Telescope Reviews: Re: My NEW Bino's !

***DISCLAIMER***
All of the following is IMHO and to be taken with a grain of salt since I just started this hobby in January.
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Well, I've had a couple of days to get used to the Pentax 20x60's. At first I didn't really like them as much as I expected to. They have now grown on me. After reading all the technical stuff on Cloudy Nights about exit pupil, twilight factor and aperature/magnification (Thanks EdZ for organizing the information so nicely) the 15x70's and the 20x60's perform exactly as one would expect.

The big differences were:

1) Contrast with the 20'60's 3mm exit pupil and the 15x70's at 4.7mm. Darker sky and brighter stars. The nod going to the 20x60's.

2) Ergonomics. The 15x70's are just alot easier to look through with shorter 16mm eye relief and bigger exit pupil and softer, flexible eyecups. The eyecups on the 20x60's are hard and either retracted or fully extended...no wiggle room. Although the Obie's are listed as 49.6 oz and the Pentax at 45.1 oz, I'd swear that the 20x60's were heavier. The nod goes to the 15x70's.

3) FOV. Not much contest here. Larger image scale couldn't come close to making up for the narrow FOV of the 20x60's. The images on the 20x60's were sharp right up to the edge though while the 15x70's distort near the edge. Once again the nod goes to the 15x70's.

4) Resolution. M44 looks much more populated through the 20x60's and M13 forms a 'harder' image while in the 15x70's M13 was a softer fuzzier image. The moon shows more detail and contrast through the 20x60's. The Jovian moons are sharper as well. This definately goes to the 20x60's. Neither set did very well on Venus which looked like a stubby little comet.

There you have it. 2 to 2....tie score.

If I were stranded on a desert isle and I had to pick one or the other as my only binoculars.....the Oberwerk 15x70's just 'cause their easier to look through and hold. Actually since the Pentaxs' are waterproof/fogproof in REALITY I'd pick them, but not in our hypothetical model.

The Obies are glasses for 'looking around' and the Pentax's are glasses for 'looking at something'. That distinction might not make much sense, but I spend alot of time just noodling around in the sky as opposed to looking at, say, M13. Once you find what you're looking for, the views are nicer on small objects through the 20x60's. Both are very fine binoculars.

As I look at the numbers above, it leads me to one conclusion...I REALLY want to see what the views through 20x80's look like !!!

Sorry for babbling,
Eric

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