I have just purchased a pair of
Acuter 15 x 70 binoculars (currently on a great special at that link, by the way: $130, down from $280, and the store homepage offers a $10-off Christmas coupon too; no, I'm not affiliated in any way
) with the intention of making a binocular mirror mount (guided by
these instructions from Sky at Night Magazine).
But..... Sourcing first/front surface mirrors in Australia hasn't proven easy.
Can anyone help or give advice regarding this, please?
In the event that I can't get something suitable in Australia, a couple of international options I have seen include:
- firstsurfacemirrors.com (quotes US$26.67 for a 6" x 8" x 6mm glass mirror, + US$82.63 postage)... I wonder how good the optical quality is on that mirror? Good enough for 15 x 70 binoculars? How about bigger binoculars, if I upgrade in the future (and purchased a bigger mirror up front)? Their info implies it is probably "1λ optical grade", but also says they have available λ/4 optical grade "for superior surface flatness, which is ideal for applications where the reflection is being magnified." I don't know about pricing on the latter.
- this eBay listing (12" x 12", 96% reflective optical grade mirror for US$19.95 + US$33.57 postage)... Again I wonder how good the optical quality is on that mirror, and what size binoculars it could optically support?
Again, any advice about this whole operation would be much appreciated!
Thanks,
Jonathan