[paleloc]

I only have 4 binoculars on my collection list. The list is reviewed seriously by me for a month.
I want check relatively more sizes, more manufacturers, and more styles on my own eyes with the limited budget.
Now, I've got all 4 of them:
leica 8x20 ultravid BL
zeiss victory fl 8x32
habicht 10x40 w
nikon 7x50 action extreme

Any comment on my thought or my list is welcome. Thanks.

[ceasar]

Hi Paleloc,
Four binoculars are more than most people have. And there is nothing wrong with that if you are happy with them.

I think that you have an excellent selection of Binoculars now which will serve you more than adequately for most purposes; including casual astronomy with your Nikon 7 x 50 Action Supreme.

It is clear that you put some thought into purchasing them. The first three listed are very high quality binoculars. Your fourth binocular, the 7 x 50 Nikon Action Extreme is a very good, waterproof, all purpose binocular which can be used for many recreational pursuits. If you have specific questions about any of them you will find it easy to get advice here.

Now might be the time to consider getting a light weight spotting scope instead of expanding your binocular collection. You might find it more useful for long distance birding.

Bob

[paleloc]

Originally Posted by ceasar

Hi Paleloc,
Four binoculars are more than most people have. And there is nothing wrong with that if you are happy with them.

I think ...

Thank you, Bob.

I do have scanning the sky every sunny night.
Birding at noon, star gazing at night & a warm cup of coffee as a company is must have for my now days life.
The 7*50 will have the widest field to enjoying the compact stars fields.
To my surprise, the leica 8*20 can even do the same job to the night sky for most cases.
In fact, it will not dim any star lights compared with my nikon 7*50.
which only have more darken background, actually present a better image as a whole.

As the big binoculars are the fewest to be used, I can certainly save lots of money by not selecting european glass for the biggest one on my list.

spotting scope? I’ll begin the study of them.

[Alexis Powell]

You have my favorite 8x20 and 8x32 models, so I'm inclined to recommend getting a top-end 8x42, but maybe that's just because I personally enjoy using a full sized 8x (or 8.5x) whenever packing size is not a higher priority. If you are mostly interested in using binoculars, get a full sized 8x next for its easier view, but if your interest is in identifying more birds, follow Bob's advice to next find a good scope. Another suggestion would be to add the Pentax 6.5x21 Papilio for its unique abilities.

--AP

[ronh]

Paleoc,
Welcome to the forum. I like your collection. It runs nicely over useful sizes and magnifications, and also binocular types. Given what you have told us about yourself, I will make another suggestion, with apologies to the dedicated birders.

Since you enjoy stargazing, I am sure you would be impressed at the views of brighter Messier objects in a larger binocular. I am happy with my Docter 15x60, which is somewhat expensive. Cheaper models that are popular with stargazers include the Kunming series 8 15x70 (offered under several different brand names, for example the Orion Resolux) and the Pentax PCF WP in 12x50 or 20x60.

Of course, the higher magnifications are more difficult to handle. I like to lean back in a chair and support my head and elbows, for both steadiness and comfort. In this way I can handle 12x easily, and 15x with some effort. 20x would surely require a rigid mounting.
Ron

[steve@37n84w]

Originally Posted by ronh

Paleoc,
Welcome to the forum. I like your collection. It runs nicely over useful sizes and magnifications, and also binocular types. Given what you have told us about yourself, I will make another suggestion, with apologies to the dedicated birders.

Since you enjoy stargazing, I am sure you would be impressed at the views of brighter Messier objects in a larger binocular. I am happy with my Docter 15x60, which is somewhat expensive. Cheaper models that are popular with stargazers include the Kunming series 8 15x70 (offered under several different brand names, for example the Orion Resolux) and the Pentax PCF WP in 12x50 or 20x60.

Of course, the higher magnifications are more difficult to handle. I like to lean back in a chair and support my head and elbows, for both steadiness and comfort. In this way I can handle 12x easily, and 15x with some effort. 20x would surely require a rigid mounting.
Ron

Ditto. Since Paleoc enjoys the night sky about 15x is when the "faint fuzzies" really start to get interesting.

Steve

[paleloc]

Thank you, Ron.
I tried all of my current bins, habicht 10*40 is easily the top one for the star gazing.
yes, I lean in a chair to support my elbow .
Mostly, I can only figure out stars of 7.5- 8 magnitude on my balcony.
Driving 10 km away from my home will not help much, since here I am in one of the most light polluted area in china. I cannot find M33 by bins, even m31 is very faint.
I wonder the big bins may help or not.

I am planning to visit the rural mountains in central west china, recently.

[ronh]

paleloc,
Although diffuse objects like galaxies require dark sky for good views, point sources like stars respond well to a larger binocular, even from a big city. Objects like M35, M41 and M47 will be easily seen and quite beautiful, while smaller clusters will start to resolve.

West central China! That should be seriously dark.
Ron

[paleloc]

Are you a staff of LANL, Ron?
I guess only a few employers in Los Alamos other than the Laboratory.
Don’t tell me anything if you have to kill me after that.

[ronh]

It's not just that, paleloc, it's that I'd have to kill myself too! Where did I put that cyanide pill? But yes, guilty--nice peaceful space physics instrumentation, I'm happy to say. Hey, it pays for binoculars.
Ron