18 replies to this topic

[John Kocijanski]

May pick up a pair for astro and terrestrial viewing. Looking to spend around $300. Suggestions? Celestron Ultimas seem to get high praise.

[Joe Ogiba]

Here is an interesting pair of 10x50's.

[Alby]

John;

Pentax PCF WP II 10x50........sweet!

http://www.pentaxcan...wpII_series.php

Alby

[BarrySimon615]

I have owned and tried many of the moderately priced 10x50 binoculars including the Nikon Action Extreme 10x50 and the Pentax PCF V and PCF WP series. However, for my money, the best pair out there in your price range would be either the Orion Savannah 10x50 or the Leupold Wind River 10x50.

Search for my review posted about a month ago.

Barry Simon

[John Kocijanski]

Search for my review posted about a month ago.

Thanks. I saw that. The Orions are on my list.

[John Kocijanski]

Anyone know anything about Vixen Geomas or Celestron Nobles?

[HfxObserver]

I'm glad you asked about the Geoma's
I think I'm the only one on here who actually purchased a pair, though, the 7X50's not the 10X50's. From what I can tell these are the same as the older Celestron Ultimas, the 7X50 Ultima is unavailable so I went with the Geomas. If you can get the Celestron 10X50 for less then the Geoma, I'd be more tempted to go that way.

The Key here is to ensure that if you wear glasses that you have enough eye-relief. But you probably already know that.

In my experience both the Geoma 7X50 and Celestron Ultima 10X50, which I've compared side by side, both have adequate eye relief.

I really like both these binos and find they provide excellent optical quality and are lighter then many competing models.

-Chris

[Mark9473]

I would seriously consider saving some more money and putting it into a pair of the Fujinon FMT-SX 10x50.

...and I would just add that daytime viewing with binoculars having individual eyepiece focussing is not for everybody. In fact I consider it not for everybody even for astronomical use.

[blandp11]

I agree - I've had my pair of Celesron Ultima 10X50's since 1996 and love 'em. I use them with my glasses, with the rubber eyeguard rolled down, with no problems seeing the entire FOV. YMMV.

Philip

Celestron Ultima 10X50, which I've compared side by side, both have adequate eye relief.

[ChrisR]

The Celestron Nobles are definetly a good buy and will serve you well. You may want to also check out the Minolta Active 10x50 WP-FP. While the Celestron Nobles beat the Minolta's in just about every way a bino can. The Minolta is definently a good solid performer at $215.00 and definently worth a look if your are on a budget.

[NorthCoast]

I picked up a pair of the Oberwerk Mariner 10x60s. These are excellent IMHO. I would put them on the comparison list with the mentioned above: Orion Savannah, Pentax PCF, Nikon AE, Leupold Wind River and even Fujinon. It should at least get a mention...

Later,
Mark

[photonovore]

If you're after premium optical qulaity at a good cost/value with some class appeal, try looking for some 10x50 East German Zeiss binos? When I lived in Germany in the 80's, before the wall fell, practically every person I knew who travelled to East Berlin picked up a pair. Couldn't afford not to really... They were the same design as produced in the war years, came with the same hardcase. Get a pair that was picked up by a GI before the wall fell and they're even branded "Zeiss".

Funny part (and illustrative to me of what actually drives pricing in binoculars--which places optical quality a distant second to brand appeal) was that the West Germans also had their Zeiss factory, of course. Their products were more modernized, as far as style went anyway. But what struck me was not the optical differences between West & East Zeiss examples of the unbiquitous 7x50 (there wasn't any), but the difference in price--the Western Zeiss were marketed at many hundreds of dollars; the Eastern, well, a pair of 7x50's would set you back about 30$US! Obviously the communists had no understanding of marketing.... Of course *now* these same East German "Jena" binos also go for a couple of hundred or more *used* on ebay & elsewhere... funny how that works out isn't it? Yet they are still worth it, I suppose, when the 'good son's' Zeiss' go for many hundreds more. Must be that 30$ heritage...

[ngc6475]

Check out the Links section of this forum. Dr. Holger Merlitz reviews many European binoculars of older design on his site, including Jenoptems. It would be important to be aware that these venerable binoculars, although they possessed fine optics, had rather short eye relief. That is an important buying consideration if you wear eyeglasses.

[John Kocijanski]

I went to Highpoint Scientific today and tried out some binos. The Celstron Nobles were first on my list but they did not have 10x50s in stock. I tried the Pentax, Vixen, and Ultimas. The Ultimas and Vixen Geomas were sharper than the Pentax. I went with the Ultimas since it has a lifetime warranty and the Vixen is only five years. They are essentially the same bino and were equally as sharp. The only Ultimas they had though were the ones they had on the floor. I took them for a demo price of $175. They go for $239 new.

[John Kocijanski]

I just got in from a session with my new binos. The sky was very hazy except for overhead. I mounted the Ultimas on my Bogen 3026 tripod using my Microstar. I picked up an L adapter for the binos. I can use my PST mounting plate flipped upside down to mount the L adapter. The Microstar works nicely as a panning plateform for the binos. I was able to pick up M13, M11, M22, M8, M27, and M39. I also split Albireo.

[John Kocijanski]

I gave the Ultimas a go today on a group of Wood Ducks in a local pond. The view was clear and sharp with nice detail. They were about 40 yards away from me.