Binoculars

Anybody have an experience with the Steiner 7x50 Marine bino's for star
gazing? I have a telescope (5 in Mak) and was wanting bino's to see some the
lager DSO's (naked eye stuff)... Tried a pair Nikon 10x50's and I was not
stable enough at the 10 mag. Also the Nikon's seem to curve the field of
view around the edges of the glass. And I also have decided not to buy a
pair of Chinese made bino's... if anyone offers suggestions.

TIA,

-p

Tried a pair Nikon 10x50's and I was not stable enough at the 10 mag.

I recommend not hand-holding at all, regardless of power or exit pupil. A
lightweight mount makes observing with binos so much more enjoyable - see,
for instance, the Burgess Tiny Titan at
http://www.burgessoptical.com/Mounts...itanMount.html

Dennis

In the Orion catalog, the UltraView 8x42 Wide Angle, $149, is the best
inexpensive purchase I've ever made. Great binos!

I've used the Steiner Military 7x50 binos while in Iraq. That & my
night vision goggles, I used for star gazing. I would recommend them.
The Marine model isn't much different. I had issued a couple of pairs
of Fujinon 7x50's. I didn't get to use them out in the countryside
like I did the others but they seemed to work equally well under urban
(Baghdad) viewing. The newer image stabilized M-25 binos we had
royally sucked for night viewing. That's my 2 dinars worth.

Ralph
41 16N 75 50W

I've used the Steiner Military 7x50 binos while in Iraq. That & my
night vision goggles, I used for star gazing. I would recommend them.
The Marine model isn't much different. I had issued a couple of pairs
of Fujinon 7x50's. I didn't get to use them out in the countryside
like I did the others but they seemed to work equally well under urban
(Baghdad) viewing. The newer image stabilized M-25 binos we had
royally sucked for night viewing. That's my 2 dinars worth.

Ralph
41 16N 75 50W

"kb3jqj" wrote in message
oups.com...

I've used the Steiner Military 7x50 binos while in Iraq. That & my
night vision goggles, I used for star gazing. I would recommend them.
The Marine model isn't much different. I had issued a couple of pairs
of Fujinon 7x50's. I didn't get to use them out in the countryside
like I did the others but they seemed to work equally well under urban
(Baghdad) viewing. The newer image stabilized M-25 binos we had
royally sucked for night viewing. That's my 2 dinars worth.

Ralph
41 16N 75 50W


The Military was my first use of the Steiner also... at that time I had no
interest in looking at the stars. All of the dark skies I missed out on... I
actually went ahead and got the 7x50 Marine and after one night so far so
good.

How do the NOD's work for star gazing? I'm assuming you are using the AN-PVS
7's? We had the 5's and the 7's were just starting to get issued. I have not
kept up on it the 7's may be outdated by now. I would imagine it would pull
up some faint stars but what about resolution and brightness. IRC, the NOD's
we had always seemed kind of grainy on anything at distance. Has depth
perception improved at all on the NOD's? Saw a few guys run into trees
wearing them.

-p

On or about Sat, 29 Oct 2005 13:41:07 -0600 did "Pippen"
dribble thusly:

Anybody have an experience with the Steiner 7x50 Marine bino's for star
gazing? I have a telescope (5 in Mak) and was wanting bino's to see some the
lager DSO's (naked eye stuff)... Tried a pair Nikon 10x50's and I was not
stable enough at the 10 mag. Also the Nikon's seem to curve the field of
view around the edges of the glass. And I also have decided not to buy a
pair of Chinese made bino's... if anyone offers suggestions.

In my opinion, if you can't hold 10x50's steady, you won't be able to
hold 7x50's any steadier. The 3x difference in magnification will
lessen the shake, but not enough for a good long look.

You should look into a binocular mount, unless you plan on lying on
your back so they can rest on your skull. The parallelogram mount
seems the most flexible design. The last time I looked, one cost
upwards of $200, but it's not too difficult to build your own.

As for specific binoculars, the only I have any real experience with
are Orion UltraView 10x50's. 6.5 degree field, and decent optics
(don't expect pinpoints on the field edges). I believe they're around
$160 now.
--
- Mike

Ignore the Python in me to send e-mail.

the steiners are mediocre optically, i have used them. you can buy
similar functioning chinese 10x50's new for 20 dollars at big-5 sales.
you might be surprised by their sharpness except at the edges. amaze
yourself by cutting a long stick or use a broomstick to prop the binocs
using the centerfocus for a steadying base. you will see 80-90% as
much as you will through the best image-stabilized binocs, which i also
have.



Mike Ruskai wrote:
On or about Sat, 29 Oct 2005 13:41:07 -0600 did "Pippen"
dribble thusly:

Anybody have an experience with the Steiner 7x50 Marine bino's for star
gazing? I have a telescope (5 in Mak) and was wanting bino's to see some the
lager DSO's (naked eye stuff)... Tried a pair Nikon 10x50's and I was not
stable enough at the 10 mag. Also the Nikon's seem to curve the field of
view around the edges of the glass. And I also have decided not to buy a
pair of Chinese made bino's... if anyone offers suggestions.

In my opinion, if you can't hold 10x50's steady, you won't be able to
hold 7x50's any steadier. The 3x difference in magnification will
lessen the shake, but not enough for a good long look.

You should look into a binocular mount, unless you plan on lying on
your back so they can rest on your skull. The parallelogram mount
seems the most flexible design. The last time I looked, one cost
upwards of $200, but it's not too difficult to build your own.

As for specific binoculars, the only I have any real experience with
are Orion UltraView 10x50's. 6.5 degree field, and decent optics
(don't expect pinpoints on the field edges). I believe they're around
$160 now.
--
- Mike

Ignore the Python in me to send e-mail.

"Dennis Woos" wrote

I recommend not hand-holding at all, regardless of power or exit pupil. A
lightweight mount makes observing with binos so much more enjoyable - see,
for instance, the Burgess Tiny Titan at
http://www.burgessoptical.com/Mounts...itanMount.html

Dennis, do you own one of these? I'm interested in one, but considering how
inexpensive the mount and tripod are, I'm wondering if "you get what you pay
for," the movements are creaky and jerky, the tripod is unstable, etc. etc.
?

Howard Lester

Dennis, do you own one of these? I'm interested in one, but considering
how
inexpensive the mount and tripod are, I'm wondering if "you get what you
pay
for," the movements are creaky and jerky, the tripod is unstable, etc.
etc.
?


I own two of an older style (no Z-bracket - otherwise the same). I think
these mounts are one of the best purchases I have made. I also tried out
the optional tripod at NEAF, and it too is great.

Dennis