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rydberg
sage
Reged: 02/25/04
Posts: 317
Loc: Richmond, KY, USA
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Hi:
I'd like to buy a pair of decent (but not very expensive, I am afraid) binoculars for my wife. She is into birding, but I'd like to be able to use them occasionally for sky watching. She wears glasses (and so do I), so good eye relief is somewhat important. I have read good reviews about the Oberwerks in their bigger sizes, but does anybody have experience with the smaller 8x56? On paper they appear pretty good (24mm eye relief), with a sensible price.
Any opinions?
Thanks!
Marco
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Garrett Optical 20x80mm IF Gemini
8" LX90 f/10
Vixen ed80sf, Orion 80mm f/11 guidescope
Lxd55, Atlas eq-g
Celestron NexImage
Orion Deep Space Starshoot as a imager
Meade DSI pro as a guider.
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KennyJ
Reged: 04/27/03
Posts: 9956
Loc: Lancashire UK
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Marco,
Living in the UK , sadly I have no hands -on experiences with ANY of the Oberwerk lines , but if in your predicament I would give consideration to the 8 x 42s as opposed to the 8 x 56s.
The 8 x 42s are phase -coated , water -proof and little more than half the weight of the 56mm.
The 42mm has 20mm eye -relief ( stated ) which ought to be more than adequate for eyeglass wearers.
I would imagine that with as much as 24mm eye -relief , "black-outs" or "kidney -beaning" could easily become a problem until one gets used to them.
Field of view of both 8x models is stated as being the same at 6 degrees, which is admittedly quite ( if not very )narrow for a 8x glass, particularly when the 12 x 60 Oberwerk has a 5.7 degree TFOV !
The 42mm ARE $30 more expensive as a result , but that seems little extra to pay for the above -mentioned advantages.
The 10 x 50 waterproof model might also be worth thinking about , all things considered.
Regards , Kenny.
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Two eyes and a preference to use both
Zeiss 7 x 42 BGAT
Captain's Helmsman 7 x 50
Nikon 10 x 42 Superior E
Swift Audubon Kestrel 10 x 50
Helios 15 x 70 Observation
Strathspey 20 x 90
Televue 76 APO
Zeiss 85 Diascope
Helios 102 f5 refractor
Various eyepieces barlows tripods mounts etc.
Panasonic Lumix DMC - TZ5 digital camera
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Rusty
Postmaster
Reged: 08/06/03
Posts: 15841
Loc: Brooker, FL
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I think the 8x56s are an excellent bargain - there's plenty of ER (for me with glasses, anyway); they're my all-around binocs....I use 'em for terrestrial and sometimes for stargazing (although my other gear usually pushes the 8x56s to the sidelines at night.)
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N11GPS Fastar
TOA-130S
MK66 Std
Vintage C5
Megrez II 80mm ED Triplet APO
SolarMax 40
NJP Temma II
Sirius EQ-G
ST8XE/CFW-8 (LRGBHa)/AO-7/DF-2/STV/ST237a/350D (Unmodded)/Mallincam Color Hyper Plus/DSI III Color
Two not-spoiled Golden Retrievers - Maggie and Casey
Sometimes I think we're alone in the universe, and sometimes I think we're not. In either case the idea is quite staggering. - Arthur C. Clarke
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StarWars
Postmaster
Reged: 11/26/03
Posts: 10817
Loc: Cyber Space
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For the same money I would go with the 11X56 or the 10X50.
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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If these binocs are going to be used more for birding than astro, I think your wife will be happier with 8x40 or 8x42 porro prism binocs, with a wider real and apparent field of view, and is smaller and lighter (and some are waterproof).
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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Hi Marco,
I had such a glass - here in Germany the brand ist TS - and I gave it back to the dealer. Main raesons were:
REFLEXES and SHARPNESS
Regarding reflexes it was so bad near moon and Jupiter, always were double images there.
The sharpness is only within the inner 60-70% of the field good.
However, the market of 8x56 glasses ist small, if you want to get an acceptable fov. I know only the Zeiss Victory 8x56, but the price ist around 1.000 Euro. I would agree with Patrick and to buy a smaller one. A good hint is the Minolta Sports 8x42. It has a huge fov (more than 8°), is usable with glasses.
Andreas
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