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Hi from Plymouth

matt220781

By matt220781
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matt220781

matt220781

Posted
Posted

Hi everyone.

Just getting into astronomy (although whenever i get a chance to get outside it's cloudy!) and have spent the last couple of days reading this forum, trying to take it all in.

Ive got Stellarium installed, which is a fantastic tool to help identify things.

My next step is to buy a pair of binoculars. A telescope is a bit out of my price range at the moment and i wouldnt know what to do with it... i just want to get looking at things :hello2:

What are people's thoughts on what bins to get? 10x50, 20x50, 15x70...?

I've found the following but would like some advice on which to get:

Celestron Upclose 20x50

Will the magnification on these be too much without a tripod?

Would i be better with a pair of 10x50?

The other pair is a bit more expensive but i've seen a lot of people on here recommending them:

Celestron Skymaster 15x70

Again, will i need a tripod to use these?

£60 ish is about the limit of my budget. But obviously if i can get away with spending less then that would be good :hello2:

Thanks for reading.

Matt

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Andy79

Andy79

Posted
Posted

Hi Matt and welcome to the forum!

Sorry but being a newbie myself i cant help you with your questions but dont worry by tomorrow you will have heaps of answers about your query.Everyone on here will be willing to help you out!!

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mikeknowle

mikeknowle

Posted
Posted

:hello2::hello2::hello2:

Big welcome

:hello2::hello2:;)

Mine are 10X50. Just nice. Any more powerful and the image shakes too much as you can't see anything (unless you mount them on a tripod)...

No need to spend a lot, although some do I am sure.

Mine were £25. Cheap as chips. They're OK for a quick scan around the heavens.

I also have a 'proper' Ships Masters pair that a mate who was a Captain gave me when he retired. But that's another story...

I'd image the x70 ones might be a bit heavy, unless you are lying down on a garden recliner say, but I'm not sure...there are many ingenious ways of rigging up a harness to take the weight off your hands and arms!

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JamesM

JamesM

Posted
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Hi Matt and welcome to the forum.

The 10x50's are the ones that most of us use, handheld most of the time. The 15x70 are also great to use and would be my personal choice but for longer periods of time, although not really 'heavy' they will start to feel a bit of a lump after a while. They actually appear under various names to be honest but the 'Celestron' version are good and get you that bit closer without narrowing the field of view too much. The 20x50 will give you a bit more magnification but the image will be darker and so field of view more limited than the 10x50's.

Hope that helps and clear skies for their arrival!

James

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li'l john

li'l john

Posted
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Hi Matt and welcome. I ordered 10x50 but they were out of stock so they sent me Celestron's Close-up 20x50's instead. You will need a mount as they shake a bit, despite me contorting myself into all sorts of strange positions when I use them. I haven't got one myself as I use them infrequently, so I can't recommend one but I believe FLO sell a good one for about £80. I am not sure but I think it is called Horizon. Give Flo a bell.

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glowjet

glowjet

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Posted

Hi Matt and welcome to SGL, as Phill has said you will need a tripod or other device to steady bino`s above 10x50mag but on the other hand larger bino`s will begin to show some of the DSO especially from a dark site, and of course they are the very best for grab and go for Astronomy or terrestrial use.

John.

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SuperMassive

SuperMassive

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Hi Matt, welcome to SGL. As a newbie myself I only have an old pair of 10x50's. I was given them, so they didn't cost me anything, but it turns out that they are about right is terms of magnification and field of view. You can see quite a bit, depending on your ability to hold them still. :D

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Imp_Perfect

Imp_Perfect

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Hi Matt, another newbie here.

I use a pair of 10 x 50 bins with my elbows resting on the roof of the car. Not bad for short periods. I was told many years ago that 10 x 50 are better for this kind of thing, any larger and some form of support is required.

You can get binos that go up to massive magnification, but they are specialist.

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dod

dod

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Hi Matt, as people have said, you can't really go too wrong with 10x50's, cheap ones do the job fine. Saying that, I have the Celestron 15x70's and have few problems using them with out a tripod, especially if resting my elbows on something. I also have 25x70's, and they definitely need a tripod, and I'd imagine 20x bins are similar. Bins are a great way to start out, you have plenty of things to ogle without much of an initial outlay.

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brantuk

brantuk

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Hi Matt and welcome to SGL :D

FLO (site sponsor at top of page) do some very nice quality Reveation 15x70's for only £50. Failing that keep an eye on Lidl for their Rocktrail 10x50's (under £20) - very respectable and superb vfm :p

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Lensman

Lensman

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Hi Matt and welcome to SGL from me too. Binoculars are great for learning your way around the night sky. I often use my 10x50 bins and just sit back and scan the skies, taking it all in - Beautiful.

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nexus21

nexus21

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hi and welcome. My 12 x 50's are great for scanning the sky and at first I used to put them on a £10 tripod I got from 7dayshop.com. obviously I use the scope now but now and again I nip out and have a scan just by holding them. Can even make out a faint smudge for orion nebula.

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