Recommend me a pair of 10 x 50's and where to get them?

kraggy

Hey guys and gals,

Been reading up on buying a telescope/binoculars and have come to the conclusion that a pair of bi's is best and from what I can tell, 10x50's are the best size for astronomy. Would you agree with that?

Secondly, if that is the case, where could I pick up a pair fairly cheap? Which sites like?

Thanks,

K.

Iridium

Lidl periodically have really good Meade binoculars for about €20. Cheapest I've ever seen them anywhere. I don't think they have them at the moment, but they come around often enough. Just keep checking their site.

And yes, 10 x 50 is a very useful size for astronomy. It gives a nice wide field of view, while still having enough magnification to show loads more stars and many deep sky objects not visible to the naked eye. Larger binoculars get very expensive, and also very heavy, requiring more money to be spent on a sturdy tripod. Small binoculars are fantastic as they are very portable, they can be stored under a car seat for example and you can be observing the sky in seconds.

If you're serious enough about binocular astronomy there are some good books devoted to what you can see in the sky using only a pair of binoculars. A tripod might also be a good investment. One capable of supporting a pair of 10 x 50s shouldn't cost too much either - I just have a regular camera tripod for mine, along with an adaptor for binoculars. With that in mind, it might be a good idea to choose a pair of binoculars which allow a tripod attachment to be screwed into them - but I think most of them have that as standard these days.

kraggy

Cool, thanks.

I'll keep an eye out in Lidl so. They're hardly 10x50's though, are they?

And definitely going to get a stand. Arms can get tired when they're up for long!

Thanks again,

K.

Iridium

They are indeed 10 x 50s, but the problem being that they only have them every now and again, and only for a week or two at a time.

I'm not sure what the best place to get a tripod and the little adaptor that allows a pair of binoculars to be attached to it would be though. I got my own binos, the tripod and adaptor all together, from probably the most well known astronomy retailer in Ireland, shall we say! I was fairly new to astronomy at the time and looking back on it now I got absolutely fleeced! So definitely, shop around.

100% recycled

+1 for the Lidl 10 x 50s

Absolute bargain.

kraggy

Thanks guys,

Gonna keep an eye out for them

Thargor

I just got mine in Lidl a couple of weeks ago so you'll be waiting a while for them to come back there, Aldi should have them soon though, they haven't had binoculars in a long time, or telescopes come to think of it.

slade_x

If you cant wait for lidl to stock them, you'll have to pay a little bit more

http://cgi.ebay.ie/BRESSER-10-X-50-PORRO-Binoculars-BAK4_W0QQitemZ260407083577QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Photography_Binoculars_ET?hash=item260407083577&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1301%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A1%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50

kraggy

Cool, thanks for that.

Are all 10x50's the same? Or are some crap and some good like anything else?

21 pounds is grand. Don't mind paying that.

Now just have to figure out a way to pay for things on ebay. Don't have a credit card...