Choosing binoculars for astronomy?
April 20, 2010 by
Filed under Zoom Binoculars
i have considered zoom binoculars, big ones, small and different types of prisms. My budget is $273 for buying a pair of binoculars. I am looking for a pair that would maximize versatility according to the atmospheric conditions. So i thought about zoom binoculars to deal with that. BUT my old astronomy teacher said something like the image will be blurring beyond a magnification. i also looked at binoculars that have the stabilization thing in them but they rack up in prize like intelliscopes or goto telescopes do. I want a pair of binoculars that can be carried easily without a tripod too but can view a lot of the sky and messier objects. Sort of like a small telescope that can go anywhere. But i want it to maximize the aperchure while being low in cost. What i am trying to say is i want a pair of binoculars that are good alround for astronomy.
I’ve owned many different binoculars, but the ones I use most for astronomy are Celestron Pro 10×50s. These are no longer made, but Orion’s UltraView 10×50 is from the same supplier (Vixen) and almost identical in quality. Zoom binoculars are generally poor performers optically, and anything much over 10x magnification is too hard to hold steady. 50mm is about the smallest useful aperture for astronomy, so 10×50 is the “just right” size for most people.
Check http://www.telescope.com.
It is the site for Orion Telescopes. They do have a 15×70 GiantView Binoculars for about your price range. Once it gets over 10x magnification you will need a tripod, if you want a steady image. Zoom Binoculars don’t work too well, especially for Astronomy. You will need at least a 10x magnification to see more Messier objects other than the ones you can see with your naked eye.
go to your local telescope place.
Zooms are terrible and Binoculars don’t work much for astronomy
Get a small telescope instead.
$273 will buy you a nice scope
Otherwise just get a $100 pair of Bushnell or something.
7×35 or 10×35 or 15×50