SingAstro

Hi Mystiq, try getting a 15x70 Skymaster instead. You won't regret it!

Yes, me also felt tempted to get the skymaster too. I am more towards its 70mm glass and suppose to show brighter stars details up there....

depardeuz wrote:Hi Mystiq, try getting a 15x70 Skymaster instead. You won't regret it!

Bear in mind the downside to the 70s is the weight. You'll have to mount it on a tripod if you intend to use it for prolonged periods. Unless of course you sport big muscular arms unlike some of us

Agree. 15x70 not handy at all.. have one, easily bumped out of collimation, and not much used. i enjoy my Nikon AE 8x40s much much more.

Hi Mystiq, despite concerns with the weight of the 15x70 brought up, it will not pose a problem as long as you hold the binos at the objective lens end! I have brought my binos and compared with a Celestron 10x50. As for views, I am not that particular but perhaps because I am the diet Coke amateur astronomy. Only half way there... And perhaps I was fortunate to have a stock condition 15x70 that didn't had much collimation issues. The views on the 15x70 are worth it! Jewel Box is abt 2mm but you will see Pleiades all in and a sight to behold. I have even brought it during the Comet Panstarr session at Bishan months back. Users generally had no issues handling it as long as they know how to hold it. Due to the cloudy condition that night, the stars were also playing peek-a-boo with the whole group of people there. But we had a window of opportunity to view the awesome stretch of stars from Southern Cross to Eta Carinae with this bino! If you head North and unable to bring your telescope out, get this kit out with you. That's what I did more than once. And everytime, it was a winner! I have a pair of 25x100 bins with me too. That one definitely needs a mount and hardly used! In fact, I joined my first TPY sidewalk session with just my 15x70 on my side! Dun believe, ask Gary! :p End of the day, i always believe for most of the working adults in this forum, pocket is not so much of a problem. Physical capability to bring out your kit and time are the limiting factors, you just cannot ignore. You can only hope to wish it away Anyway, have a great time shopping for your astro gears...nothing beats the thrill and rush of a shopping spree.

@depardeuz - You brought a 15x70 during one my sidewalk sessions? Got meh? Sorry, usually too busy with sidewalk crowd to notice who brought what when.

@mystiq - Other than weight, another factor to consider is what you intend to achieve with it. If it's for sweeping the milky way, large clusters (e.g Hyades, Kemble's cascade) and finding/confirm objects quickly before deciding to deploy a telescope, than a wider FOV in 7/8/10x50 is more important than the narrower FOV of 15x70 and bigger binoculars.

Just like telescopes, there is no perfect bino. So you have to compromise somewhere. And just like telescopes, if you are really into bino astro, you will end getting at least 2 anyway - one for wide FOV sweep, one for higher powered views. Both have their pros and cons depending on the objects you are looking at. E.g. Like what depardeuz mentioned, Pleiades is a sight to behold in a 15x70 (M31 too). More stars + darker sky background than a 7x50.

Framing Hyades cluster, Kemble's Casade, M8 + M20 and M36+ M38 in same fov (with Milky Way in the background!) in the wider 7x/8x/10x bino is amazing too - something a 15x70 can't squeeze them in.

When testing/buying bino during the daytime, it is very hard to really test its performance which only a proper star test at night can achieve - especially when testing exit pupil performance. So I recommend you do most of the testing by trying out binos from other members at night rather than at shops during daytime.

Highly recommend bino newcomers to borrow and read this book from the library *before* buying a bino:

"Stargazing with Binoculars"
http://catalogue.nlb.gov.sg/cgi-bin/spy ... /5889943,1

Read some of the preview pages from its Amazon listing:
http://www.amazon.com/Stargazing-Binocu ... B0085SID8A