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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Recomend any good mounted binoculars (sub GBP 1,000) (1 Viewer)

S

shiphen

Active member
Hello

We have a small farm in the West Highlands and the farm manager is about to retire. He is not in great health but his house has an excellent view out towards the sea.

He already has an "OK" telescope (or binoculars??) but we are wondering if we might buy him a serious pair of binoculars for use primarily indoors and mounted on a stand. He is not a particular birder AFAIK, but it would be for general purpose use spotting what's going on the farmland, and out to sea.

I was thinking binocular would be better than a telescope as binos are so much more comfortable to use for a sustained period.

What do you recommend we might buy him?

I was thinking up say x20 to maybe x50?? magnification.

Budget: Maybe £500 to £1000 including the stand?

Brands
I am out of touch but I own a pair of Swarovski 10x32 EL which I have had for maybe 15 years??. But I see that they are now horrendously expensive (c. £1500).

Any thoughts?

J


EDIT
Having looked around, from what I can see, it seems that the big brand names Swarovski, Lieca, Zeiss etc dont really make high powered binoculars (can this be true??)

But other people do! At $1895 this is outside our price range but it shows what can be found if you look hard enough...
"Oberwerk 25/40x100mm Long-Range Observation Binocular"
http://www.bigbinoculars.com/2540m.htm
 
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The consequence of high magnification is a narrow field of view , a shallow depth of field and possibly a dimmer view. I rather like 12x or 15x for general viewing from a tripod but there are occasions when 30x or more is useful of course, but I have little experience of these. Many of the higher magnification binoculars also have individual eyepiece focus which is less convenient for changing distance.

Companies like Opticron and Celestron offer big observation or astronomy binoculars that might fit the bill within your budget. Strathspey binoculars, a small company in Aviemore might by worth a look too.
http://www.opticron.co.uk
http://www.celestron.uk.com
http://www.strathspey.co.uk

Good luck,

David
 
Hi J,
Look at the Optical Vision website.
You have to order from a retailer such as Sherwoods.
Quantam binoculars are usually good.

Also Vixen/Opticron.

Some Chinese/ Japanese maybe other source.

Also Lunt ED 100 is very good but more expensive.

The big names have made high power binoculars but at very high prices. If not new you could buy secondhand but still expensive.

I use astro telescopes altazimuth mounted at any power from 16x to 250x at night terrestrially.
A good Russian 6inch Maksutov is excellent up to 100x or more.
It all depends on the Seeing or steadiness, the time of day/night and the temperature gradient.
In good conditions 100x is O.K. daytime.
 
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There is a 304mm f/7.5 APM - LZOS binocular for sale at about $500,000 or so.
A snip if you win the Euromillions.

It weighs 2 tonnes.
An observatory or shelter probably another $500,000.

(Zeiss made 3 similar 300mm binoculars c. 1940. Japanese 250mm, one still in a museum. Japanese 180mm were more common).
 
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For more 'casual' use I would recommend centre focus bins instead of individual focus as they are much easier to use.

Magnification wise I would not go too high because heat waves spoill the gains of greater mag pretty soon. I regularly use 16X bins and they are very nice in winter, but less so in summer.

Here you can find some reviews of powerful bins:
http://www.binomania.it/nikon-monarch-5-20x56
http://www.binomania.it/minox-bl-15x56-br/
http://www.binomania.it/minox-bd-15x58-ed-br-vs-zeiss-15x60-fuori-dalla-produzione-ma-non-fuori-dai-giochi/
http://www.binomania.it/docter-nobilem-15x50/
http://www.binomania.it/comparativa-15x-docter-nobilem-15x60-swarovski-slc-15x56-zeiss-conquest-hd-15x56/

For the intended use, if it was me, I would choose the Docter Nobilem 15x60. That is, if the person you are buying the bins for doesn't wear glasses.

Good luck,


George
 
Hi J, not sure how easy it will be to get hold of Docter 15x56 but I think the Nikon 20x56 are available on Amazon for under £600.
They seem to get good reviews too.

I think it's a really nice gesture that you're making and I'd be really chuffed if someone did the same for me :t:

One advantage of the situation you describe (a static set up) is that you don't have to worry about a super lightweight tripod. In fact a big heavy monster will provide a more stable viewing experience. Bearing in mind the intended use with binoculars you will be looking for quite a tall tripod (don't know your manager's height?). It's probably best if you get most (or all) of this height from adjusting the legs rather than extending a center column.

You'll also need a head for the tripod if it doesn't come complete and some way to securely attach the binoculars.

Personally I think a big old wooden tripod would look the part (you may have to look at second-hand). I had a look on eBay and noticed a fair few surveyor's tripods available but I've no idea how easy it would be to mount a tripod head to them.

Maybe someone else can suggest something suitable?

Best of luck,

Phil
 
Ex gov. tripods can support a 70kg person.
Sliding square section aluminium legs.
I used one to mount a 6 inch Maksutov, which was used at 95x terrestrially.
I had a link chain tied around the bottom to keep it from opening too far.
Many passers by asked to look through it when I set it up by the seashore. They were amazed at the view.
I transported the scope and tripod by car.

It would easily support a heavy binocular.

In a fixed setting a pillar mounted in concrete is best, with an altazimuth head. Keep it covered with a waterproof cover.

I would have liked an observing room indoors with an opening covered for viewing in thin film such as a clear Baader type film. Warm in winter.

But normally open air should be O.K.

Personally, I prefer a scope, say a 120mm f/8 refractor for distant viewing.
Skywatchers are cheap. Not sure if they do a 120mm f/8 or a 150mm f/8.
 
Hi,

there's several possibilities others have already mentioned:

- large hand-held binoculars - magnification 15 or 20x, aperture 50 or 56 mm. Largest possible hand-held from a weight perspective - not so from a stability point of view. These are usually roof models and tend to have a center focus like your usual pair of binoculars. Getting a mid range one within the budget is possible - a photo tripod can be used with an adapter.

- dedicated astro bins - aperture from 60-110mm, magnification is often 20 or 25x for fixed mag models - some more upmarket ones can take 1.25" astro EPs which allows variable magnification (although zoom EPs are often too thick). These will often look quite a bit differently than your usual pair of binoculars - they tend to be either porro designs with individual focus or double recfractors with either 45 or 90 degree prisms and usually exchangeable eyepieces - either proprietary or standard 1.25".
There's some big astro porros which might fit the budget - asking on an astro forum seems a good idea too.

- a spotting scope - monocular only, tend to be rather lightweight and quite expensive - hard to find a good one new for thousand quid with tripod.

- an astro refractor an an azimutal mount. It should be possible to get an ok quality chinese instrument with 100 or 120mm aperture and not too fast focal ratio with azimutal mount and either a mil surplus or suveing tripod plus an amici prism and an eyepiece or two within the budget. This will probably be the best optics within the budget but will be quite different in handling than a normal pair of binoculars. On the plus side, it can be used for stargazing too

Joachim
 
I bought a 20x-70mm giant binocular from TS Optics, Teleskop-Service Munich. They are on Amazon, and have their own website and are often on the auction site, Wolfi is very helpful if you have questions. It's very good for distance viewing, it was around £750, and focal length is 463mm so will take 1.25" EP's up to 50x, I have found 30x to be about right. I think Helios do a similar one, maybe 80mm, i'm pretty sure they are made in the same place, Kunming optical China, but i'm happy with it. The wooden side handles are my own addition. A 100mm objective would I expect be even better, but you would be going well over your £1000 ceiling for that I think.

I find the angled EPs on this type of tripod mounted binocular much easier to use than a straight EP.
 

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£779 or maybe less.

I have a Quantum 15x70, which I liked a lot, but is a bit heavy for me now.
Great on a tripod.
They may make a similar 20x80?
 
The OP says the binocular is to be used indoors, so one has to select good window glass. Or at least a good section of the window.
Even though a reflection in the window is awful, looking through it is fine.
The Quantum 100mm recommended in post 4 seem ideal, as double glazing and single plate glass can usually take up to about 60x when looking at right angles to the window.
The larger the aperture the more distortion is seen.

I can use the Mirador 30x to 120x 70mm fine Maksutov up to 120x.
But a 127mm Maksutov struggles above 80x.
I have used an Acuter 80m at 95x and seen 4 Jupiter belts, but there was clear deterioration in image quality because of glass.

20x60 binoculars no effect.
100mm Yukon folded refractor O.K. at 6x to 100x through glass.

So 20x and 40x 100mm should be fine, unless the glass is really bad.
You have the advantage of warmth.
The boundary layer outside has little effect.

The PST is used at 32x with nil effect from double glazing. 60x O.K. even 80x.
Used on 2,000 days.
Early morning and late afternoon best, fantastic solar detail on disc and prominences.

P.S.
Because the binocular weighs 7kg and because of health issues it would be best permanently mounted so long as a dog etc cannot knock it over.
Triplet objectives?
 
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The limit to my non-stop viewing time is boredom rather than eye strain. Practically since the day I got them there hasn't been good sea-watching conditions
 
Hi Jane,
What do you expect in Merseyside :)

My astronomer friends in the Highlands seem to do better, but local conditions vary a lot.
Viewing over grass rather than concrete or buildings then out to sea is best.

One has to read the weather, particularly Seeing.

I have been using high magnifications for a very long time.
Up to 250x at 3a.m. terrestrially but 20x can be poor in the daytime.
 
I live in probably the best place in the world to see Leach's Petrel. But Sept and early Oct westerly gales seem to be a thing of the past. I have the sea at the bottom of the garden and haave in the past had Petrels IN the garden
 
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Maybe adaptive optics from the star wars program would help.

The nearest I've observed from you is Llandudno. In the 1950s.
 
When observing from indoors it is essential to turn the central heating off at least ten minutes before you observe, at least in your observing room.
If the radiator is on the image becomes a complete mess.

If the temperature outside is stable and the same as inside you can open the window.

George Alcock discovered one of his novae from indoors through his landing window, using I think a selected Soviet 20x60.

He also used a Schneider? 25x105 for many discoveries of comets and novae. Triplet objectives I think.
 
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