Binoculars

I'm thinking of getting some binoculars to take a first foray into
looking at the sky and moon in more detail.

What should I look for in terms of the binoculars? There's a chap I know
who sells losts of models of strathspey binoculars, he has an ebay shop.
Is this a decent brand?

Gary wrote:

I'm thinking of getting some binoculars to take a first foray into
looking at the sky and moon in more detail.

What should I look for in terms of the binoculars? There's a chap I know
who sells losts of models of strathspey binoculars, he has an ebay shop.
Is this a decent brand?

I'd recommend having a look at the Celestron Skymaster 15x70 bins. These
came top in a Sky at Night group test, and are about the cheapest at
this size.

They are a fantastic bit of equipment, I got mine from Argos last
September, and have used them more than my TAL1 scope. You can pick out
the Orion nebular with them, and the moon is very clear too. These will
be a very good start into the hobby, and won't dissapoint you at all.

--
Andy Hewitt
http://web.mac.com/andrewhewitt1/

"Andy Hewitt" wrote in message
news:1hrohbv.3sj9hm1lrjmq4N%wildrover.andy@googlem ail.com...
Gary wrote:

I'm thinking of getting some binoculars to take a first foray into
looking at the sky and moon in more detail.

What should I look for in terms of the binoculars? There's a chap I know
who sells losts of models of strathspey binoculars, he has an ebay shop.
Is this a decent brand?

I'd recommend having a look at the Celestron Skymaster 15x70 bins. These
came top in a Sky at Night group test, and are about the cheapest at
this size.

They are a fantastic bit of equipment, I got mine from Argos last
September, and have used them more than my TAL1 scope. You can pick out
the Orion nebular with them, and the moon is very clear too. These will
be a very good start into the hobby, and won't dissapoint you at all.


I've got the Celestrons, but I believe they are the same as the Strathspey
15x70s, just a rebadged version.
They are good, but they are heavy! You'll most probably want to use them
with a tripod (at the very least). The Celestron comes with a tripod
mounting plate - check the Strathspey's have one before you buy.

Are you a spectacle-wearer? I'm quite strongly myopic and normally remove
my spectacles for binocular use; unfortunately the Celestrons don't have
enough focus run-off to be able to get astronomical objects focussed as I
would like, but the eye-relief on these is quite generous so I am able to
use these despite wearing spectacles.

OG wrote:

I've got the Celestrons, but I believe they are the same as the Strathspey
15x70s, just a rebadged version.
They are good, but they are heavy! You'll most probably want to use them
with a tripod (at the very least). The Celestron comes with a tripod
mounting plate - check the Strathspey's have one before you buy.

Are you a spectacle-wearer? I'm quite strongly myopic and normally remove
my spectacles for binocular use; unfortunately the Celestrons don't have
enough focus run-off to be able to get astronomical objects focussed as I
would like, but the eye-relief on these is quite generous so I am able to
use these despite wearing spectacles.



Oh that's interesting. My contact has some Strathspey 15x70s and he
reckons they were better than the Celestrons (well - he would wouldn't
he? But he also points out that the roundup said that the Strathspeys
only lost out on price and beat the Celestrons for optics - I can't
verify this, not having seen the roundup).

I don't need spectacles so things should be okay in that regard.

Anyway, they're ordered now so you can guarantee it'll be cloudy around
my way for weeks to come.

Hi folks,

OG wrote:

I've got the Celestrons, but I believe they are the same as the Strathspey
15x70s, just a rebadged version.
They are good, but they are heavy! You'll most probably want to use them
with a tripod (at the very least). The Celestron comes with a tripod
mounting plate - check the Strathspey's have one before you buy.

Are you a spectacle-wearer? I'm quite strongly myopic and normally remove
my spectacles for binocular use; unfortunately the Celestrons don't have
enough focus run-off to be able to get astronomical objects focussed as I
would like, but the eye-relief on these is quite generous so I am able to
use these despite wearing spectacles.



Oh that's interesting. My contact has some Strathspey 15x70s and he
reckons they were better than the Celestrons (well - he would wouldn't
he? But he also points out that the roundup said that the Strathspeys
only lost out on price and beat the Celestrons for optics - I can't
verify this, not having seen the roundup).

Incorrect - I know as I wrote the article :-)

Both scored 85% for optics and it was the features and value for money
that won it for the Celestrons. They were the only pair to have a tripod
adapter included and were also the cheapest pair. I also found they were
not as heavy and could be hand held for a while - but naturally like any
large bins it is always best to put them on a tripod.

I don't need spectacles so things should be okay in that regard.

Anyway, they're ordered now so you can guarantee it'll be cloudy around
my way for weeks to come.

Now we know who to blame :-)

Best wishes

Paul Money
--
For my web site - Astrospace go to http://www.astrospace.co.uk
For Astro holidays that are outathis world go visit the following:
Fieldview http://www.fieldview.net/
COAA (Algarve) http://www.coaa.co.uk/index.html

"Gary" wrote in message
...
I'm thinking of getting some binoculars to take a first foray into looking
at the sky and moon in more detail.

What should I look for in terms of the binoculars? There's a chap I know
who sells losts of models of strathspey binoculars, he has an ebay shop.
Is this a decent brand?

The Strathspey 15 x 70s are great bins for the money - I have a pair. As
other posters have said though, you might want to look at a tripod or
monopod if you intend to use them for a long time as they can get quite a
handful to hold steady. (So spend the extra £3 or whatever and get the
tripod adaptor...)

Very higly recommended and the bloke that sells them on eBay is very
helpful.

adm wrote:

The Strathspey 15 x 70s are great bins for the money - I have a pair. As
other posters have said though, you might want to look at a tripod or
monopod if you intend to use them for a long time as they can get quite a
handful to hold steady. (So spend the extra L3 or whatever and get the
tripod adaptor...)

How does this tripod thing work? I have a tripod for a Nexstar 5 - would
that work with such Binoculars with a tripod adaptor?

FoFP

adm wrote:

The Strathspey 15 x 70s are great bins for the money - I have a pair. As
other posters have said though, you might want to look at a tripod or
monopod if you intend to use them for a long time as they can get quite a
handful to hold steady. (So spend the extra £3 or whatever and get the
tripod adaptor...)

Very higly recommended and the bloke that sells them on eBay is very
helpful.



Yes, I've done quite a bit of business with John (unixnerd) over the
years. With UNIX kit though so I was happy to order from him. I got the
tripod adapter as well (or at least, ordered) but having read another
post on here I'm worried that it might not fit my tripod as it has one
of those fast change shoes in it.

"M Holmes" wrote in message
...
adm wrote:

The Strathspey 15 x 70s are great bins for the money - I have a pair. As
other posters have said though, you might want to look at a tripod or
monopod if you intend to use them for a long time as they can get quite a
handful to hold steady. (So spend the extra L3 or whatever and get the
tripod adaptor...)

How does this tripod thing work? I have a tripod for a Nexstar 5 - would
that work with such Binoculars with a tripod adaptor?

FoFP

It's basically just a right angle bracket that screws into the centre boss
of the binoculars and then has a regular camera tripod thread on it.

"Gary" wrote in message
...
adm wrote:

The Strathspey 15 x 70s are great bins for the money - I have a pair. As
other posters have said though, you might want to look at a tripod or
monopod if you intend to use them for a long time as they can get quite a
handful to hold steady. (So spend the extra £3 or whatever and get the
tripod adaptor...)

Very higly recommended and the bloke that sells them on eBay is very
helpful.

Yes, I've done quite a bit of business with John (unixnerd) over the
years. With UNIX kit though so I was happy to order from him. I got the
tripod adapter as well (or at least, ordered) but having read another post
on here I'm worried that it might not fit my tripod as it has one of those
fast change shoes in it.

It should be OK (with all the usual caveats).

It works with my tripod - which also has a quick change shoe. However - I do
have two of the mounting plates for the tripod.

The tripod adaptor just gives you a standard camera tripod thread on the
base, so as long as the mounting plate piece (the bit that you probably have
attached to the camera body right now) mates to a standard tripod thread,
you will be OK. You may of course have have to kep swapping the mounting
plate between bins and camera, unless you have two....