Christmas gift thread for binoculars - what range is this? (1 Viewer)

[Universe93B]

Looking for a Christmas gift for my brother who is a beginner in astronomy. Need binoculars for him for primarily astronomy such as star clusters, the moon and he loves to try to spot out the Andromeda galaxy. So primary use would be astronomy and some/rare daytime bird watching. Price range anywhere from $200 - $400 - is that considered "lower mid-range" or is this the "good value" tier?

I was thinking a 10x50 since this is primarily astronomy. Should I go with a 8x42 for more options with models and price? I love the GPO Passion 8x42 and 8x56 but they are $500-800. The GPO Passion 10x50 is $1300. At this point in time, I'm not sure if the smaller improvements in image quality are worth the doubling of price of glass?

How about these:

Celestron Nature DX ED 10x50 - $210
Maven C3 ED 10x50 - $380
Athlon Midas G2 UHD 10x50 - $305
Vortex Diamondback HD 10x50 - $250 (going to Vortex Viper HD 10x50 is $530)

Any other suggestions you guys have for this holiday season?

 

[Ted Y.]

Nikon 10x50 Action Extreme seems a very good selection for the money, astronomy included.
You can ask CloudyNights forum about Canon 10x30 IS II; you can find a good price on amazon.ca (not .com).

​

 

[torbjornhb]

Unfortunately just 8x, but still a strong 56mm diameter. I haven't tried them myself, but the German brand Karl Kaps seems to have some decent binoculars. Right now they are hugely discounted. My dentist that use to buy Zeiss products recommended these binoculars, so I'll take his words!

Binoculars 856 Powerful and versatile

www.kaps-zielfernrohre.de

 

[jring]

Hi,

first of all, roughly how old is your brother and where does he observe (metro area, small city, rural area or dark sky reserve) - this gives us an idea what exit pupil (objective aperture divided by magnification) makes sense.

The second question would be whether your brother needs to use glasses when stargazing - not all prescriptions need glasses - as long as the prescription is only spherical (near- or farsighted) and not too different between the eyes, one doesn't need glasses for a great view through binoculars. If there are significant cylinder or prism components in the prescription (astigmatism or cross-eye), one usually needs the glasses with binoculars too and this means binoculars with more eye relief are needed.

Cheers,

Joachim

 

[Universe93B]

Hi,

first of all, roughly how old is your brother and where does he observe (metro area, small city, rural area or dark sky reserve) - this gives us an idea what exit pupil (objective aperture divided by magnification) makes sense.

The second question would be whether your brother needs to use glasses when stargazing - not all prescriptions need glasses - as long as the prescription is only spherical (near- or farsighted) and not too different between the eyes, one doesn't need glasses for a great view through binoculars. If there are significant cylinder or prism components in the prescription (astigmatism or cross-eye), one usually needs the glasses with binoculars too and this means binoculars with more eye relief are needed.

Cheers,

Joachim

Thanks for the questions. He is about to turn 40. He is pretty nearsighted, but always wears daily throw away contact lenses and never wears eyeglasses.

He lives in a busy suburban area, roughly Bortle 5-6.

Thanks!

 

[tenex]

I haven't tried them myself, but the German brand Karl Kaps seems to have some decent binoculars.

Decent? All with very poor field of view, and poor eye relief on the big ones... and supposedly "made in Germany" for €189? Er... nein Danke.

He lives in a busy suburban area, roughly Bortle 5-6.

That's not good, and most people find it hard to get away (safely or at all) to darker skies. A common 10x42 could do just fine.

 

[torbjornhb]

Decent? All with very poor field of view, and poor eye relief on the big ones... and supposedly "made in Germany" for €189? Er... nein Danke.


That's not good, and most people find it hard to get away (safely or at all) to darker skies. A common 10x42 could do just fine.

I tried ☺️

 

[Universe93B]

That's not good, and most people find it hard to get away (safely or at all) to darker skies. A common 10x42 could do just fine.

Bortle 5-6 is what everyone unfortunately is used to over here. But that's why I picked a higher 50mm for the binoculars vs the 42mm. Wouldn't that help in suburban skies? My BT-100XL does great in light polluted skies with the larger aperture.

 

[jring]

Hi,

I'd probably want sth with 4-5mm exit pupil there due to the light pollution - in darker skies your brother's eyes could probably go to 6 or a bit beyond with full dark adaption. So a good pair of 10x42 or 10x50 would be great. Other things to look for are a nice true field of view - 6 to 6.5 deg would be what I want and of course, sharp to the edges please... These two together probably won't happen inside budget, but one can try to get close... The Nikon Action Extreme is not a bad choice for the price...
I would grab my pair of Nikon SE 10x42 - but those were a steal for the $500 I paid back then and are kinda rare...

Porro bins are still very popular for astro not only due to their lower price but also due to the lack of a roof prism edge, which can produce nasty flares during the observation of brighter objects if it is not perfect - and few are... I have seen flares in a pair of Leica Ultravids...

Another option would be to go super wide angle - Lunt Solar Systems (or APM Telescopes if you want to try to save a few bucks by ordering from germany) seems to have stock for the new APM 6x30 porros which sport a super wide 9.3 deg of true field (enough to observe whole constellations) and seem to be of nice quality despite the price... at least a well known BF member liked the prototypes a lot when he reviewed them over at CN...

APM 8x30 ED and 6x30 Porro Binoculars (Prototypes) - Binoculars - Cloudy Nights

Page 1 of 3 - APM 8x30 ED and 6x30 Porro Binoculars (Prototypes) - posted in Binoculars: On September 22, 2108, Markus Ludes had announced two new small porro binoculars. Originally planned as individual focus instruments, further work and some discussions on the CN forum have now led to a...

www.cloudynights.com

Joachim

 

[tenex]

Bortle 5-6 is what everyone unfortunately is used to over here. But that's why I picked a higher 50mm for the binoculars vs the 42mm. Wouldn't that help in suburban skies? My BT-100XL does great in light polluted skies with the larger aperture.

Presumably not at 10x. Too much aperture will just enhance sky glow.

 

[Universe93B]

Got it - have narrowed down to Nikon AE 10x50 or Athlon Midas G2 10x50. The Athlon reviews are hard to pass for the price point

 

[aznuge]

It's a little higher in price, but I have given the Nikon Monarch 10x42 HG as a gift before. Great for Astronomy and daytime too in my opinion. Responses included "best Christmas gift ever". This year I am going a cheaper route and opting for the little Pentax Papilio II 6.5x21 Macro binocular.

 

[Universe93B]

I ended up ordering 2 of the Athlon Midas G2 10x50 since the reviews, price and opinions from friends were too good to pass up. Good thing I did, because the price of them are now at $419.99 everywhere! I got them for $305.

I gift-wrapped the one for my brother and opened mine today - wow! View is so bright, colors pop out and everything is sharp. Equally impressive at night!

Now I understand when people say you have to spend twice as much or more to get equal or better views than these binoculars!

 

[aznuge]

Good to also have the binocular gift you are giving I think - so you can later compare notes with the receiver(s). Got a Papilio for myself and giving at least 3 to grand kids. The Athlon Midas is turning my head, sounds like you made a good choice. The G2 12x50 UHD is the one I'm considering...

 

[MalfStape]

This is a great gift idea, and your brother will be very excited to get something like that.

 

[Universe93B]

And it is very generous of you. I appreciate people who are ready to spend a lot of f time planning a gift for a person and even spend a lot of money to make someone happy. I hope you'll update here and let us know your decision and his reaction. I'm not a very creative person, so I usually give a gift basket for each of my friends and family, though it is usually filled with various stuff, which I choose considering their preferences

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a very creative person either! But I appreciate someone with hobbies like astronomy, bird-watching, etc. Sometimes the cost of these hobbies scare people away and they never even get to try it with a fair effort. I thought I would help with the jump start in these hobbies.

 

[birdwatcheryes]

I ended up ordering 2 of the Athlon Midas G2 10x50 since the reviews, price and opinions from friends were too good to pass up. Good thing I did, because the price of them are now at $419.99 everywhere! I got them for $305.

I gift-wrapped the one for my brother and opened mine today - wow! View is so bright, colors pop out and everything is sharp. Equally impressive at night!

Now I understand when people say you have to spend twice as much or more to get equal or better views than these binoculars!

Do you happen to know the oculars lens diameter on your midas g2 10x50? I have the midas G2 8x42 and would also like the 10x50 but from the pics that Athlon has, it appears the 10x50's have a smaller diameter lens and I wanted to confirm that first before purchasing. I did call Athlon today but they said they do not know the diameter.

 

[Ignatius]

The manufacturer not having this information about their own product would give me serious pause for thought.

 

[birdwatcheryes]

I called again just now and got someone more enthusiastic on the phone that went out and measured them for me! Both 8x42 and 10x50 are 23.5mm