edcannon
professor emeritus
Reged: 11/19/03
Posts: 679
Loc: Austin, Texas
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Why are the Garrett Signatures, Oberwerk Ultra, Orion Resolux, etc., so exceedingly heavy?
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Ed Cannon - Austin, Texas, USA
As of 23 August 2008 - Celestron Skymaster 12x60
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refractory
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 02/05/05
Posts: 1016
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Dark matter.
Jess Tauber
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werewolf6977
Lord High Smasher
Reged: 12/15/03
Posts: 7444
Loc: Hanover, Ohio
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More glass? Build quality? Dunno.
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Pete
6" Apogee/LXD55 - "The Beast"
Starhopper 6" Dob - "Shiva"
Spaceprobe 130 EQ - "Spacey"
Bushnell Fatboy
The Abomination
Sun Pak Pro 7500 Platinum Edition
10X25 Bushnell Camo Roofies
7X35 Tasco Classic Plastic (good views though)
7X42 Tasco Rare Bird
10X50 Nikon Actions (Type 7)
15X70 Skymasters - "DroolMeisters"
One ratty old IBM 600E LapTop
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EdZ
Professor EdZ
Reged: 02/15/02
Posts: 12581
Loc: Cumberland, R I , USA42N71.4W
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Well for one they have metal barrels. Most binoculars are plastic. Except don't associate the light weight of the Nikon SE with plastic, they are titanium. Second is they have larger prisms, more glass = heavier.
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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Rick
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 04/12/05
Posts: 2575
Loc: Tokyo, Japan
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Ed, the SE and EII's have a Magnesium body. Nikon has a small 5x/7x 15mm opera bin made from Titanium though
Rick
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EdZ
Professor EdZ
Reged: 02/15/02
Posts: 12581
Loc: Cumberland, R I , USA42N71.4W
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my mistake.
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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edwincjones
Post Laureate
Reged: 04/10/04
Posts: 4423
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traditio;n-they are clones of the fuji 70mms so they should be heavy like the fujis.
edj
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n w arkansas
Binocular, Solar, General Amateur Astronomy
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edwincjones
Post Laureate
Reged: 04/10/04
Posts: 4423
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or, it just cost more to manufacture a lighter weight binocular with lighter materials and design-the benefit of the clones is a cheaper price
edj
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n w arkansas
Binocular, Solar, General Amateur Astronomy
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BillC
on a new path
Reged: 06/04/04
Posts: 2110
Loc: Washington, USA
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Fujinon FMTR-SX clones win.
Cheers,
Bill
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William J. Cook, Chief Opticalman, USNR-Ret.
Founding Editor, Amateur Telescope Making Journal
20-year vet. of Captain's Nautical Supplies, Optics Dept. Mgr.
Optics Machanic, WG11-3306, Ft. Lewis, Tacoma,WA
Yata, Yata, Yata . . .
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DeepSpace67
sage
Reged: 05/13/06
Posts: 448
Loc: Kansas City, KS, USA
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Quote:
Why are the Garrett Signatures, Oberwerk Ultra, Orion Resolux, etc., so exceedingly heavy?
These resellers should find a way to convince their Chinese suppliers to use lighter materials like those used by Miyauchi. Miyauchi's offerings are about 1/2 the weight, and this results in much greater portability and reduces mount cost.
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Matthew
10" Antares Dobsonian, 8x50 RACI, Telrad, Green Laser
Apogee RA-88-SA, Custom Mount, Green Laser
Garrett Gemini Lightweight 11x56 Binoculars
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edwincjones
Post Laureate
Reged: 04/10/04
Posts: 4423
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If you want a Miyauchi-like binocular, then buy the miyauchis. If you want a cheaper one, the makers have to cut corners somewhere.
edj
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n w arkansas
Binocular, Solar, General Amateur Astronomy
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BillC
on a new path
Reged: 06/04/04
Posts: 2110
Loc: Washington, USA
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Believe me, PLENTY of corners are being cut. That's why collimation with soon be the #1 topic on the list.
Cheers,
Bill
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William J. Cook, Chief Opticalman, USNR-Ret.
Founding Editor, Amateur Telescope Making Journal
20-year vet. of Captain's Nautical Supplies, Optics Dept. Mgr.
Optics Machanic, WG11-3306, Ft. Lewis, Tacoma,WA
Yata, Yata, Yata . . .
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Mark9473
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 07/21/05
Posts: 2699
Loc: 51°N 4°E
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Bill, do you mean this specifically in regard to the binoculars addressed in this thread?
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Mark
Leica 8x20; Vixen 8x42; Swift 8.5x44, 10x50 and 20x80; TS 7x50; Orion 15x63
WO Megrez II 80 FD + Baader 90° T2 Amici
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billbob
member
Reged: 08/07/07
Posts: 74
Loc: Kimberling City, MO
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BillC:
A little clarification. Are you speaking of the Miyauchi's, Garrett Signatures, or less costly binoculars in general?
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Orion XT8 w/intelliscope
GO 10x50 HD-WP ss
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BillC
on a new path
Reged: 06/04/04
Posts: 2110
Loc: Washington, USA
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Sorry for the confusion. I was speaking in general terms. I have fought the good fight, but people just keep thinking that you can buy a quality instrument for paperweight prices.
I know some folks believe that $100-$150 with purchase the Nirvana of optical perfection. However, what they don't know won't make that true.
Ah, but experience is a great teacher . . . also expensive. This is especially true if one considers the time he or she spends in writing memo after memo for the collimation threads and returning things to the “manufacturer.”
Just a thought.
Cheers,
Bill
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William J. Cook, Chief Opticalman, USNR-Ret.
Founding Editor, Amateur Telescope Making Journal
20-year vet. of Captain's Nautical Supplies, Optics Dept. Mgr.
Optics Machanic, WG11-3306, Ft. Lewis, Tacoma,WA
Yata, Yata, Yata . . .
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edcannon
professor emeritus
Reged: 11/19/03
Posts: 679
Loc: Austin, Texas
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Quote:
Fujinon FMTR-SX clones win.
Cheers,
Bill
Okay, why are Fujinon FMTR-SX so exceedingly heavy?
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Ed Cannon - Austin, Texas, USA
As of 23 August 2008 - Celestron Skymaster 12x60
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Rick
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 04/12/05
Posts: 2575
Loc: Tokyo, Japan
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Quote:
If you want a Miyauchi-like binocular, then buy the miyauchis. If you want a cheaper one, the makers have to cut corners somewhere.
I think Miyauchi might be caught in a "death-roll" now. None of the optics dealers in Tokyo give their products shelf space any longer. Their web site has disappeared too. I will surprised if they are still in business after Xmas.
Rick
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ronharper
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 02/14/06
Posts: 1006
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Long the gold standard of sheer mass, the FMT-SX has been sadly supplanted. While a healthy 1 pound more than the lightweight style Chinese 15x70, the new Fuji 16x70 is a whopping 1.5 pounds lighter than the comparable Signature. Why is the Fuji so light?
Ron
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edcannon
professor emeritus
Reged: 11/19/03
Posts: 679
Loc: Austin, Texas
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Of course my point is that I would think that one attractive feature of a high-quality binocular that will often be used handheld by many users would be light weight. So I'm very puzzled that the models I asked about, and their apparent Fujinon role model, are so heavy. I guess they were just not intended to be used handheld. But especially 7x50 sure seems like a handheld size to me. (I used a borrowed 7x50 1980s-model Celestron Ultima for a few months several years ago.)
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Ed Cannon - Austin, Texas, USA
As of 23 August 2008 - Celestron Skymaster 12x60
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edwincjones
Post Laureate
Reged: 04/10/04
Posts: 4423
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Quote:
Quote:
If you want a Miyauchi-like binocular, then buy the miyauchis. If you want a cheaper one, the makers have to cut corners somewhere.
I think Miyauchi might be caught in a "death-roll" now. None of the optics dealers in Tokyo give their products shelf space any longer. Their web site has disappeared too. I will surprised if they are still in business after Xmas.
Rick
I hope that you are wrong. My 20x100 Galaxy florite is an outstanding binocular, my 22x60 a good two eyed spotting scope. The Saturn models have received high reviews here also.
I hope that the miyauchis do not go the way of the Tak 22x60.
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n w arkansas
Binocular, Solar, General Amateur Astronomy
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