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NairB
member
Reged: 11/11/06
Posts: 49
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Folks,
The time has come to buy another big bino. I have my eye on the Oberwerk "Lightweight" 20x80mm but how do they compare with the
Oberwerk "Standard" 20x80mm 
What does it mean when it says, "The 20x80 "Standard" has excellent color correction and edge-of-field sharpness due to it's relatively long focal length" and will this be the same specification as the "lightweights"? I ask this because the physical barrel size between the two binos look different, the "standards" looking longer.
The other specification differences can be seen but I really want to know if there is a substantial difference in "quality" between the two?
Thanks,
NairB
Edited by NairB (05/09/08 04:45 AM)
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Corky
member
Reged: 04/22/08
Posts: 29
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Hello,
I have owned the Oberwerk 20x80LW for just over a year now. However, I have never used the Standard, so am not qualified to compare the two.
I can say that I'm very impressed with the overall build-quality and feel of these binoculars, and the optics seem to perform beautifully. All stars are crisp tiny dots, with none of the flaring or other distortions that are sometimes mentioned in this forum.
The low weight makes them work well with the Manfrotto Classic stand and head that I now use them with, but I often wonder whether the set up would work to my satisfaction with heavier binoculars. The total weight of this set-up is perfect for constantly adjusting the tripod leg length, and/or moving the center pole up and down while observing. Before I purchased the tripod, I found that hand-held, the binoculars made my arms ache a lot after just a few minutes, seriously limiting viewing time. So, again, heavier binoculars would be worse if you don't use a tripod.
Funnily enough, I did recently ask Kevin Busarow - (CEO of Oberwerk, I think), something similar to what you are asking now, simply because I was curious. His reply can be seen at www.bigbinoculars.com but was as follows:
"In my opinion, the differences between the 20x80LW and Standard are too minor to justifying buying a Standard when you already own the LW. The longer f/l of the Standard does give slightly better color correction, and the 18mm of eye relief would benefit those that wear glasses while observing. Construction is similar, the Standard a little more solid, which is necessary to handle the longer objective tubes.
An upgrade to the BT-80-45 (or BT-100-45 of course) would be a noticeable leap in quality, and the 45-degree viewing and fork mount will solve the neck strain problem. -Kevin"
I realize that none of this answers your question of which one to buy, but hope it is of some use.
ALSO, there is a review here:
http://www.cloudynights.com/item.php?item_id=219
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CESDewar
GorillAstronomer
Reged: 01/16/05
Posts: 1692
Loc: Morganton, GA, USA
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Quote:
The other specification differences can be seen but I really want to know if there is a substantial difference in "quality" between the two?
Well, much depends on what you consider to be "substantial". I will provide my subjective opinion - it's not likely to be substantial. Noticeable - yes, but not substantial.
I have not compared these with the standards, but I do have several other premium binoculars in this power range range and the 20x80LW's hold up pretty well. I keep on thinking I'll sell them, but it's hard to find anything with that much light-gathering power that can still be handheld at a pinch.
As is usually the case, center sharpness is just fine - most likely the standards will have slightly better edge correction, but for many viewers, this is of secondary importance. I rate these binoculars as an extremely good value (i.e. the ratio of performance to cost), and their light weight opens up several inexpensive mounting options.
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jrw11
sage
Reged: 06/09/07
Posts: 492
Loc: U.S.A.
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I own the standards an like them very much. In EDZ review on them, he said that they were one of the best 20x80's he ever saw. We all know that a faster scope, such as a f/5, as more coma than a slower one, such as a f/7. I think that binos are no different. The longer length in the Standards would help in correcting the coma issues.
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Celestron C6n -HD Reflector
dual axis drive motors added
Orion 80mm Short tube refractor
Skyscout
Early 70's Pentax 7x50
Garrett Optical 12x60
Garrett Optical 15x70
Oberwerk 20x80 Standards
Canon Rebel Ti (film)
4 Minolta Srt cameras
Mamiya RB67 Pro-s with 180 lens
127mm KL lens for RB, Bellows hood for RB67
120 and 220 film backs
over 50 other film cameras
several eyepieces
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NairB
member
Reged: 11/11/06
Posts: 49
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Thankyou for your opinions gents, very much appreciated.
Hmmm, I'm nearly out my dilemma and you have given me excellent food for thought. I really am fussy about sharpness & edge correction and the "standards" seem to provide this but at the same time and by the sounds of it, the LW's seem to be very good also and they are alot lighter in weight which is pushing me towards getting them.
I wish it was somehow possible to see a picture of say, saturn through both binos to compare the difference.
Corky seems to be well impressed with his LW's saying there is no flaring and stars are crisp dots....but then again "standards" are better for correcting coma lol.
I think the lights are edging it here as I also want to hold them for certain situations, so I guess the standards will be far too heavy for that.
I will give this some more thought before I make a final decision
Thanks again chaps for your input
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Strathspey 15x70's FMC - Amazing cheap bino for the price. Bright, natural color/contrast, sharp, and well collimated. Best for Daytime viewing 
Celestron Skymaster 15x70's MC - Field of view has a Smoky/Brown tint making them less bright during daytime viewing BUT this doesn't seem to affect night time viewing...Testing against the Strath's continues!!!
Oberwerk Lightweight 20x80mm FMC - Arrived - Had to collimate them. Undergoing tests.
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NairB
member
Reged: 11/11/06
Posts: 49
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Well, only a few hours since my last post...I couldn't resist and I went for....wait for it.....wait.....the Oberwerk "Lightweight" 20x80mm binos 
Now all I have to do is wait for them to arrive...USA to UK. I hope they don't get damaged during shipping.
Anyway, will let you all know when they arrive...oh another deciding factor was the 3.5 FoV compared with the 3.2 on the "standards" but it was the overall weight that eventually won me over with these binos 
-NairB
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Strathspey 15x70's FMC - Amazing cheap bino for the price. Bright, natural color/contrast, sharp, and well collimated. Best for Daytime viewing
Celestron Skymaster 15x70's MC - Field of view has a Smoky/Brown tint making them less bright during daytime viewing BUT this doesn't seem to affect night time viewing...Testing against the Strath's continues!!!
Oberwerk Lightweight 20x80mm FMC - Arrived - Had to collimate them. Undergoing tests.
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NairB
member
Reged: 11/11/06
Posts: 49
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Got my binos whoopee 
I am not going to review them right now but instead tell you what happened.
I live in the UK and the binos came from OHIO USA so obviously was concerned about shipping damage and my worst fears where realised!!!
The well packaged box with delicate instrument labels on it from Oberwerk had a bash at one corner as if the box had taken a tumble in transit.
I knew straight away that my delicate instrument (Binos) are sure to have collimation problems with such a bash.
When home and opening the box I removed my binos, no sign of damage to them and the lenses are scratch free and the coatings looked perfect.
When I looked through them I nearly died.....disaster.....collimation way way out!!!
After I dried the tears from my eyes I thought of my options. Since I am in the UK, sending them back would be a nightmare and a replacement/repaired set might be subjected to the same rough shipping back to me. So I decided instead to collimate!! 
I have had some experience doing this with other Binos and I have it pretty much down to an art, so I said, why not lets go for it.
After 1 hour of careful setting up on a distant target, analysis and care, I proceeded to collimate. The set-screws where easy enough to turn and after a while I managed to rescue my new binos
I have been subjecting them to terrestrial viewing tests only as the sky is cloudy but so far my eyes feel extremely comfortable, no dizzyness, headaches, sickness and thats after substantial amounts of viewing times. As I take my eyes away from the binos and look immediately at the same distant object, my eyes are easily/quickly refocused onto that object, so I know my binos are now perfectly collimated or at least, good enough for my eyes.
The viewing is wonderful...there is a little color abberations from what I can see but the image is sharp and well focused right upto 80% of outer field edges.
So far I am happy and these binos are growing on me all the time. I will let you know how they get on when I get a clear sky.
-NairB
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Strathspey 15x70's FMC - Amazing cheap bino for the price. Bright, natural color/contrast, sharp, and well collimated. Best for Daytime viewing
Celestron Skymaster 15x70's MC - Field of view has a Smoky/Brown tint making them less bright during daytime viewing BUT this doesn't seem to affect night time viewing...Testing against the Strath's continues!!!
Oberwerk Lightweight 20x80mm FMC - Arrived - Had to collimate them. Undergoing tests.
Edited by NairB (05/22/08 08:29 PM)
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CESDewar
GorillAstronomer
Reged: 01/16/05
Posts: 1692
Loc: Morganton, GA, USA
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Congratulations on the re-alignment effort which sounds like it was a success! Yes, the Oberwerk binoculars are not that difficult to re-align, and assuming they were reasonably well collimated in the first place and the prisms just took a knock, there's a good chance you'll be ok.
Many years ago I got the Oberwerk 25x100 IF's and had the same problem, but I found it trivially simple to realign the two barrels and they now have excellent performance.
Cconditional alignment and collimation are two different things. As I understand it, conditional alignment just means that the two barrels are in agreement with each other optically, although the collimation could still be off (think of two barrels skewed a bit, but at least they both agree with each other and are skewed the same amount in the same direction).
Looking forwards to seeing your first report on clear skies. I think these binoculars are a superb value and I'll be interested to see your reaction to them!
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