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Help with choosing binoculars please

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Dave Kelley View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Dave Kelley Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: Help with choosing binoculars please
    Posted: March/09/2019 at 03:04
Hi
Looking to buy some binoculars for handheld casual stargazing.  I have read lots of good things about Nikon Action Ex 10x50 but I am also curious about the TS Optics 10x60.  I can not find out much about the 10x60.  Does anyone have any experience with those?  Or any other Bins in this sort of price range (£100-200) that would be better for handheld stargazing?  Wide field is quite important to me and edge sharpness not very important.
Thanks in advance.
Clear skies
Dave
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CaptRedbeard View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote CaptRedbeard Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March/14/2019 at 19:39
I would try some searches on this forum to see what may have already been posted, but here are my thoughts.
Orion/Celestron, and those you mentioned make some big boy binos for star gazing. and to do it well you will need a 60 or 70mm objective lens, 20 power on the magnification and a hefty tripod. That should round out a basic kit.  The 10x50 are....okay to start with, but are better suited to field hunting rather than looking at the horse-head nebula. If you are serious about looking at stars with binoculars then try a google search for those names or the bigger sizes mentioned above.
Good luck.
Never forget your binos.
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Dogger View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Dogger Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March/15/2019 at 09:30
I have a pair of Celestron 15x70 SkyMasters.  Bought these before I knew very much about binos. They are big and heavy so forget about handholding them, a good rest or tripod is required. They have proved pretty decent performance wise for the price and I must have got lucky because the collimation on mine is good. The biggest complaint I have read on budget big aperture binos is the collimationtends to be hit and miss so if you’re considering a pair try to shop in a store where you can try them out. For star gazing the field of view on mine is OK and I use them quite a bit along with my telescope.

Good luck!
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WJC View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote WJC Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March/15/2019 at 11:57

Hi, Dogger:

Don’t worry, if it’s a SkyMaster 15x70 it will eventually be a “miss.” Perhaps it is now, and your spatial accommodation is solving the problem. There are tens of thousands of words over on Cloudy Nights explaining the horrors of out-of-the-box collimation issues. They have earned those horror stories, but the low price keeps draggin’ in customers.

The good news is that if it is collimated, or you can ACCOMMODATE the error, the price point can make it a sweet deal. I have had customers who claimed their bino was “perfectly collimated” when, in fact, the collimator showed an error far beyond the most lenient “standard.” Physiological accommodation is working for tens of thousands of observers every day.

Don’t let some talk you into reinventing the wheel unless YOU see the need. If it works ... don’t fix it. If you start getting a double image, you may try conditional alignment. That’s what wannabe technicians all over the Internet are proffering as “collimation” ... which it ain’t! But, if you are going to be the only one using the instrument and the error is SMALL, that MAY be all you need.

Good luck,

Bill     

“Water, water everywhere nor any drop to drink.” — Samuel Taylor Coleridge
“Social media everywhere but not a thought to think.” — me

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Dogger View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Dogger Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March/15/2019 at 14:16
That sounds about right Bill, my eyes are very accommodating. I have read many of those thousands of words on the Cloudy Nights forum along with tips on how to attempt collimation (heaven help me if I attempt that) but, so far it seems OK. Binos got me interested in observing and 
I still use them from time to time but most observing has been given over to my 
Celestron Nexstar 6SE scope (it’s a quality machine way above the binos).
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WJC View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote WJC Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March/15/2019 at 16:02
Originally posted by Dogger Dogger wrote:

That sounds about right Bill, my eyes are very accommodating. I have read many of those thousands of words on the Cloudy Nights forum along with tips on how to attempt collimation (heaven help me if I attempt that) but, so far it seems OK. Binos got me interested in observing and 
I still use them from time to time but most observing has been given over to my 
Celestron Nexstar 6SE scope (it’s a quality machine way above the binos).










Hi, Dogger:

3-axis collimation is “easy” to perform ... by those who understand what to do. The problem is that 100% of the collimation “tips” currently on the Internet are wrong and have been put there by optically clueless people. Most don’t know the distance to the target is critical, they don’t know there are collimation conventions other than the through-the-body / prism-tilt, and they don’t know the difference between clinical collimation and conditional alignment. One Internet article that indicates the author is on the right tract takes 31 pages to explain and only gets one to conditional alignment.

In addition, they don’t know that their willy-nilly technique can cause more harm than good. They find it easier to pontificate for an hour about the new technique they’ve just discovered than spend 15 minutes LEARNING about it. Also, when it comes to 3-axis collimation, many EXPERTS ... aren’t.

Optical shipmate Cory Suddarth and I have been trying to educate as many of those “experts” as we can. And we have had some success. However, it’s a tough row to hoe. You see it’s hard to teach those who think they already know all there is to know.

Easy to perform? Very easy for the qualified and understanding ... YES.

Easy to perform? For the myriad wannabe crowd ... NO WAY!

Bill



Edited by WJC - March/15/2019 at 17:16
“Water, water everywhere nor any drop to drink.” — Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Yokomaster Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March/27/2019 at 12:43
Why don't you try using some 20x60 binos? Newcomers to stargazing don't necessarilly need expensive telescopes for their hobby. You can just have a good pair of binoculars that would give high optical performance without emptying your wallet. One of those can be Russian-made Kronos But remember, with this oldies you can clearly see the moons of JupiterWink
 
LINK REMOVED - Has links to competitor


Edited by SVT_Tactical - March/27/2019 at 12:55
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote JohnSteeds Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July/01/2019 at 09:16
Hi Dave, I was in the same boat as you, not sure what binoculars was best for me for the money. I had my top 3, but I wasn't really sure. I read an article that did a review with the best binoculars out there with a decent price range. I know about the Celestron SkyMaster Giant 15×70 and it comes in 3 configurations including a 10x60 listed at number 8 in that article. I hope it helps, has got a lot of information for you to read. Many thanks!
 
 
EDITED to remove link promoting sales on another site.


Edited by SVT_Tactical - July/03/2019 at 09:58
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