Worth buying binoculars?

[KarlG]

Hi, I have been amazed by the solar system for ages but never given it much thought to get into star gazing. Over the past few days I have been trying to observe the sky with just the naked eye and so far I've seen nothing but the moon.

I live in coventry. 2 miles from the city centre, so i''m guessing light pollution plays a big part. I'm interested in buying some binoculars. Orion Scenix 10x50. Using these with the big lenses will I be able to see the stars or not? They cost around £105 and don't want to waste my money if they won't help.

Finally does anyone know of any good binoculars which are around the same spec but cheaper?

Thanks for reading,

Karl

[neilm]

Hi and a warm welcome to SGL.

You'll certainly see more through a big pair if bins, I'd personally go for 15x70 but they do tend to be heavy so a tripod is usually recommended. I don't know what the quality of the optics are like on the Orion's so can’t compare them with anything else. Many members go for the Celestron 15x70, think they are around £75 to £85, if you want to go slightly getter try the Helios Quantm 4, around £165.

I would suggest having a look through FLO's binocular section and perhaps give them a quick call for best advice.

Cheers

Neil

[dmahon]

If you want a telescope, binoculars are a poor substitute. I listened to everyone and bought a pair "to learn the sky". They now live in their box, unloved, having bought a telescope a few weeks later.

If you do buy a pair, I'd buy some £20 Celestron 8x40 or 10x50s that you will be able to hold by hand without too much wobble and/or armache. If you get 15x70s you will need a tripod.

[garethmob]

iv got the celestron skywatcher 15X70's fantastic bins but as neil said they do need a tripod any photo camera tripod will do (the stirder the better though) but they do come with a plastic connector (connects the tripod to binos) a metal one be better

our forum sponsor does have them and the helios (never used one) but for the money you save with them you can get your self a planispher which you be able to find the stars, planets, nebular

[Space Beagle]

I still use my bino's since buying several telescopes, I find them very useful for helping to locate objects first and then using the scopes for a closer look.

As a 'grab and go' system I am very pleased with my Celestron 15x70's on a Red Snapper tripod.

So, yes it is very worth it to get some bino's, in my humble opinion

Doc

[KarlG]

Hi, thanks very much for the quick replies. The FOV on the Celestron 15x70 is around 4 whereas the Orion are 7. Will this matter much? Currently I can see nothing with naked eyes except the moon. So I am guessing I will have to do all the finding with binoculars. I am a complete noob. But if binoculars will help see the stars I will look at buying books and learning the stars and then having a look to see what I can find through the binoculars. Also will the 15x70 be good for sports like motor racing or is it only good for astronomy?

Thanks

[garethmob]

the 15X70's are designed for long distance viewing ( i can see about 2-4 miles clearly with them so they can be used for trestrial but not for close viewing, for close viewing the orion 10X50 would be better, but space viewing you can see closer (in mine on a really good night i can see jupitor, the jovian moons and slight colour bands) where my 25X50 lidl ones i cant see much at all. i cant talk about the quailty of the orions as iv never used them.

the FOV is basacally the field of view you can see more with the orions but you can see closer with the skymasters.

a book iv hered that is really good is turn left at orion

i'll post some links to them but i dont take any choice at these sellers just first linked that came up on google it may be cheaper elseware just av a looks

Turn Left at Orion: A Hundred Night Sky Objects to See in a Small Telescope - and How to Find Them: Amazon.co.uk: Guy Consolmagno, Dan M. Davis: Books

Philip's Planisphere: Northern 51.5 Degrees - British Isles, Northern Europe Northern USA and Canada Philip's Astronomy: Amazon.co.uk: Books

(theres one called star chart thats £10 in waterstones has the planisphere a book and a beutiful poster showing the whole night sky)

hope this helps

[vlebo]

I still use my bino's since buying several telescopes, I find them very useful for helping to locate objects first and then using the scopes for a closer look.

As a 'grab and go' system I am very pleased with my Celestron 15x70's on a Red Snapper tripod.

So, yes it is very worth it to get some bino's, in my humble opinion

Doc

Ditto and also very handy to put in the boot of your car with a tripod and pop off to a dark site.

[ollypenrice]

I'm surrounded by telescopes in my work (if you can call it work!!) but have bins on standby at all times. I love them. Those 15 x 70s are stunning value but do need a tripod. 8X42 or 10X50 are gorgeous to use. I'm starting to lean towards 8X as I get older and more arthritic!!

Olly

[KarlG]

Hi, thank you all for your help. People who have the Celestron 15x70 could you recommend any good, yet cheap mounts and brackets that work well. The one that comes with it is apparently pants. just want to weigh up the overall cost to get set up.

Not ordered anything yet as there is lots of people stating they prefer to use 10x50 over 15x70 due to ease of use. Do you really get that much more out of the 15x70's? I am planning on just using them in the back garden for now, so light pollution will play a factor. Will the 15x70 be affected more due to gathering more or the unwanted light pollution, or will it be about equal?

Thanks for your time.

Thanks

[Space Beagle]

Try FLO (link at top of page) as I think they have the Revelation 15x70's in stock at £49, good deal! These are the same as the Celestrons (just re-badged I think!). FLO also do better mounting brackets and have a few tripods at quite good prices.

Here's a link: Homepage - Revelation 15x70 Binocular

I use my own Celestron 15x70's with a Red Snapper RS283 tripod and a Triton Ballhead Action Grip (just Google for them and you'll find the links!)- the total cost of the set up was about £150ish, but I think it works really well! You could also try somewhere like Jessops who sometimes have good tripods on special deals! It is definately worth getting as good a tripod as you can for stability and robustness!

Hope this helps

Doc

PS I actually use my 10x50's more for help in finding objects when I also have my scopes out - easier to hold steady in the hands!! But the Celestrons / Revelations are brilliant value for the money if you can get 'em for £49 or less!!

[ollypenrice]

The plastic adapter I got with mine was useless but I bonded some little steel bars into the hollows of the plastic I-beam of the thing and filled them with Araldite. Perfect. Others have done the same. For the bars I just cut the heads off some little bolts.

Olly

[neilm]

"Do you really get that much more out of the 15x70's" I would definitely say yes. I have some 10x50, Nikon Action AE which I think are very good but not cheap and 15x70 Helios. It's surprising the extra amount of light the 15x70 let in. And to be perfectly honest whilst the 10x50 are relatively light I still get some "wobble" looking at distant objects.

As for the standard mount adapter being on the Celestron being pants, a good replacement metal one is available from FLO Accessories

Cheers

Neil

[perrin6]

Karl - one option would be to get a small pair of binos first - say 8 X 40 and decide later to get either a telescope or a larger pair of binos. Small binos are so useful especially as they have a wide field of view. Getting 15 X 70 's is tempting but as they have higher magnification, they have a smaller field of view. It is rather difficult for the 'newbie' to find anything at first.

[neilm]

A perfectly valid point from Alan, t can be difficult to track objects down.

Various helpful hints have already been provided, Turn left, Planispheres, don't forget Stellarium, free planetarium from the net, and also TUBA (Touring The Universe With Binoculars Atlas), again free but no where near as good as Stellarium.

Cheers

Neil

[KarlG]

This is why I was considering the Orion scenix 10x50. They seem to get good reviews all around. I have been researching the celestron 15x70. Again it gets good reviews and costs £60 but with good mounts like what space beagle has it would cost £150 when I compare it to the orions at £105

[ronin]

My first question is do you want a scope?

If yes then wait and get a scope, £105 and the cost of a tripod go a long way towards a scope. If you have to get a tripod also then say £150 - that's budget scope territory.

15x70 will need a tripod, Jupiter bounces round the sky even at 15x if handheld, so does everything else. Doesn't make viewing easy.

Binoculars still have a field of view, your eyes will see a constellation, binoculars will see a bit of one.

I use binoculars but for the same reason as Space Beagale says to have a look to see if Ican initially locate something then I point a scope at it. Find that the everyday 8x42 birding binoculars work as well as anything. Look at a few charity shops, they often have a set or two in at £5-10.

[spaceboy]

Hi and welcome to SGL

Binoculars are a worth while investment for the long term IMHO. Even if you have a telescope you will always have those nights when the are only breaks in the cloud and setting up a telescope isn't worth the hassle. My first set of bins were Helios 20x60's but the wife got me some Skymaster 15x70's for Xmas and I prefer these as they give a wider 4' view. None of my telescopes can give me 4' and some objects in the sky like M45 just demand a wider FOV. I use mine on Professional Aluminium Camera Monopod inc Footrest/Bag on eBay (end time 17-Jan-11 10:14:54 GMT) there is slight wobble but I can say the same for my tripod. The advantage of the mono pod is it's more compact but can still extend to 175cms which is plenty high enough. The best part about binoculars is they correctly oriented to the sky and make it easier for beginners to navigate. Plus they can be used for terrestrial viewing during the day.

SPACEBOY

[KarlG]

Hi, thanks for all your help and advise.

I think i will be going for the Revelation 15x70. I plan to hand hold them and if I like what I see I will probably cough up the money for a mount. At the end of the day £50 isn't that much money and if I don't like them I can always return or sell them at a slight loss.

Regarding books though. I read that the turn left at Orion book is nearly outdated and there will be a new updated one released in the spring. What content is nearly out dated? If I buy the old one will is be useless in 3months time?

Thanks

[mdstuart]

Turn left at Orion will be fine. The objects do not change from year to year...

I can also recommend the 15 x 70mm binos...

Mark

[garethmob]

i found this thread about left turn at orion being in reprint

http://stargazerslounge.com/beginners-help-advice/95817-turn-left-orion.html

hope it helps

[markophoto]

I also think binoculars are a great long term investment.

They're really useful for keeping in the car as they're great to just pick up whenever you need them.

For me (while I'm learning the sky) sticking them in the boot in my big camera bag is no problem and them I've got both camera and bins should I have opportunity to use them.

You will find yourself looking skywards on a starry night sooner or later wishing you had a pair

Marko

[black5f]

Yes definately. 7x50s or 10x50s gather more light than your eye and really open up the sky. I have a nice pair of prismatic 10x50s then treated myself to a much lighter and more compact pair of 10x42 which are lovely.

[KarlG]

Thanks very much for the help.

I will be ordering the binocs, book and planisphere tomorrow.

[black5f]

Pleas go to a shop and try some, higher mag sounds good but are you hand holding or tripod?