Helios Quantam 4 bins 1st purchase

[AstroJen]

Evening fellow stargazers!!!!

Hope all is well. I am buying my first Astronomy purchase this week!!! A pair of Quantam 4, nitrogen filled Helios bins!!! Would love to hear everyones thoughts on the quality and precision of them.

The way I see it, I haven't even looked through a telescope at the night sky ever, and from the advice I've been getting on this forum, I should take my time looking for the right scope before I buy one, and bins sound like the way to go.

I haven't ordered them yet, so if anyones got any better suggestions then I am looking forward to hearing your thoughts!!!!!

-Jen

[JamesM]

As you have not done any observing through any kit, can I suggest that you go along to a public observation evening run by your local astro society/club or observing group and take a look through some kit first to establish a benchmark from which you can measure your expectations. There are many people who will advise the best way to start getting into astronomy, some will same binos first and learn the sky, whilst others will say go straight for a scope as it will show you more because software such as STELLARIUM can teach you where all the objects are.

I don't have any personal experience of those particular binos but I know they are a good make and have had some good reviews.

Clear skies

James

[JamesC]

Which ones were you thinking of?

Personally I think anything over 10x50 is too heavy to handhold and if you go to a tripod it robs you of the freedom binoculars are so good for. I find it difficult to look high up (where the sky is darkest) with binoculars on a mount. You say you are thinking of getting a telescope. The telescope is going to take up enough space by itself so my advice is to stick with binoculars you can hand hold and steer clear of anything that requires a tripod. Small binoculars are great for wide field scanning and will still be useful once you have a telescope for checking out where something is before looking with the scope.

In my opinion 10X is the maximum that you can hold reasonably steady without a mount.

50mm is the max to be comfortable weight wise, although I do have some 10x56 roof prism that are OK.

Porro prisms transmit more light than roof prism, although roof prisms are more compact.

BAK4 prisms are better than BK7 (round exit pupils).

I prefer wide angle binoculars - it is possible to get 10x50s that show 6.5 degrees of sky.

If you can afford it go for a mid-range price - good binoculars should last a lifetime.

[JamesC]

Oh yeah and I like to try binoculars before I buy. Maybe not as good value as online but at least you know you will be happy with what you're getting.

Also don't forget to check eye relief if you wear glasses. I usually take my glasses off for binoculars but it's nice to have the option.