Newbie binocular advice needed

Hello all.
I want to get some binoculars and have narrowed the possibilities down to
two affordable choices from Jessops.

Centon 10x50 ZCF M/C and Pentax 10x50 XCF.

If anyone has any experience with or comments about either of these choices
I'd be very grateful.

I initially fancied some Nikon Action EX's, but couldn't really justify the
price for a couple of hours a week.

Thanks a lot.
Garry

garry parker wrote:
[...]
Centon 10x50 ZCF M/C and Pentax 10x50 XCF.

The Pentax is less bad. If you are determined to get very low-priced
binoculars, do have a look at www.strathspey.co.uk -- their binocs are
the same as the Oberwerks that are considered to be such good VFM over
the pond. Consider the 15x70 for astronomy.

I initially fancied some Nikon Action EX's,

The Nikon Action Extreme is an excellent binocular for the money. By all
accounts, the optics in the 8x40 are slightly better than those in the
larger models. See discussions, etc. at
http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthrea...oard=binocular
s

but couldn't really justify the
price for a couple of hours a week.

If you do decide on the Pentax or, heaven forbid, the Centon, just make
sure that you don't subsequently look through a better binocular that
you could have afforded -- you don't want to end up wishing you'd made a
different decision every time you use the binoculars that you bought.

Best,
Stephen

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garry parker wrote:

Hello all. I want to get some binoculars and have narrowed the possibilities down to two
affordable choices from Jessops.
Centon 10x50 ZCF M/C and Pentax 10x50 XCF.
If anyone has any experience with or comments about either of these choices I'd be very grateful.
I initially fancied some Nikon Action EX's, but couldn't really justify the price for a couple of
hours a week.
Thanks a lot.
Garry

Garry, if it is of any interest to you, I have a pair of Charles Frank Nipole 10x50's for £30 +P&P.

Very respectable bins, 5 degs FOV, minimal colour fringing (better than my new 15x70 Strathspeys,
but with the size diff, John says thats to be expected).

LMK,

David Harris

David
Are you happy with the Strathspeys? Can't remember whether you've posted a
review. I'm considering purchasing a pair.

-Russell Healey

Very respectable bins, 5 degs FOV, minimal colour fringing (better than my
new 15x70 Strathspeys,
but with the size diff, John says thats to be expected).

LMK,

David Harris

Yep, very happy so far but waiting for my parallelogram mount to arrive from NZ before doing a full
review.

Some slight purple fringing is the only moan so far, but they are as good or better than any 80mm
scope Ive used.....

Im selling the CFs so Im def keeping the Straths anyway :-)

Just buy em.

DH

Russell Healey wrote:

David
Are you happy with the Strathspeys? Can't remember whether you've posted a
review. I'm considering purchasing a pair.

-Russell Healey

Very respectable bins, 5 degs FOV, minimal colour fringing (better than my
new 15x70 Strathspeys,
but with the size diff, John says thats to be expected).

LMK,

David Harris

Thanks, David.
Russell


"David Harris" wrote in message
...
Yep, very happy so far but waiting for my parallelogram mount to arrive
from NZ before doing a full
review.

Some slight purple fringing is the only moan so far, but they are as good
or better than any 80mm
scope Ive used.....

Im selling the CFs so Im def keeping the Straths anyway :-)

Just buy em.

DH

Russell Healey wrote:
David
Are you happy with the Strathspeys?

I also have some -- not the 15x70 that David has, but the 10x50 Marine.
It is a very robust, individual focus, waterproof binocular -- ideal for
star-parties with kids :-) . It's not the same quality as an equivalent
Fujinon, but then it is a very small fraction of the price! IMO the
mechanical and optical quality is far better than "acceptable for the
price".

Best,
Stephen

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Thanks, Stephen.
Could you comment on edge sharpness?
-Russell

"Stephen Tonkin" wrote in message
...
Russell Healey wrote:
David
Are you happy with the Strathspeys?

I also have some -- not the 15x70 that David has, but the 10x50 Marine.
It is a very robust, individual focus, waterproof binocular -- ideal for
star-parties with kids :-) . It's not the same quality as an equivalent
Fujinon, but then it is a very small fraction of the price! IMO the
mechanical and optical quality is far better than "acceptable for the
price".

Best,
Stephen

Russell Healey wrote:
Could you comment on edge sharpness?

Central 50% is good, out to 70% it is acceptable, out to 95% it is poor,
and the outer 5% is unusable. This is about what one would expect for
low- to mid-price-range optics. Essentially, you tend not to notice edge
defects of this magnitude unless you are looking for them, because they
cover the peripheral vision, which does not have the same acuity as the
central vision.

If you are considering this binocular, do be aware that it is no
lightweight -- it was originally designed to be abused by the Chinese
military.

Best,
Stephen

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Thanks for the helpful break-down in edge sharpness, Stephen.
I take your point about acuity of peripheral vision, but although
I am very pleased with my 10x50 Pentax PCF-WP pair,
I am a getting a little bit more fussy (an optomoetrist said that I had
"super-acuity" once and implied that I may notice things that
I don't want to!) hence my interest in upgrading in optical quality.
I would keep the Pentaxpair but want more aperture with some more quality.

Bit like Steinway / Bosendordfer versus Chapell pianos, I suppose.

Thanks again
-Russell


Yes - they're heavier that the 16x70 Fujinons.
"Stephen Tonkin" wrote in message
...
Russell Healey wrote:
Could you comment on edge sharpness?

Central 50% is good, out to 70% it is acceptable, out to 95% it is poor,
and the outer 5% is unusable. This is about what one would expect for
low- to mid-price-range optics. Essentially, you tend not to notice edge
defects of this magnitude unless you are looking for them, because they
cover the peripheral vision, which does not have the same acuity as the
central vision.

If you are considering this binocular, do be aware that it is no
lightweight -- it was originally designed to be abused by the Chinese
military.

Best,
Stephen