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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Binastro" data-source="post: 3485412" data-attributes="member: 111403">A fully multicoated, including prisms, Minolta Activa 12x50 shows stars 0.5 magnitude fainter than a partly coated typical 12x50. But the AFOV is smaller than a Minolta Standard MK.More important is the darkness of the sky at an observing site.From a city one might see stars of about magnitude 3.5 with unaided eyes.Suburban sites better, countryside better still and the darkest sites amazingly better.Dark sites might show 6.5 magnitude stars. But truly dark sites magnitude 7.0 even 7.5.Each magnitude is 2.5x.So 4 magnitudes different is 40x fainter.This is applicable to binocular viewing also.I haven't seen the Milky Way in many years. Some youngsters have never seen it.It is sky darkness that is all important, not the binocular.</blockquote>