Telescope Reviews: Oberwerk 9x60mm or 11x56mm decision..

I hated to return the Barska 15x60 Cosmos, but it didn't work out for me. As jaybird pointed out these were the ones reviewed on Holger Merlitz. I was pleased with that. His review nails it very well indeed. Can't add much to his technical review. They are very well made binocs, but bulky as mentioned.

94bamf your observation about the difficulties focusing the individual eps is a truth. While holding these binocs with both hands was ok for brief periods (not too shaky) trying to hold it with one hand while trying to focus in was too much. Don't even bother trying it at night unless there is a tripod available.

The weight of the binocs weren't too bad on the arms as much as the irritation on the bridge of the nose and eye area. Having that part of your face being subjected to that weight, along with the rubbing on the ep from focus was too much. It helped a little to fold down the eyeguards, but still got irritating when viewing at the sky, a good chunk of that weight on your face..

As for the views themselves...well these were the most powerful binocs I had ever tried, and putting them side by side with 8x40s and 10x50s certainly showed the difference. But handling these weren't worth the extra boost. They do show the night sky very well, and if I didn't already own a Dob I'd have proabably kept them and got a tripod. I could make out DSOs very easily and the starfield was VERY bright indeed. I liked what I saw.

But since I don't have to have the big glass to view up close they aren't worth the effort for me. I was hoping they would be a little easier to deal with, but I knew I was taking a shot. As for something to grab and go with on cloudy nights they were a tad too ovewhelming. But I did like them. They felt good, quality was there, I might buy another pair down the line when I'm ready to invest in a tripod. Like I said I really hated to part with them, but I knew they weren't fitting the bill at this time for my needs.

I must also say that my pair never seemed to want to get to a point where I felt they were in perfect focus. I could get close, but it always seemed a tad off. Maybe its just the Gemini in me but I just couldn't get settled. It might have been slightly out of collimation from my testing, but since I was still trying them out and starting to lean towards returning them... I didn't dare try to open it up to adjust them.

Having had some good experiences with my mom's Alpen 8x40 I decided to go with that size, exchanged for a pair of Pentax 8x40 WPII. I liked the idea that you can lock the focus wheel so I can look up without worrying about knocking it out of focus as I view the skies.

I'll update a little bit on my experience with that soon.