25 replies to this topic

[ThomasM]

Today the APM 70 mm 90 degree bino arrived:

 

 

 

Luckily I could do a very first test under the sky (city center) with Panoptic 24 mm and Morpheus 12,5 mm eyepieces, Aquila, Lyra and the central region of Cygnus.

 

A lot of fun with the large field of view.

 

Thomas

Edited by ThomasM, 23 November 2017 - 03:10 PM.

[Astroman007]

Lucky guy! I will soon be getting larger binos too, but not fancy ones like yours. I am sure you will have lots of fun with your new addition.

 

Wishing you lots of fun and a clear dark sky,

 

Martin.

 

P.S.: Oh, now there's a picture! Simply beautiful...looks like those will last a lifetime (hopefully you will decide to keep them that long).

Edited by Astroman007, 23 November 2017 - 03:16 PM.

[Mark9473]

Congrats. What mount do you have it on? 

[ThomasM]

Congrats. What mount do you have it on? 

It is a VAMO traveler from AOK swiss, very lightweight (1.3 kg) on a Rollei rock solid carbon beta tripod.. I have to see if it is the right combination, if it is well balanced with havy eypieces.

 

Thomas

[Mark9473]

That's what I was guessing, actually, but I was on my phone earlier and couldn't get a good look of your picture.

Does the L-bracket slide up and down for vertical balancing, or is it the stock AOK adapter that has a short dovetail at the end?

[Mark9473]

One other question, and it's a bit of a strange one...

 

In the pictures on the APM website of the 70mm and 82mm 90° versions, the back end looks, sort of, well ... ugly, to me.

It doesn't have the elegance of the front half of the instrument.

What's your impression on the looks?

[ThomasM]

That's what I was guessing, actually, but I was on my phone earlier and couldn't get a good look of your picture.

Does the L-bracket slide up and down for vertical balancing, or is it the stock AOK adapter that has a short dovetail at the end?

I not sure if I understand your question correctly. I bought the L-adapter from AOK , it has a short dovetail at the end, but the length can be adapted.

 

Thomas

 

p.s. I think it looks o.k., may be not a buty like a Leica trinovid binocular but, not ugly

[Mark9473]

Aah that's good to know, I thought the short dovetail was at a fixed location and could not be shifted along the length of the L-bracket. Thanks!

[ThomasM]

Aah that's good to know, I thought the short dovetail was at a fixed location and could not be shifted along the length of the L-bracket. Thanks!

I should say that it is a standard L-bracket ('Feldsteckerhalterung') and it turned out that it is not well balanced and sufficiently stable. I will replace it with a stronger one.

 

So far I have a very good impression from the instrument, well machined mechanics. I could check the optics during daytime with Morpheus eyepieces wich 12,5,mm,  9 mm, 6,5 mm and 4.5 mm focal length and could not detect any misscollimation.

 

A small surprise, total mass 4.3 kg instead of 3.6 kg specified.

 

I will update my impressions from time to time.

 

Thomas

[Mark9473]

That's quite a weight increase. They were originally announced at 3.0 kg.

[Pinac]

The 45 degree version is at roughly 3.0 kg (without eyepieces), so why would the 90 degree version be so much heavier? Most of that additional weight would be in the back part, I guess.

[ThomasM]

The 45 degree version is at roughly 3.0 kg (without eyepieces), so why would the 90 degree version be so much heavier? Most of that additional weight would be in the back part, I guess.

I just checked the APM webpage, they changed the specs, now it is listed with 4.4 kg, this is 1.4 kg more than the 45 degree version.

[Pinac]

The 45 degree version is quite nicely balanced, so I guess the 90 degree version would be heavier on the backside (the 82mm 45 degree version in contrast is distinctly front-heavy) ?

[ThomasM]

The 45 degree version is quite nicely balanced, so I guess the 90 degree version would be heavier on the backside (the 82mm 45 degree version in contrast is distinctly front-heavy) ?

At  the moment  I  am traveling and I  will check that when I am  back  home.

[ThomasM]

The 45 degree version is quite nicely balanced, so I guess the 90 degree version would be heavier on the backside (the 82mm 45 degree version in contrast is distinctly front-heavy) ?

The binocular is well balanced with respect to the lower support for fixing it on a mount. If you carry it with the handle it feels heavier on the back side. In practice the first aspect is more important, so I would conclude that it is well constructed.

What is not so obvous for me, why  does the 90 degree model needs  1.4 kg more mass.  What about the larger ones, the 82, 100, 120 mm binoculars. Do they show the same mass difference?

[Mad Matt]

IIRC the amici prisms for the 90* version have about twice the volume of the 45* Schmidt prisms. There is also considerably more material need for the housing. Probably adds up quicker then one thinks

[Rich V.]

The Schmidt folds the light path more compactly with its two more reflections.  The Amici needs a bigger chunk of glass.

 

Rich

 

 

 

 

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[ThomasM]

The Schmidt folds the light path more compactly with its two more reflections.  The Amici needs a bigger chunk of glass.

 

Rich

Thanks for the nice figures. I think the additional glass can  account for a few hunderd gramm. What puzzles is that the difference in mass between 45 and 90 degree versions is much bigger for the 70 mm than for the larger ones. According to the APM webpage the difference for the 120 mm is only 0.6 kg, while for the 70 mm it is 1.4 kg. Have anyone checket the weight of the 120 mm 90 degree?

[MB_PL]

The 90 deg 120 mm weighs 9.7 kg.
Clear skies

[ThomasM]

The 90 deg 120 mm weighs 9.7 kg.
Clear skies

thanks for the information. Meanwhile the 'mystery' is solved: AMP has corrected the specs for the 70 and 82 mm binoculars.

 

 

https://www.cloudyni...s/#entry8251146

 

Now the difference in weight between 45 and 90 degree versions is only 0.6 kg, this makes much more sense than 1.4 kg. It seems that the new 45 degree version is significantly heavier than the first ones.

 

Thomas

[Mr. Bill]

My APM 45 70mms weigh in at 3.84 kg (8 lbs 7.5oz)

 

Current ad copy on APM website says 3.5 kg.

 

Edited by Mr. Bill, 04 December 2017 - 04:45 PM.

[faackanders2]

When do you anticipate first light?

[ThomasM]

When do you anticipate first light?

I had already first light, it was only a short period when the sky cleared up (starting post).  I was using panoptic 24 mm and morpheus 12.5 mm eyepieces giving 17x and 32x magnification. The view was very impressive, Lyra and Cygnus, but from the city center. So far I had no change testing under a dark rual sky.

[ThomasM]

When do you anticipate first light?

 

 

 

 

Yesterday the sky cleared up and I got a chance looking at M42, very nice at 32x and 62x with the Morpheus eyepieces.  Meanwhile I improved the stability of the set-up, the standard L-bracket was too weak and I constructed a stiffer one from aluminum profiles.

 

Thomas

Edited by ThomasM, 09 December 2017 - 03:11 PM.

[ThomasM]

 

When do you anticipate first light?