Binoculars

rubbledoubledo

Hi all.
Planing on buying a good pair of binoculars.
Looking at the Celestron 25x70.
Any one with experience of these, or maybe there is better out there.
Looking for quality, price is irrelevant.
Any help appreciated.
Thanks

coylemj

If price is 'irrelevant' then you should be looking at binos with image stabilisation.

http://www.canon.co.uk/For%5FHome/Product%5FFinder/Binoculars/Optical%5FImage%5FStabilisation/18x50%5FIS/

Popoutman

15x70 is more useful for astronomy, but in general the x70 and larger should be used with a decent binocular mount on a steady tripod, to get the best out of them.

I can justabout use my pair of 15x70 binoculars handheld for astronomy, but my preferred method is on a cheap binocular-to-tripod adapter, and using a mid-range camera tripod with the legs extended but not splayed (acting as a monopod) as this gets steady enough for most of what I look for.
My preference is for using a stool and getting the binoculars on the target and then not touching them. This makes a huge difference to the level of detail seen, and the brightness of object that can be discerned.

With the 15x70 binos on the tripod, I can make out the tiny rings of Saturn, and see the disk of Jupiter (but I can't see the cloud bands).

20x100 binos are up in the tripod-only range and would require a decent Manfrotto or similar, as they can weight up to ~5kg

Eglinton

I'm going to piggy back this question.

I'd like to buy by father a present. At the moment he has his 10x50 binoculars and gets great enjoyment out of viewing the sky with them. But I'd like to get him something a bit more substantial. So would I b better off going for even better binoculars like the Skymaster 25x100 with a tripod or perhaps something different like a Celestron Nexstar 5 Telescope?

Popoutman

A good setup for the binoculars (solid tripod, decent alt-az or parallelogram mount) will cost about the same as the nexstar 5 with some accessories.
The scope will allow e.g. jupiter's belts, Saturn's rings and lots of good double stars, as well as deep sky objects. the binos would be heavier than you think and would definitely not be usable by hand. 15x70 binos may be a better size for someone that enjoys basic astronomy with 10x50s, and the mounting would not have to be as capable to get usefully steady images.

Generally the larger binoculars are regarded as more specialist equipment, that an astronomer would get in addition to a telescope. This is not always true of course, and it probably depends on the interests of the person to use them.

You could always ask your dad which he would prefer.