(Loren Toole) wrote in news:1c8ea71.0311260443.757f0dc2
@posting.google.com:

I don't believe this has been discussed here recently...

In the past few months I have been following the thteads on
aperture vs. magnification and concluded that small, higher
power (20x and up) binos are better suited for the type of
viewing I like to do, mainly splashy star clusters. So, in
an attempt to test the theory I've greatly expanded my bino
collection to include 8x42, 12x60, 15x70 and 20x60s.

Of course all of these binos differ in AFOV and TFOV. After
a few recent sessions viewing the M36-37-38 area it seems
there is another factor which needs to be considered, mainly
the "wow" factor. I guess this would differ for each person
but for me, it certainly relates to ease of finding, bright
images, at least partial resolution and rich field.

It seems that the sweet spot, for me, falls at the 12x60
point mainly due to 70+ AFOV eyepieces, the sense that this
bino is simply s wide, magnified window on the sky.

What are your experiences with bino "wow" factor?

Loren Toole
Santa Fe, NM

Dark skies give the biggest wow factor. A pair a Fujinon 25 X 150mm would
give that a nice enhancement though ;-).

Llanzlan.