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Old 04-05-2010, 07:52 AM
adman (Adam)
Seriously Amateur

adman is offline
 
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Brisbane
Posts: 1,279
I have had a pair of Celestron Skymasters - I think they were 15x70's, and to be honest I would never buy another pair. They felt cheaply made, the optics weren't too bad - but a lot of curvature to the field from about halfway out to the edge.

Then to bang in the final nail, they broke - right at the pivot point near the focusing ring. It was only held together with the most minimal amount of metal, and it fatigued while I was adjusting them for my kids to watch a whale....

I now own a pair of Pentax PCF WPII 20x60's, and the difference is incredible. Quality feel, much better eyecups - the twist-up type, much flatter field. Not to mention waterproof. If I had to buy more bino's I would definitely go Pentax. They are reasonably priced for the performance, but next time I would get maybe their 12x50's in the same range (here), as the 20x60's are a little hard to hand hold for astro use, but great for terrestrial use....

Hope that helps

Adam
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