Telescope Reviews: Celestron Regal LX 8 x 42 Roof First Light

First I would like to say a) I am stunned b) I need to give Celestron credit for selling a fine binocular.

I know that these roof prism binoculars were NOT intended primarily for the astronomy market but rather birding. With the close focus capability ( approx. 6 feet) fully multicoated with phase coating for proper color rendition; they do have excellent features for the avid birder.
However there are features that translate to binocular astronomer as well as terrestrial viewing. These features include a remarkable ability to PINPOINT stars out to 90- 95% of the field of view. The field of view is narrow for a 8x binocular ( approximately 6.5 deg.) but it is virtually ALL useable. Contrast, in my opinion ,was excellent, especially for such a large exit pupil ( over 5mm ). It subjectively has been my experience to have a darker background with smaller exit pupils.

Eye relief in excess of 20mm so I had to fully extend the pull up hard eyecups to prevent blackouts. These would be excellent for eyeglass wearers.

The right diopter adjustment is a definitive click stop affair that is hard to turn but it stays put even when you lower the cups to the fully depressed position and then raise them again.

On the negative side for me , these are really small, narrow binoculars ( of course they are my only roofs). I have large hands and even the OB 15 x 70s do not seem large handholding although I can't keep them steady for long.
I only handheld last night although I removed the cover over the tripod adapter very easily. It is narrow between there for my IPD, but I have a tall narrow Orion adapter that should work fine.

Compared to my Nikon 10 x35 E2s, the Regals had slightly greater pinpoint viewing diameter and I saw more stars. Due to the wider porro design of the Nikons, I was able to get a steadier view with them even though they are 10x rather than the 8x of the Celestrons.

On the moon, very very slight color around the edges of the moon but not bothersome. This was on a virtually full moon.

I did not take out my 25 x 100 Garretts since all this was hand held but compared to the OB 15 x 70, I saw less magnitude of stars ( of course giving up 28mm of aperature) but the much greater field of view made up for it.

I can't wait for a clear new moon night to put them on my small SLIK tripod for a steadier view.

In closing, in this forum we do not hear much praise for the Orions and Celestrons of the world, but in this case Celestron deserves a hearty pat on the back for bringing bino lovers an excellent product. At a close out price from binoculars.com of $255.00, I feel I more than received my monies worth.

Ken

Edited by kray (07/19/08 06:19 PM)