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Old December 3rd 13, 10:44 AM posted to uk.d-i-y,uk.sci.astronomy
Martin Brown
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Posts: 1,707
Default Lidl Zoom Binos

On 03/12/2013 09:30, fred wrote:
On Monday, December 2, 2013 6:13:53 PM UTC, Grimly Curmudgeon wrote:
I see these are in the UK stores today, next week for the Irish ones.

Anybody got them yet, and are they any good? I've had good results
from their previous Bressler (re-badged Meade, iirc) 10x50 sets.

url:http://www.lidl.co.uk/cps/rde/SID-AF...Detail&id=7806


Well 10x is regarded as the max magnification for comfort any sort of prolonged use. 30x is going to be a real bitch to hold on target especially considering the field of view


They are astonishingly cheap for 60mm objectives. I'd say upto 15x was
hand holdable territory - anything above that and it is quite hard to
hold them steady without leaning on something or using a tripod.

Binoculars are one of those things where ultimately you really do get
what you pay for and it is not for nothing that keen birders and amateur
astronomers tend to have exclusively certain models/brands.

But beware there is an 80:20 rule here and you can pay an astronomical
amount for a what is ultimately a small (but possibly important)
improvement in overall image quality and weatherproofing.

Like cameras binoculars need to feel well balanced in *your* hands. It
doesn't matter if they have a 5* technical review somewhere online if
they are not comfortable for you to hold and use they are no good.

Cross post added to uk.sci.astronomy since it will alert them to the
deal and there is a good chance that someone there can answer this.

If you can live with a bit of false colour at the edge of the field then
they may be worthwhile as a stocking filler.

For general purpose use high quality 10x25 or 10x30 binoculars are a lot
easier to always have with you when out walking.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown