Which Binoculars?

[peeb61 (Paul)]

Looking to purchase a decent pair of binoculars and don't want to remortgage the house. They will be used primary for scanning and tracking down objects.... Comets etc

I already have 20x 80's but these are too heavy without a tripod of some sort.

Decent glass and no hints chromatic aberration.

What is everyone using?

Any ideas?



Many thanks.

[NCRAW]

What's the budget? 500, 1K, 2K?

A member here recently purchased a Kowa but was not happy with fact there was a fiber/hair internally and a spot in the coatings.

Your top tier are the Zeiss, Leica and Swarovski then you have top of the range Kowa (made in Japan) followed by Nikons etc.

The Japanese brands are more of a bargain right now due to the excellent exchange rate.

[N1 (Mirko)]

Sky Rover's offerings have been getting good reviews recently. Producer is Kunming United Optics, China.

[Matthieu (Matt)]

I have two pairs; a vintage pair of 7x42s Swarovski Habicht (a family heirloom) and a 6 months old pair of 15x70s Celestron SkyMaster.

I find the SkyMaster tire me quickly due to their size (plus you already have 20x80s anyway) but are very good at night. I haven't noticed any CA but didn't look at the moon, planet or bright stars. I've mostly used them in Vanuatu to track down those Messier objects I can't see in Victoria. Open Clusters such as Melotte 20 really stood out. Daytime is absolutely fine though the outer 10-15% isn't quite sharp.

The Swarovskis are portable and sharp to the edge even in daylight and are great for spotting objects but the 42mm aperture is a bit small for my liking and your use case of scanning the sky. If they didn't have sentimental value, I'd probably sell them to get 10x50s.

In your shoes, I'd probably research image stabilised binos instead. They should be awesome for scanning and tracking. That said, I don't have first hand experience so don't take my word for it.

[Leo.G (Leo)]

A friend in Arizona just bought a pair of the Celestron 25x100 and loves them but he's been delayed with his viewing until he builds a parallelogram mount system because they'd be quite heavy I'd suspect.


https://www.bigw.com.au/product/cele...s/p/9900167411


I'd love to have a play with a pair one day. I guess it depends on whether you're looking for new worlds or local objects.

[Bobbyoutback]

I have 27 pairs of mostly old Japanese wide & super wide's .
Also I have two sets of Nikons I bought new 7x35 Action / 8x42 Aculon both give good performance & are bargain buys still today !

[OzEclipse (Joe Cali)]

You don't mention how old you are. This makes a big difference with binoculars. For example a pair of Orion Mini Giant 9x63's can be hand held. But if you are approaching 60 years old, they won't transmit any more light to your eyes than a pair of 10x42mm.

I have a pair of $200 SV Bony SV202 10x42mmED binoculars. With a 4.2mm exit pupil they are ideal for older observers and very light to hang around your neck and hand hold. A friend of mine has an $800 pair of Bushnell Forge 10x42mm ED's. We both agree the Forges are better but there is not a big difference between the two. The focus falls off toward the edges of the SV Bony's compared to the Forges. Here is a review. https://neilenglish.net/product-revi...-ed-binocular/

https://www.amazon.com.au/SVBONY-Wat...07XSH4ZJN?th=1



If you are looking for bigger aperture binoculars, I recently purchased a pair of Celestron Skymater Pro 15x70mm binoculars. They are at the upper limit of hand hold but I can hand hold them for short periods especially when looking at low elevations such as comets in twilight skies. I used them with great success on the recent apparition of comet Tsuchinshan. The optics are excellent for the price. Even when looking at the full moon I can only see a hint of yellow colour fringing. They cost about $500 RRP. Shopping around on ebay and using an eBay discount voucher I had, I got mine for $330.

These on Aliexpress are $250 plus $85 postage ($335): -
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005006040593301.html?



Celestron also make a lower grade Skymaster 15x70 (ie. without the PRO designation) for $129.08 however I have not used or seen a pair of these so I don't know how they perform optically compared to the more expensive PRO version.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005582814608.html?

Joe

[Pierre_C]

For scanning I would suggest binoculars with a wide true field of view and high relative brightness. I think good quality 8x42 or 10x50 binoculars tend to provide this. I would lean away from 10x42 and 12x50 as they magnify too much for the aperture, resulting in dimmer views. I would also avoid zoom binoculars which generally have a narrower field of view.

For example, I use a set of 10x50 binoculars with a true field of view of 6.5 degrees and relative brightness of 25. The wide field allows me to confidently navigate the sky as I can see where I am amongst the constellations. The level of brightness allows me to see the dimmer fuzzies.

I use my 10x50 binoculars on a tripod for solid views. I cannot hold them steady enough when looking high up to enjoy the experience.

I cannot recommend a brand as my humble set has noticeable chromatic aberration. However, the CA really does not bother me as I am usually using them to look at wide patches of speckled sky rather than bright individual objects.

[Renato1 (Renato)]

Originally Posted by OzEclipse

Celestron also make a lower grade Skymaster 15x70 (ie. without the PRO designation) for $129.08 however I have not used or seen a pair of these so I don't know how they perform optically compared to the more expensive PRO version.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005582814608.html?

Joe

Very interesting what you say about the PRO version thanks. I feel like getting a pair.

The standard lower grade 15x70 pair has been my most used pair for over 15 years, because they are easy to hand hold for me. I keep a pair in Italy for when I go over there, and I quickly discovered that they are not only good for stars, but are actually great for casual daylight viewing of the sights when travelling around.

They do have one issue though - namely that they aren't 15x70s. When one measures their exit pupil at 4.2mm, it translates to them effectively being 15X63s. Which as you say, doesn't matter much for us older guys.
Regards.
Renato

[Renato1 (Renato)]

I have three or four pairs of good quality 10x50 binoculars (William Optics, Celestron), several good pairs of 7x50s (including Fujinons) and a pair of 10X70 Nikons. All very good.

Only thing is, for easy hand holding and scanning around - they may not be the best optics-wise - but my pair of Celestron 12x60 Skymaster are better than all those other pairs in terms of what they pick up.

Regards.

[sn1987a (Barry)]

Leettle Dickus, Biggus Dickus.

[EpickCrom (Joe)]

Originally Posted by peeb61

Looking to purchase a decent pair of binoculars and don't want to remortgage the house. They will be used primary for scanning and tracking down objects.... Comets etc

I already have 20x 80's but these are too heavy without a tripod of some sort.

Decent glass and no hints chromatic aberration.

What is everyone using?

Any ideas?



Many thanks.

Hi Paul.

I highly recommend Nikkon Aculon 10×50mm for general hand held sky scanning and observing. I have a pair, they won't break the bank and present a lovely flat field of view.

I'm very happy with mine!

Clear Skies
Joe