Telescope Reviews: New Arrival

Thanks for the expressions of shared pleasure and wishes for good fortune .

Sorry Mark ( and Rich ! ) but although I had every intention of posting a photo , the digital camera was in need of re - charging , and it was too dark to take a photo by the time it had charged sufficiently .

I'll post one or two photos over the next day or so .

Until about 9pm local time I thought the dreaded " new gear curse " had reared it's ironic head yet again , with only Venus visible , but suddenly , as dusk turned to something approaching dark , the clouds quite dramatically cleared and I ended up spending a most enjoyable 90 minutes or so looking through this new 20 x 90 .

Highlights included finally managing to get the focus and IPD so finely tuned that many stars in the central 50% of the 3 degree TFOV were actually something approaching PIN POINTS , JUST being able to separate the rings from the sphere of Saturn , in spite of a small red flare ( C.A ? ) to the upper left , and seeing what I suspected to be Titan in the " 5 o'clock position " relative to it , and accidentally coming across the Pleiades looking so resplendent in spite of being lower on the north west horizon than I've ever seen it before , when I was actually trying to locate the Comet Encke !

I also enjoyed the adequate eye relief and a distinct field stop , and the ease with which the binocular attached , balanced and manoeuvred on the 501 head , although I wish the large chrome plated thumbscrew could be twisted so as to tighten more against the central support shaft , to prevent the binocular from " swinging " so readily upon it's horizontal axis ( although I realise this CAN be a useful attribute at times ) .

Slight disappointments included moderate to excessive C.A unless the eyes are VERY carefully placed , slightly ovalled exit - pupils , interference from a street light when aimed as far as 10 degrees away from it's direction , a suspicion of the binocular being conditionally aligned for a specific IPD as opposed to being PERFECTLY collimated , and being able to make out slightly more detail of my face in reflections when looking into the objective lenses than I'd expected from a Fully Multi - Coated , level 4 broadband unit .

By day or night , images are nothing like as crisp or sharp as through my Zeiss Diascope , but the field of view at 20x is noticeably wider .

That said , there is DEFINITELY something VERY addictive about looking through this 20x binocular .

Without a shadow of doubt , it shows considerably more stars than my 15 x 70 Helios , and I think I'm going to derive a lot of pleasure from it .

Even my son Sam was impressed , seeing Saturns rings , Venus and the Pleiades through it .

Although not " great " , overall , compared with my Zeiss , Nikon , Swift and Helmsman binoculars , the 20x magnification and 90mm objectives place it in a different category .

It's DEFINITELY going to be a keeper , and for around £150 , I would doubt if there can be many binoculars out there which could be bought for the same price , brand new , which show so many wonders of the night sky !

-- Now -- where exactly IS that comet , in relation to Venus and the Pleiades ?

Regards , Kenny

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If everyone is thinking the same thing , no-one is thinking - General George S.Patton

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