Nikon 10X70s vs Andrews 20X80s

[Renato1]

The other morning at around 4.00am I noticed that Sagittarius was on the darker side of the sky of where I live. So I pulled out my Nikon 10x70 binoculars and had a a good look around the Messiers in the starfields - sharp stars from edge to edge. I thought "magnificent". I had paid quite a bit of money for those Nikons years ago, when they were extremely highly rated in a review by either Astronomy or S&T magazine.

I packed them away and was about to hit the sack when a thought occurred to me. I went and dug out my relatively inexpensive pair of Andrews 20X80 binoculars, attached them to a tripod, then went outside and examined the same area while hand holding the tripod.

My thoughts were that it was a little bit trickier locating the Messiers, but at the end of the day, the Andrews pair were night and day better than the Nikon pair in terms of the superb views they delivered.

I think there is a moral to this story - magazine reviewers can get carried away with technical excellence, and forget practical application.
Regards,
Renato

[skysurfer]

Did you use the 20x80s handheld ? I have 15x70, weight 1.4kg just not too heavy to use them handheld, I consider 2.3kg 20x80 as too heavy.
And tripod use with straight through binos is not an option, for me 90 degree viewing is a must then.

[Renato1]

Yes, by themselves the 20X80s can't be hand held easily - I've tried the supposed trick of holding them near the objective lens, but that doesn't work well for me. But when I attach them to a tripod, the extra weight of the tripod does make them hand holdable (for a while at least).

Try attaching a tripod to your 15X70s and hand holding the tripod, you'll be surprised at how much steadier the extra mass makes them.
Regards,
Renato

[dannat]

what model of nikon are they? the nikons are generally very highly regarded on CN bino forums? perhaps a pic

did you use them in the city -the nikons 7mm exit pupil needs real dk skies

[Renato1]

Hi Daniel,
No idea of the model number - it just says "Nikon 10X70 5.1" degrees (I threw the box out a long time ago). Ted's Camera in Melbourne had them in their window as I was walking by, and were getting rid of them for $750 (reduced from $1500) about 20 years ago when I was really getting into astronomy.

I didn't like the eyecups that came with them, so I replaced them with butterfly eyecups to block light from the sides and increase my pupil size. They are slightly better out in the country, though the Milky way stands out reasonably well where I now live. They are certainly better than my Fujinon 7X50s, because of the extra aperture and brighter stars (I found those pristine rubber-armoured Fujinons going for $200, sitting in the window of a Cash Converters, as I was walking by).

I guess my problem with them is that I never found a real use for them other than for admiring sharp stars across the entire field.

Curiously, one of my friends, who spent $1200 on a pair of Doctor 10x50s, reckons the Nikons are my best pair, and he doesn't like the Andrews pair at all.

Regards,
Renato

[LightningNZ]

You don't need 7mm exit pupils to enjoy bright star clusters - they tend to want a bit of extra magnification to show you the real shape of the cluster. If you were hunting down a faint nebula from a dark sky then the Nikons would likely be the more useful pair.
-Cam

[Renato1]

Thanks - you've given me an idea - the Nikons might indeed be very useful on faint big nebulas, with a nebula filter or filters attached to the eyepiece with Blutack.
Regards,
Renato