheless the latest Q 7.4 model and does have the speck as advertised. After all who would pay £20k for a 24 carat ‘LOREX’ Yachtmaster II with Chinese symbols on the face.

First Light – daytime

Considering the damage to the finderscope and packaging I was very keen to try these bins out as soon as possible. I live near the coast so the next day (yesterday) I took them down to the mouth of the Humber to look at ships out in the North Sea and over to Spurn Point and the river forts etc. Set-up was easy and despite these being heavy binoculars (13 kg) I have had no problem lifting them on and off the mount (though I do worry a bit about the carrying handle – in the same way I worry about plastic bags and wine carriers from Supermarkets). Must start going to the gym again though.

Terrestrially these binoculars were a dream. The view through them was bright, clear, detailed and immersive. I could read the ‘No Smoking’ signs on ships at sea and examine the paintwork on the Spurn lighthouse over a mile away. The supplied 25x EPs are optically very good. My only difficulty was matching up the inter-pupillary distance, eye relief and focus to get a good image in both eyes and then combine this into one view. Inter-pupillary distance is adjusted by rotating the prism mounts. These are big, smooth and stiff and so not easy to get a good grip on and turn.

First Light – Night-time

After everything I’ve heard on this forum I couldn’t believe the first night would be clear. I moved things round in the obsy to accommodate both the Q 7.4’s and the Celestron CPC 1100 (which fortunately is still on tripod and JMI Wheeley Bars (are these wheeley Helios Binos). I also had the Quantum 4’s set up outside so I could make comparisons between the three instruments.

Observing began at 5.00 p.m. and ended at 3.00 a.m. so will have to be very selective about targets viewed – but a ten hour session gives some indication of just how pleasurable it is to use these bins. The location is suburban with average LP. I rarely see the Milky Way or any stars within the Great Square of Pegasus. The night was cold, damp and hazy with less than average seeing. Atmosphere was steady with little turbulence evident when viewing Jupiter and the Moon through the telescope.

Jupiter – low and bright to begin with but an obvious place to start. The Q4s have always clearly shown the moons but never a nice sharp disc for the planet – they struggle with bright objects and were hopeless with Venus. Chromatic aberration (CA) was also a problem. The Q 7.4s are a big improvement. Jupiter’s moons were very clear and pin-sharp – even though three of them (I, C and E) were in a tight little group. The disc was sharp and round with only a hint of bluish CA on one side. Even though the disc was small (25x) I was amazed to be able to just make out some banding. As the night progressed the NEB and shading in the Polar Regions became clearer.

Lunar

A bright first-quarter moon then presented itself. Viewing the Moon through the Q4s has always been a great pleasure but again CA was very obvious around the limb. The Q7.4s were that bit sharper and the contrast better. CA around the limb was also much reduced. I am well-used to clear and detailed lunar views but the Q7.4s provided an edge to this. There was no need of filters and I watched the terminator move across the craters Aristoteles and Eudoxus and the floor of the Mare Serenitatus. The view was captivating and I enjoyed the detail in craters such as Theophilus, Cyrillus and Catherina. I cannot honestly say that the Q7.4s revealed any details on the Lunar surface unseen by the Q4s, but it was definitely sharper.

Galaxies

With a bright moon and hazy sky this was not really a Galaxy night.

Andromeda was high (70 deg. Alt) but the 45 deg angled eyepieces made viewing much easier than with straight-through bins. The Q7.4s will point to zenith (90 deg.) but anything over 70 deg is a hands and knees job. This was the best view of M31 I’ve ever had. You always get the bright core but the Q7.4s did show more of the nebulosity in a way that better revealed the shape of the galaxy. The companions M32 / 110 were also obvious.

After moon-set I did go for Bode’s Nebulae in Ursa Major. The Plough was well into its upwards anti-clockwise circuit of Polaris and Dubhe was directly above Phad so it was just a case of extending this line upwards by a equal amount to reveal the two galaxies M81 and 82 (comfortably in the same FOV). I have often viewed these with the Q4s but contrast is everything with DSOs and this was apparent with the Q7.4s. The sky was a bit darker and the galaxies a bit brighter. Admittedly the difference was subtle, but nevertheless real. Surprise No. 2 of the evening was that I could just actually detect some of the brighter, star forming ‘lumpiness’ along the length of the Cigar Galaxy.

Globular Clusters

Not the best time for Globs but I managed to catch M13 in Hercules before it went too far West. The Q7.4s did resolve stars further into the core and the core was distinctly ‘grainy’ rather than diffuse. M15 in Pegasus and M2 in Aquarius clearly showed their dense, bright condensed cores with the outer stars were resolved. Again resolution was clearer in the Q7.4s compared to the Q4s.

Binary Stars

Stars were generally sharper in the Q7.4s and therefore splitting doubles was easier. You can probably split Albireo with opera glasses but in the Q7.4s the view was crisper and the colour distinction more pronounced. Mizar and Alcor in the Plough were another easy split but I couldn’t get a clean separation of either Castor or Polaris, so must return to them and other double another night. 25 x magnifications isn’t much for splitting doubles so I would like to see these with 40x or 50x eyepieces.

When looking into the Orion Nebula (M42) I was amazed to see a clean separation of the 4 main Trapezium stars with the Q7.4s. They were obviously small but definitely black sky between them. Mintaka in the belt was another clear split but probably the most pleasing was splitting three of the stars in the Sigma Orionis multiple just below the belt-star Alnitak. I happened on this system accidentally (as you frequently do with binocular viewing) but the difference in size and brightness of these triple stars made this a striking view.

Open Clusters

Open clusters are really where binoculars excel and the Q7.4s did not disappoint. In fact they were astounding. The Pleiades and Perseus double cluster were always Showtime in the Q4s but even better in the Q7.4s. I lingered long over the Cassiopeia clusters and those beautiful ones M36, 37 & 38 in Auriga. In fact just panning round the Eastern sky revealed cluster after cluster and was a sheer delight. The better contrast and resolution of the Q7.4s significantly added to the pleasure. M34 and 35 were memorable.

Nebulae

M42 in Orion was magical with even more shape and structure visible in the Q7.4s. This was enhanced by the clarity of the Trapezium. M1 (the Crab Nebula) was faint but visible in both instruments. None of the filamentary structure was apparent but the overall shape much clearer in the Q7.4s

Final thoughts

The built-in dew shield on the front of the Q7.4s worked very well and I was using them long after the Q4s had misted up. One silly little problem I had was, because the eyepieces on the Q7.4 are usually pointing directly towards you, I kept inadvertently breathing on them and misting them up.

They are immersive and it was like 'falling into space (S & N review) or viewing the Universe from outer space rather than a back garden.

I could go on and on (and probably have done). Before buying the Quantum 7.4s I frequently asked the question ‘Is the difference compared to the Quantum 4s worth all that extra money?’ I never got an answer and so have tried to answer it myself. The Q7.4s are indeed a much better instrument in all respects. Whether such improvement is worth a grand I really don’t know yet – but I look forward to finding out.

As you may have gathered so far I am very well pleased with them.

[callisto]

Nice sum up of these binos, always great to hear how instruments like these perform

[Doc]

Great report, I've always fancied these myself as they make a great dark site travel scope.

I could imagine just chucking these in the back of the car and driving up to the peak district.

You have given me something to think about Mike.

[davo]

Amazing looking bins. Top of my wish list :-)

[kris h]

Great report how much does a pair of them cost

[Nexus 6]

Excellent report Mike, they really look like a quality piece of kit! 13KGS is a hell of a weight for bins.

Hope to see you soon.

Alan

[ashworthacca]

That's a great report Mike....a very detailed account and it sounds like you had a great nights observing.

[Doc]

Great report how much does a pair of them cost

I think FLO sell them for about £1300

[FLO]

I think FLO sell them for about £1300

We don't currently list a price for the Helios Quantum 7 binocular because we consider it important that we chat with customers prior to them placing an order to check that it will meet with their requirements and expectations. It is also a binocular that we like to test before dispatch, particularly if it is destined for a location outside the UK. If after discussion someone does choose to place an order we do a price-check on the day.

Well done on a detailed and useful review Mike

Steve

[JamesM]

Thanks for a great review Mike, as always its so important to hear about how these things work and perform in the real world. I recently came across a pair of these binos in a camera/scope shop and was struck just how big these binos are, especially the prism mounts.

Thanks again Mike for this review!

James

[mike.brightmore]

Been trying different EPs in the Quantum 7.4s (25x100) binos. Using a combination of an Antares 15 mm Plossl and an Ascension SWA 15 mm I managed to rack them up to 40x100. Although the EPs weren't well matched it did give an idea what these bins could achieve at 40x magnification. There were clear bands on Jupiter and the open clusters in Auriga were quite breathtaking with over 50 stars clearly resolved in M38 and M36. Although Lyra was in my LP west, and I could only see two of the four stars in the parallelogram below Vega, I went looking for M57, the Ring Nebula. To my surprise there it was, small but perfectly formed. Something I never thought I would see in binoculars. Any advice on suitable EPs (around 15 mm) would be welcome.

[davo]

Hey you've just made me find my sky at Night mag with their group test review :-D thank you........... :-D (issue 29)

Liking these a lot..... Currently have a 12" Dob good for M106s etc... (canny afford the imaging route) And own pair of sticky 12x50s which i still love for learnig so much from. Are these the 7.4s the ultimate pair of binoculars on the market?

[bish]

Nice report. I've put it on my ever increasing list of things to save for.

[ashworthacca]

I like the look of the tripod and mount, wonder if these can be bought separately from the binos??

[FLO]

Are these the 7.4s the ultimate pair of binoculars on the market?

Optically they are good but not class leading. The cheaper Helios Apollo 28x110 and the Helios Quantum 6 will both give it a good run for its money and for around the same price as the Quantum 7.4 you could buy a good quality APO doublet with fpl-53 glass, image-erecting prism, binoviewer and alt-az mount.

It is the tripod/mount and the ability to accept (some) astro eyepieces that make the Quantum 7.4 most interesting.

I like the look of the tripod and mount, wonder if these can be bought separately from the binos??

Unfortunately not.

HTH

[Coco]

That has to be one of the most enjoyable reviews Ive every read on this forum.

I'm not after a set of bino's but you should be a salesman because I want some now :D

Super job,,,

Guy

[Beyond_Vision]

Thanks for the review and a great looking set of bins.

Regards

Kevin