Telescope Reviews: JUST FOR GRINS

NcSTAR Full Size Binocular
Model# BL2070G
20x70 Binocular/Blue/Green Lens
Weight 46.8 ozs.
Length 10 inches
Porro prism

Having owned a 20x80mm LightWeight giant astronomy binocular, and having replaced it with a Barska 30x80mm and an Orion 30x80mm, I was looking for something smaller than 80mm and something larger than 60mm, in a 20x.

Since purchasing an Orion 15x70mm LGII, I have become very fond of lightweight 70mm glass and was looking for an inexpensive 70mm bargain, in a higher magnification. The Orion Little Giant II was once also available in a 20x70mm, but, they are difficult to find and not in the inexpensive category.($100 and under)

Originally, I purchased a 30x70mm that I discovered at overstock.com, however, it was returned immediately, as I could not get it to merge the two images into one. Also, the 30x was too much magnification in a lightweight 70mm, for handholding.

After some recent positive postings, on CN, for a couple of NcSTAR binoculars, I went to their website and found the inexpensive 20x70mm advertised with either ruby coatings, or green coatings, I chose the green.

I placed my order with Optics Planet because of the price, $59.oo, and becuse they have an excellent return policy. It turned out that they were out-of-stock and I had to wait a week and a half for the back-order to arrive.

When it comes to ordering giant binoculars I found that shipping via "ground" isn't always the best way to go. I decided to spend the extra $9.75 and had them shipped Priority Mail, thru USPS, and received them within two days of shipping.

It arrived in perfect condition, yesterday afternoon.

At first I thought someone had made a mistake, the NcSTAR box looks like something from Nike or Addias running shoes. Inside the box was a kind of Styrofoam clamshell containing the binocular and accessories.

The carrying case is black cloth, and very soft, with a shoulder strap, but has a strong chemical odor. Also included is a shoestring neck strap

and a tiny lens cloth.

The binocular comes with a very soft, and comfortable, pungent dark blue rubber armor. The prism housing rubber armor is ribbed on the front, sides, and back making it very grippy, and comfortable, for the fingers, hands, and thumbs.

The tubes are also covered with the same soft rubber armor, and I'm thinking that it will provide some degree of comfort and insulation during cold weather months.

The eyepieces have the very same soft rubber in the form of a rainguard, and it will stay in place as long as the IPD is opened up.

The front objective lenses also have caps of the same soft material, and hang down from the front of the binocular when removed. I found that I like this alot, as it makes adjusting the left and right tubes quick and easy, when making the necessary focus adjustment.

The center hinge is stiff but not overly so.

The focus wheel offers just enough resistance to be easy to move and yet permanent once it is set.

The right diopter also seems to have the correct amount of stiffness without being too loose or too tight.

I tried my Universal Astronomics L-shaped tripod adapter and found that, although it fit, it rubbed against the bottom covers of the prism housing, when adjusting the IPD, so, I switched over to my Pentax slim tripod adapter, and after adding an additional rubber washer, for spacing, it worked much better than the UA. (no more rubbing)

So far, my only 'major' complaint is the soft rubber folddown eyecups, which are toooo thick and make it difficult to fold them back, and after they are folded back you can see obvious stress showing through the dark blue colored rubber.

If a person was always wearing eyeglasses, it would probably be easier just to cut the eyecups down as the stress from folding them back would quickly take its toll.

The front objective lenses have a subdued greenish coating, but, at a certain angle to the light this stands out more prominently. In the bright sunlight this coating shows a secondary yellowish tint.

In the shade, or indoors, I can see my face very easily in the front objective lenses. (not good, but, not surprising)

The rear eyepiece lenses have a very nice blue color to them, with no white showing around the edges.

The coatings for both objective lenses and eyepiece lenses are evenly applied, with no obvious flaws.

The exit pupils, at a glance, appear perfectly round, however, upon closer inspection one can see the telltale signs of very faint prism cutoff, especially if the binocular is tilted to the left or to the right. If you watch the exit pupils, while slowly tilting the binocular from side to side, you can pick up the faint outline from the prisms.

Looking through the front lenses, down the tubes, with a small flashlight, it appears that the prisms are uncoated. The baffling seems acceptable enough at this price range.

Daytime use was a very pleasant experience, I was looking at birds, squirrels, airplanes, etc. Everything appeared bright and clear and sharp, and colors appeared natural with no obvious bias.

Handholding this 20x70mm did not prove to be a problem for me, whether I was sitting or standing. It seemed to be nicely balanced in my hands. For those who enjoy chasing airplanes, with binoculars, this definitely produces some very pleasing views at 20x & 70mm.

I was wearing eyeglasses with the eyecups both up and down. Although the Field Of View is smaller with the eyecups up, the central image is still viewable when looking at smaller animals and aircraft at a distance. (obviously I like the freedom of not wearing my eyeglasses, but, I can't get as sharp a focus without them, nonetheless, I enjoy viewing w/o my eyeglasses just as much)

I went out this morning, at 5:00 a.m., because it was cloudy last night. Looking at Jupiter I noticed some ghosting on the planet due to the multi-coated optics, as well as the probable absence of coatings on the prisms. Brighter stars did show more coma, but, overall I do not regret having made the purchase.

Due to a lack of leaves on the trees, at this time of year, I was dealing with more interference from streetlights, and the sunrise started around 5:30 a.m., so the sky was not at its very best for viewing.

From my brief experience with this NcSTAR 20x70mm I'm thinking that the views are clear out to around 65-70%, when stargazing.

I'd recommend this binocular for those people who are always looking for a "reasonable" bargain. Those who ordered the Zhumell 20x80mm for $69, and were happy with their purchase, probably will enjoy the NcSTAR binoculars as well.

If you asked me, "How do they manufacture them so cheap?", I would say that it is more than likely made possible by the use of plastics. I don't think that there is as much metal in these, as in the higher dollar binos.

My Barska 30x80mm X-Trail lightweight giant binocular was my first "JUST FOR GRINS" purchase, but now, I'm thinking that the NcSTAR 20x70mm may very well takes its place, BECAUSE it is lighter, shorter, smaller, and has a better close focus distance (around 60'-65'?).

p.s. I almost forgot, it also has a nifty little compass.

NcSTAR 9x63

Edited by hallelujah (04/08/08 07:42 AM)