Compare Binoculars for Astronomy?
Isabelle asked:
I am thinking of buying astronomy binoculars, but i dont know anything about it. What can i expect to see when looking at the stars through astronomy binoculars as compared to the naked eye, but also as compared to a telescope? What should i look for when buying? What brand would you recommend or what brand would you avoid?
Reply:
I've owned many different binoculars for astronomy, but the most useful have been the 10x50 size. Smaller apertures (less than 50mm) don't gather enough light; larger apertures become too heavy to hand hold for more than a few minutes. 10x is the highest magnification I can hand hold steadily, and I really believe binoculars are meant to be hand held. My second favourite binocular is 15x70. I hand hold this too, but I need to brace myself by sitting in a chair or by leaning on my car.
The view through a 10x50 binocular is greatly enhanced over what you can see with the naked eye. First of all, everything is ten times larger but, more important, it is a hundred times brighter, equivalent to 5 magnitudes.
The best binoculars I own are Celestron 10x50 and Orion 15x70, but both are really made in Japan by Vixen. You should expect to pay $100 to $200 for a good 10x50 binocular, and perhaps twice that for a good 15x70.
I've tried giant binoculars (Orion 25x100) but I found them very inconvenient to use; I'm much happier with a telescope in that aperture range.
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New article: Portable Or Compact Binoculars Compare the two and make a smart decision.
B&H Photo Video has the Celestron VistaPix 8×22 Binocular with Built-in 3.0 Megapixel Digital Camera with Video & Audio Recording and 1.5″ LCD Display for $50 + $5 shipping = $55 shipped. It really is a digital camera that mated with binoculars and an FM radio. Also records audio notes with the images and full motion video with sound. [Compare]Binoculars: 8x magnification, 22mm lens diameter, Compact Roof PrismCamera: 3.1MP, 1.5″ LCD, SD, 50mm equivalent lens and 8x telephoto adapter
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B&H Photo Video has the Celestron VistaPix 8×22 Binocular with Built-in 3.0 Megapixel Digital Camera with Video & Audio Recording and 1.5″ LCD Display for $50 + $5 shipping = $55 shipped. It really is a digital camera that mated with binoculars and an FM radio. Also records audio notes with the images and full motion video with sound. [Compare]Binoculars: 8x magnification, 22mm lens diameter, Compact Roof PrismCamera: 3.1MP, 1.5″ LCD, SD, 50mm equivalent lens and 8x telephoto adapter
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I missed the question but I'm going to throw my 10 cents in… I have now moved to a fixed 16x or 20x for my p-dog town guns, but for many years I used a fixed 10x for the ranges that you are shooting at. You may think that is a load of crap and that is fine, and I do think that the 16 or 20 power is plenty of zoom. I think that anything over that and your not shooting to 1000 yards is over compensation for lack of skill. I shoot prairie dog for practice shooting long rang so I use the same power scope on my prairie dog gun that I do on my long gun.
I'm not saying that there is anything wrong with a super high power scope I just find it more rewarding using a more mid power scope.
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Cool man! was hoping to see some optic related vids. Looking forward to the rest of the series!
B&H Photo Video has the Celestron VistaPix 8×22 Binocular with Built-in 3.0 Megapixel Digital Camera with Video & Audio Recording and 1.5″ LCD Display for $50 + $5 shipping = $55 shipped. It really is a digital camera that mated with binoculars and an FM radio. Also records audio notes with the images and full motion video with sound. [Compare]Binoculars: 8x magnification, 22mm lens diameter, Compact Roof PrismCamera: 3.1MP, 1.5″ LCD, SD, 50mm equivalent lens and 8x telephoto adapter
B&H Photo Video has the Celestron VistaPix 8×22 Binocular with Built-in 3.0 Megapixel Digital Camera with Video & Audio Recording and 1.5″ LCD Display for $50 + $5 shipping = $55 shipped. It really is a digital camera that mated with binoculars and an FM radio. Also records audio notes with the images and full motion video with sound. [Compare]Binoculars: 8x magnification, 22mm lens diameter, Compact Roof PrismCamera: 3.1MP, 1.5″ LCD, SD, 50mm equivalent lens and 8x telephoto adapter
B&H Photo Video has the Celestron VistaPix 8×22 Binocular with Built-in 3.0 Megapixel Digital Camera with Video & Audio Recording and 1.5″ LCD Display for $50 + $5 shipping = $55 shipped. It really is a digital camera that mated with binoculars and an FM radio. Also records audio notes with the images and full motion video with sound. [Compare]Binoculars: 8x magnification, 22mm lens diameter, Compact Roof PrismCamera: 3.1MP, 1.5″ LCD, SD, 50mm equivalent lens and 8x telephoto adapter
I'm not sure. I would check out it's reviews. I do know that light telescopes move quite a bit in breezes and even from ground vibrations. It doesn't matter how powerful the scope is if the image is moving around.
B&H Photo Video has the Celestron VistaPix 8×22 Binocular with Built-in 3.0 Megapixel Digital Camera with Video & Audio Recording and 1.5″ LCD Display for $50 + $5 shipping = $55 shipped. It really is a digital camera that mated with binoculars and an FM radio. Also records audio notes with the images and full motion video with sound. [Compare]Binoculars: 8x magnification, 22mm lens diameter, Compact Roof PrismCamera: 3.1MP, 1.5″ LCD, SD, 50mm equivalent lens and 8x telephoto adapter
So if I’m observing the Sun in H-alpha it’s not astronomy? Eh? What about radio astronomy. Do I have to do that at night? LOL