zackae wrote:Are you sure you wanna get a 10x50 Binoculars? Honestly, it's a little heavy for the arms. You'll expect your arms to shake after holding it up for sometime and the shake is magnified 10x. You sure you want that?
Even if you get a tripod, the magnification isn't large enough to fully appreciate the usage of the tripod since it can hold up to 20x binoculars. You'll be like half-way there.
I would recommend however the 7x35 or 8x40 range of binoculars because the size and weight is not as taxing on the user, the range of view is pretty decent as compared to the 10x50. You'll get to see more of the sky with the 7x35 or 8x40. Isn't that why you wanna get Binoculars in the first place?
A 10x50 binoculars not only has a smaller FOV (field of view), the amount of magnification you get from it is in my opinion negligible since Jupiter is still a dot no matter 7x35,8x40 or 10x50.
Why not settle for less to see more?
Will I be able to see Jupiter's satellites or Saturn rings with 7x35 binuculars?
Jupiter satellites are easy even in a 10x50. But Saturn is hard. Definitely you can see it is non-circular with binoculars, but even with a 15x70 I could not resolve the rings. Maybe because the binos were hand-held.
The bino was only hand-held. This Pentax bino is relatively inexpensive (I bought new for under S$150) but very sharp on-axis. It is part of the Pentax PCF WPII series which are excellent performers (sharp, high contrast, flat field to the edge, excellent coatings, 20mm eye-relief, waterproofed) and at the same time, value-for-money. Its minor downside is that it is not a widefield bino, only standard field.
The Galilean moons of Jupiter are visible with the naked eyes, especially at greatest elongation. I can just barely see them, while my wife has no difficulty in seeing them.
Last edited by rlow on Thu May 20, 2010 12:25 am, edited 2 times in total.
You must mean the Pentax PCF WP II 8x40 ? these are USD 160 new.
I had a pair of Kenko 10x50 back in Philippines (and the evil unlamented Celestron 15x70 Skymaster boat-anchor) but I've never had decent binoculars. I don't want to shell out for a Fujinon and Ed Zarenski rates the PCF WP II very highly.
Where can I buy these locally? the Nikon Action 8x40 (not Action Extreme) is supposedly S$118 but is variously described as "awful" (CN) and "one of the worst" (EdZ).
Of course if money were no object (sigh!) the Canon 10x42L IS WP would be perfect. Or the Nikon StabilEyes 14x40.
If you refer to made-in-Japan astro products in us dollar, it is usually not a good deal...as it had been emphasized in this forum over the week: get them from Japan. I was lucky to get my Pentax PCF WP-II 8x40 at a special offer price, & it was the last piece. I got this 8x40 after I posted my review of the Pentax PCF WP-II 20x60 on CN forum & Singastro in 2006.
I find the Canon IS series to have excellent optics, but since I can hold steady with my Nikon Monarch 10x42, I don't see the value in getting a IS version at 10x. I find there is a slight unnatural image fuzz at times after the IS is activated. I also don't like the heavy weight & bulky feel of the 15x50 IS. For that price or less, I find more value & usability in the Vixen BT80-MA which can use interchangeable eyepieces giving about 20x to 100x. .
