Telescope Reviews: mini -review Captain's Helmsman 7 x 50

I suppose that it is time to resurrect this thread. No need to change the title since now I've got a Captain's Helmsman 7X50 and can write my own mini-review.

My first impression, at the post office, was: "Sheesh, that's a big box for a pair of binos!" I suppose that it should have been: "Thank goodness that the box doesn't look all smashed up." Even if it had been, I suspect that the binos would have arrived in good condition. In addition to my new binos, I am now the proud owner of about a thousand pieces of ghost poop.

The binos themselves fully live up to the very high expectations that I developed from Kenny's review. They are big and heavy, but appear to be very well made, and the view is terrific!

In daytime use, they are bright, sharp and the depth of field is very impressive. I don't use binos with my eyeglasses on, but I tried them that way. The viewing was much more comfortable than any other binos I've tried this way and I could almost see the field stops. I might see if I can get used to it -- it would be nice not to have to keep taking my glasses off and then putting them on to read the charts.

Although the viewing conditions were mediocre, as soon as it got dark I took them up to the top of my dark hill. I brought my so-so Minolta 10X50 and my Fujinon 16X70 along too, with intentions of doing some comparisons for the Forum. Fat chance! I had so much fun with my new toy, hand-held and mounted, that I never took the others out of their cases. For that matter, I also never took my charts out of their case. I just played galactic tourist.

Based upon memory, not side by side comparison, my general impression is that the sharpness and edge performance are every bit as good as my Fujis. I've not had 7X before. Its nice to be able to hand-hold binos without being frustrated by dancing stars -- or at least, they don't dance around too much. With the 7.0 degree FoV I was almost able to fit all of the 6 major Lyra stars into view at the same time.

Of course, that FoV comes with a pricetag of low magnification. Mounted (on my Couch Potato Telescope), I wasn't able to see M57 (Ring Nebula) but it felt like it was just barely out of reach. Maybe with a darker sky I'll see that speck of fluff. I was able to split Albireo, but just barely. M13 (Hercules Cluster) was easy; M92 was barely there. For the most part, I would say that the strength of these binos is in looking at starfields and context, not individual objects.

The inexpertly-translated literature that came with them assures users that they are waterproof and have been tested to a depth of 3 metres. That being so, I wonder why they ship them with one of those little packets of silica gel.

Bill Cook has been very coy about telling us where these are made, and it doesn't say on the binos, on their box, or in the instruction sheet. Perhaps its a major trade secret. But I might have found a clue on the plastic bag that they were wrapped in. In addition to the English warning not to use the bag as a baby toy, the bag said: "ACHTUNG - DIESER BEUTEL IST KEIN SPIELZEIG." Of course, after testing them Bill might have just grabbed any bag that was handy, or he might have noticed that they were going to be shipped to me and purposely used that bag as a red herring knowing that I was likely to share this tidbit with everyone here.

The bottom line is that they are great binos and I'm really glad I got them.

I'm traveling to Central BC and Washington State for a brief vacation tomorrow, where the air may be dry and the skies may be dark. I should have more to add when I get back.

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Bill

Oberwerk 25X100IF; Garrett Signature 15X70
Captain's Helmsman 7X50; Minolta 10X50
Pentax Papilio 6.5X21
Couch Potato Binocular Mount
Manfrotto 503 mount / Acuter tripod (Gitzo clone)
Vixen fork mount / Manfroto 3246 tripod
William Optics Zenithstar 80