Geo557
Astro-Scout
Reged: 10/10/07
Posts: 5523
Loc: SE GA
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Checking into these binos, especially the 10x60.I do know they are rather heavy. Any info from owners of any within the series would be appriciated: coatings,ergonomics,etc. Thanx
Steve
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Steve W.
http://www.w3streams.com/potd/space
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eklf
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 05/12/07
Posts: 1207
Loc: Carrboro, NC
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Hello Steve and Welcome.
You might want to look up the mini review section at the top of this forum. I believe this particular model has been reviewed.
Regards/Kumar
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Clear Skies/Kumar
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Geo557
Astro-Scout
Reged: 10/10/07
Posts: 5523
Loc: SE GA
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Thank you Kumar.I have read the mini review some time ago. Just curious what owners that have had them for a while now thought about them.
Steve
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Steve W.
http://www.w3streams.com/potd/space
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eklf
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 05/12/07
Posts: 1207
Loc: Carrboro, NC
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Hi Steve,
Ahh...yes. Good idea! I expect others to chime in with thier experience.
Kumar
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Clear Skies/Kumar
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EdZ
Professor EdZ
Reged: 02/15/02
Posts: 18806
Loc: Cumberland, R I , USA42N71.4W
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Go back to the minireviews and right near the beginning of the list see the links to "Small Binoculars". The 10x60, 8x40 and 7x50 are all included in all of those sets of data.
edz
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Teach a kid something today. The feeling you'll get is one of life's greatest rewards.
member#21
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DJB
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 02/23/05
Posts: 1742
Loc: Lisle NY
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Hi Steve,
I have the OB Mariner 8x40. Yes, binoculars in this series are a bit on the heavy side, due, in part, to the larger prisms.
I can tell you this. They are very well made and have nice optics, compared to some of the others I have.
I will say that any in this series would be well worth the relatively minor investment vs. the overall performance balance. Just my thoughts on my sample--hope it helps a bit.
Best regards,
Dave.
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Geo557
Astro-Scout
Reged: 10/10/07
Posts: 5523
Loc: SE GA
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Thanx guys. EdZ I was unaware of the small binocular report that you have recently compiled. An absolute teriffic resource for data. Thank you for your in depth research. I see the Mariner series scores very good in most catagories. They have alot of bang for the buck, which I like very much. A noteworthy canadate for the coming year. 
Steve
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Steve W.
http://www.w3streams.com/potd/space
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Wes James
Postmaster
Reged: 04/12/06
Posts: 5477
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Steve-
I have a pair of the 8x40, like them optically and mechanically with the exception of the twist-up eyecups, which feel cheap in their movement. The worst part of the package is the case, which has wood support blocks in the bottom and are about 1/4" too narrow a spacing between them. Just poor Q/C in making the case.
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Wes
Atlantic Beach, FL
Bino’s- Tak's, Fuji's, Nikon's, Canon IS and Garrett 20x110 Signature's,
Some telescopes from Carton & Zeiss 60mm's up through a couple of 8” reflectors… Orion 3.6" O/A- and a wonderful 4.25" Delmarva Schiefspiegler!
Some good friends, made here on C/N.
Oh- several cats and a wonderful wife!
Anyone want a cat???? :-O
"When your work speaks for itself- Don't Interrupt" -Gamble Rogers
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EdZ
Professor EdZ
Reged: 02/15/02
Posts: 18806
Loc: Cumberland, R I , USA42N71.4W
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I would agree optical quality in these are quite good, however, the most notable aspect of the Mariner series is the fact that all of them have an internal baffle that acts as an aperture stop. I've measured the 10x60, the 8x40 and the 7x50, each by three different methods to confirm effective aperture. All three methods give a result that agrees.
See the Small Binocular data reports.
Based on my various measurements:
the 10x60 is 10x52
the 8x40 is 8x32
the 7x50 is 7x43
edz
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Teach a kid something today. The feeling you'll get is one of life's greatest rewards.
member#21
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Tom Andrews
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 01/25/07
Posts: 1413
Loc: Albuquerque, NM
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I have the Mariner 10x60's. These are the only binos I have so I may not be the best source but I absolutely love these.
They are a little heavy but I've been using them on a standard camera tripod for almost a year now and the tripod is handling them.
They are incredibly clear. I've shared them with a few amateur astronomers who have never used binos for astronomy and they cannot believe what you can see. As a reference for field of view, you can see both M81/82 in the FOV.
The only thing I don't like is the twist-up eyecups; they are very cheesy. I am using rubber bands to keep them in place because I need them all the way up and when you press against them they twist down on their own. Also, I had to re-glue the rubber cups back to the plastic twist mounts very soon after I received them but they haven't broken loose since. Other than that I have no complaints.
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Tom/K5TBA
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Our Secret To Life:
Focus on what you have, not on what you don't;
Focus on what you can do, not on what you can't.
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Coulter 8" dob w/Push-To finder system
Meade 8" EMC SCT/Celestron CG-5GT mount
Mallincam Xtreme
GO Gemini 15x70 binoculars/parallelogram mount w/Push-To finder system
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The Albuquerque Astronomy Society (TAAS)
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V.A.
sage
Reged: 05/14/05
Posts: 281
Loc: Ontario, Canada
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i have the 7x50 mariner, optically their the best i've tried so far.
but i agree with the twist up eyecups, they are not very good, and don't extend far enough making it a little difficult for me to postion my eyes properly. the case is is not very good either, but it does the job.
i never noticed the field stop limiting the effective aperture,so i'll have to check that.
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10" binocular telescope
Oberwerk 7x50 Mariner
tv 24pans , plossl's and 12mm t4s
6.5 mag. dark skies
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Randy Cordell
super member
Reged: 09/16/07
Posts: 196
Loc: Cedar Rapids IA
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Quote:
The worst part of the package is the case, which has wood support blocks in the bottom and are about 1/4" too narrow a spacing between them. Just poor Q/C in making the case.
I noticed this too right away but found a work-around: If you turn the rain-guard eyepiece cover 180* so that they are upside down (a smile instead of a frown) they fit perfectly in the case.
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Randy Cordell
Meade StarFinder 10" F/4.7 Dob, Telrad, Craford, Fans
Bogen 3040 and 3050 Tripods with Orion Paragon-Plus Parallelogram or 3047 head
Oberwerk Mariner 7x50
Pentax PCF WP 8x40
Garrett Optical Gemini 15x70 WP-IF
Laptop running Kubuntu and Stellarium 0.9.1
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Tom Andrews
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 01/25/07
Posts: 1413
Loc: Albuquerque, NM
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Quote:
The worst part of the package is the case, which has wood support blocks in the bottom and are about 1/4" too narrow a spacing between them. Just poor Q/C in making the case.
I found a fairly inexpensive solution for the cheesy carrying case at Home Depot for $30.00.
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Tom/K5TBA
-------------------------------------------------
Our Secret To Life:
Focus on what you have, not on what you don't;
Focus on what you can do, not on what you can't.
-------------------------------------------------
Coulter 8" dob w/Push-To finder system
Meade 8" EMC SCT/Celestron CG-5GT mount
Mallincam Xtreme
GO Gemini 15x70 binoculars/parallelogram mount w/Push-To finder system
-------------------------------------------------
The Albuquerque Astronomy Society (TAAS)
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Tom Andrews
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 01/25/07
Posts: 1413
Loc: Albuquerque, NM
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Inside. That's my 12" setting circle in the lid for the Push-To system.
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Tom/K5TBA
-------------------------------------------------
Our Secret To Life:
Focus on what you have, not on what you don't;
Focus on what you can do, not on what you can't.
-------------------------------------------------
Coulter 8" dob w/Push-To finder system
Meade 8" EMC SCT/Celestron CG-5GT mount
Mallincam Xtreme
GO Gemini 15x70 binoculars/parallelogram mount w/Push-To finder system
-------------------------------------------------
The Albuquerque Astronomy Society (TAAS)
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Tom Andrews
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 01/25/07
Posts: 1413
Loc: Albuquerque, NM
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Have room for gloves and chemical heat paks.
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Tom/K5TBA
-------------------------------------------------
Our Secret To Life:
Focus on what you have, not on what you don't;
Focus on what you can do, not on what you can't.
-------------------------------------------------
Coulter 8" dob w/Push-To finder system
Meade 8" EMC SCT/Celestron CG-5GT mount
Mallincam Xtreme
GO Gemini 15x70 binoculars/parallelogram mount w/Push-To finder system
-------------------------------------------------
The Albuquerque Astronomy Society (TAAS)
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Randy Cordell
super member
Reged: 09/16/07
Posts: 196
Loc: Cedar Rapids IA
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Steve,
Hi....I guess I can post something more specific to your original question. I just received my 7x50M and I like them a LOT! The coatings are very nice. There are a couple really minor issues with the finish of the ring around the ocular lenses. They stay in focus really well. I've heard that folks don't like the twist-up eyecups so much but I think they are great. They put my glasses at the perfect place for viewing and I can see the entire field with them on. I actually noticed it's easy to get too close and the view "kidneybeans" (is this viginetting?) if I don't have my glasses on. So for me, this is perfect. There is some off axis reflection of really bright objects. I notice fine lines of color around the moon purple green and yellow as I recall, but very thin lines, not large distorted edges like I have seen in some optics. Neither of these are issues to me at all.
I also bought at the same time the Garrett Optical 15x70 Water Proofs which are from the same family as these Mariners. I picked the IF version and they are just fantastic. The logo didn't get screen printed too well and I'll enquire about that. I hate to even bother cause it's such a completely useless feature. But I suppose if I ever wanted to sell them I would have to disclose this...Unfortunatly, with the weather we've had I haven't actually had a lot of time to view with them, but I've spent a lot of time viewing trees down the block. What time I have had on the stars has been REALLY enjoyable, with lots of very nice color of stars and nice clear images - things I never noticed so much in my telescope.
IMHO a good litmus test of both of these is after playing around with these for a week I picked up my Meade Infinity's 10x50's and looked them over, studing their poorly coated optics and then looking through them, I was like: "Man what pieces of *BLEEP*!" Really cloudy and hard to see a clear field (the Meades). So these Mariners and the GO 15x70 WP are in my lay, unexperienced view, very nice, good quality and excellent value instruments. I studied things here on cloudynight and elsewhere for probably two full months before I bought andything trying to figure out what was the best value for me. For my first serious astro binos I think these are KEEPERS for sure!
Hope this is helpful.
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Randy Cordell
Meade StarFinder 10" F/4.7 Dob, Telrad, Craford, Fans
Bogen 3040 and 3050 Tripods with Orion Paragon-Plus Parallelogram or 3047 head
Oberwerk Mariner 7x50
Pentax PCF WP 8x40
Garrett Optical Gemini 15x70 WP-IF
Laptop running Kubuntu and Stellarium 0.9.1
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Randy Cordell
super member
Reged: 09/16/07
Posts: 196
Loc: Cedar Rapids IA
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Nice Tom. I see the rubber band too that I think I must have read your post somewhere about.... I guess I kind of like the case they came with. Mine is a nice black shiny leather(?)ette(?) don't know. But after learning how to put the rain guard on so they don't interfere for storage it works well. I suppose there isn't much for padding so I guess I'll not be wanting roll them down the mountain. Maybe if they were dropped on concrete and landed just right they could be damaged, probably wouldn't be good for the collimation regardless of how they landed but, hey that's not how you treat binos. However, your case is nice because anyone as clumsy as me has to be prepared for life's little surprises. Might have to check into the Home Depot bino case line for myself! 
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Randy Cordell
Meade StarFinder 10" F/4.7 Dob, Telrad, Craford, Fans
Bogen 3040 and 3050 Tripods with Orion Paragon-Plus Parallelogram or 3047 head
Oberwerk Mariner 7x50
Pentax PCF WP 8x40
Garrett Optical Gemini 15x70 WP-IF
Laptop running Kubuntu and Stellarium 0.9.1
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ronharper
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 02/14/06
Posts: 2065
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Randy,
Are you in business all of a sudden! As you might have seen, I had a problem with a IF WP. I guess it must have been just a QC slip-through, which still seems to happen sometimes with these type binos. So glad you got good ones.
I think 7x50 to 15x70 is a perfect jump. I also have a 10x50 in between, which confuses me because it is my best quality astro binocular, but it really is not needed. The 10x50 is often considered ideal, but it is, rather, the best compromise. The 7x50 and 15x70 are not compromises, but perfectly zeroed onto vital and very different performance regions. Have fun with your new binos!
Ron
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Randy Cordell
super member
Reged: 09/16/07
Posts: 196
Loc: Cedar Rapids IA
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Quote:
Randy,
Are you in business all of a sudden!
Hee-hee...no. I do tend to throw myself %100 into whatever I am doing and maybe you are detecting fanatacism...
Quote:
As you might have seen, I had a problem with a IF WP. I guess it must have been just a QC slip-through, which still seems to happen sometimes with these type binos.
No. At least I don't think I did. But I'd like to if you'd provide the thread.
Quote:
So glad you got good ones.
ME TOO!
Quote:
I think 7x50 to 15x70 is a perfect jump....
I hadn't thought about it like that but it's good to know....I just knew that I personally cannot hold a 10x50 steady enough to get any satisfaction from looking through it and I wanted a good hand-held pair and a mounted pair. I also wanted water proof for both and saw Edz's writeups of various characteristics of the Mariner line and putting it all together, for me, they were the two best choices. As he said the GO WP's are of the same family as the OB Mariners.
Quote:
The 10x50 is often considered ideal, but it is, rather, the best compromise. The 7x50 and 15x70 are not compromises, but perfectly zeroed onto vital and very different performance regions.
Thanks for the input. I'm still just learning about binos and I think my research paid off and these were both a good choice.
Quote:
Have fun with your new binos!
Ron
Thanks man!
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Randy Cordell
Meade StarFinder 10" F/4.7 Dob, Telrad, Craford, Fans
Bogen 3040 and 3050 Tripods with Orion Paragon-Plus Parallelogram or 3047 head
Oberwerk Mariner 7x50
Pentax PCF WP 8x40
Garrett Optical Gemini 15x70 WP-IF
Laptop running Kubuntu and Stellarium 0.9.1
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EdZ
Professor EdZ
Reged: 02/15/02
Posts: 18806
Loc: Cumberland, R I , USA42N71.4W
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Some links for future reference in this thread.. Here's some photos
Oberwerk Mariners 8x40, 7x50, 10x60
again the Oberwerk mariner 8x40, 7x50, 10x60
note the prism housing is the exact same on all three. Only the objective barrels change. (And perhaps the focal length of the eyepieces. They have remarkably different eye relief, 8x40=19mm, 7x50=27mm, 10x60=23mm).
Now look at this
Oberwerk Mariner 7x50 and the Garrett Gemini 20x80
here again you can see the prism housings are exactly the same. Only the objective barrels change (and again, perhaphs the eyepiece F).
Oberwerk Mariner 7x50 and GO Gemini 20x80
a back end view of the prism housings. The only difference you see here is the style of focus, one is individual focus (IF) and one is center focus (CF). Everything else is the same.
Comparison of GO Gemini 20x80 to Oberwerk 25x100 IF
one more photo shows the Garrett Gemini 20x80 has exactly the same prism housing as the Oberwerk 25x100 IF.
So there you now have all the Mariner/Gemini family photos except for the 15x70. They all use the same prism housing and depending on your choice, the same IF eyepieces or the same CF/diopter eyepieces.
Oberwerk Mariner 7x50 exit pupil compared to Fujinon 10x50
compared to the Fujinon FMT-SX 10x50 exit pupil. The Fujinon measures an actual 4.9mm. The Oberwerk Mariner 7x50 should have a 7.1mm exit pupil, 44% wider than the Fujinon. It does not. The 7x50 mariner exit pupil actually measures only 6.1mm.
Exit Pupils WO 7x50, Mariner 7x50, Fujinon 10x50
Here you see the Oberwerk Mariner 7x50 compared to one binoculr that should have the exact same size pupil on the bottom, the WO 7x50 ED. Thw WO 7x50 actually has a true 7.1mm pupil. In the middle is the Oberwerk Mariner 7x50, which actually has only a 6.1mm pupil. On top is the Fujinon FMT-SX 10x50 whic has an actual 4.9mm pupil. The bottom WO binoc looks a little distorted vertically because of camera angle. There is no distortion horizontally.
Oberwerk Mariner 8x40 exit pupil
Here's a photo that shows the Oberwerk mariner 8x40 compared to the Fujinon FMT-SX 10x50 exit pupil which measures 4.9mm. The mariner 8x40, if it were operating at full aperture would have a 5mm pupil, equal to the Fujinon. You can easily see the Mariner 8x40 is considerably smaller than the Fujinon.
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Teach a kid something today. The feeling you'll get is one of life's greatest rewards.
member#21
Edited by EdZ (01/25/08 09:01 AM)
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