Binocular Reviews | Binoculars and Telescopes for Birdwatchers and Astronomers

Ostara 2″ 32mm SWA eyepiece OS334722

Posted on October 14, 2016 by Reviewer

The 70 degree Ostara 2″ 32mm SWA eyepiece is ideal for those wanting a high quality yet low cost solution for great wide field views of the heavens. A fully multi-coated 5 element lens assembly with great internal baffling gives a wide, bright view with good contrast.

The soft fold down eye cup is very comfortable. This can be folded down for spectacle wearers, but there is really any need to do this as the eye relief is very long

The eyepieces comes in a nice gloss black finish on the outside and blackened internals to keep down reflections. Comes threaded to accept 2″ filters

Just as some examples, you will get the magnifications shown below with telescopes used as examples

Skywatcher 150 f5 Newtonian 23.5x
Skywatcher 10″ dobsonian 37.5x
Celestron 8″ SCT 46.9x (with 2″ focuser)

Click HERE to buy

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Skywatcher star adventurer min WIFI (SAM) 50202, 50203, 50205

Posted on October 13, 2016 by Reviewer

Get great deep sky long exposure photos with the new Skywatcher adventurer min. With a 3kg pay load capacity it is perfect for DSLR cameras with a standard lens upto 55mm. This means you will be able to get amazing wide field images of the night sky

Also has a time lapse setting for day and night use. With the free WIFI app, you can get control direct from your Android and iOS platforms

Complete with 1/4 and 3/8 tripod connections for use with most tripods. We recommend using as sturdy a tripod as budget will allow

Powered by 2x AA batteries or external source. Polar scope and illuminator included with the full bundle. Camera, tripod and 1kg counterweight extra

Click HERE to buy

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Helios Nitrosport 12×50 binoculars 30221

Posted on October 11, 2016 by Reviewer

Designed for long distance terrestrial use, the Helios Nitrosport 12×50 binoculars offer sensible 12x magnification in a quality waterproof body. Despite the high power, they also offer a reasonable 86m @ 1000m field of view.

These are a perfect solution for spotting wildlife on the far side of lakes or up mountains for example. Also great for plane and ship spotting. Unlike some 12x binoculars, eye relief remains good at 16mm for spectacle wearers.

If out in the field in all weather, you can relax knowing they are waterproof to IPX standard. In other words 1.5m for 30 minutes. At just under 800g they should be easy to hand hold for most people.

Despite the low cost, there is no cutting corners with the specs. Fully multi-coated optics with phase coated BaK-4 prisms

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Skywatcher USB to serial connector (RS232) cable 20308

Posted on October 11, 2016 by Reviewer

The Skywatcher USB to serial connector connects to the SynScan handset firmware update cable allowing connection to a USB port on a laptop. Length is 1.5 metres. Compliant with USB 1.1 and windows operating systems XP, 7,8,10. Driver may need to be downloaded for windows 32 and 64 bit

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Celestron RSR binocular tripod adaptor 82030

Posted on October 10, 2016 by Reviewer

The Celestron RSR adaptor allows you to fit a red dot finder such as the celestron starpointer and starpointer-pro to many binoculars. A no tool set up for ease of use. All you need to so it align the RDF as you would do on a telescope.

With many higher power binoculars with narrower field of views compared with wide field optics, finding a target in the night sky may be a challenge. This adaptor will make finding such objects a breeze, Leaving to to spend more time observing and less time searching.

But do not just think think is only for mounting a RDF. It also acts as a sturdy tripod adaptor for porro prism binoculars. Comes in a black finish, so it will blend in with your binoculars and red dot finder

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Celestron ExplorerScope 80AZ telescope 22102

Posted on October 10, 2016 by Reviewer

The Celestron ExploraScope 80AZ is a great starter telescope for the beginner. The mount seems to be an evolution of the powerseeker AZ range with a slow motion rod along the side.

At the time of this overview the focal length is not mentioned. But I would estimate 7-800mm, making it an f8-10. The longer focal length will make it ideal for planetary use. Designed for long distance terrestrial and astronomical use. Complete with what looks like 2 budget eyepieces and a barlow. All of these can be changed for plossls, that will give a much better view. A red dot finder is also included

Celestron are going against the mould a little here with a green finish. But this will make it less loud if used for wildlife watching. The complete mount is a new look compared to existing Celestron AZ mounts

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Helios Lightquest-HR 10×50 binoculars overview 30141

Posted on October 5, 2016 by Reviewer

An 8 elements in 5 groups eyepiece lens assembly is just one standout feature of the new Helios Lightquest-HR 10×50 binoculars. This ensures edge to edge quality with comfortable viewing with or without spectacles on.

Another clever addition is caged shock proof prisms that should absorb many knocks and bumps. Exception optics that are housed in an almost retro designed body. But although the style looks old fashioned, there is nothing old about the magnesium alloy body with a soft leatherette outer

As standard these are nitrogen waterproofed to IPX& standard, meaning not only will they keep out the damp, they are also waterproof for a depth of 1 metre for 30 minutes

These binoculars are aimed for mid to long range use. But in particular low light oberving and wide field astronomy. At 1320g these are no lightweights. But that is due to the solid construction built to last. If you do find them too heavy to hand hold, they do come with a sturdy tripod adaptor as standard

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North Lincolnshire astronomy society meeting. October 2016

Posted on October 3, 2016 by Reviewer

The North Lincs astro society were delighted to welcome 2 guests who had travelled all the way from Preston to visit our club. While most members stayed indoors attending the AGM, our two special guests were kept occupied outside with some delightful views of many astronomical targets.

Paul Cotton set up his 12 inch flextube Dobsonian , and Solar telescope. Nigel Pennington from Northern Optics (Lincolnshire optics) had his Helios 25×100 binoculars.

Early low down targets were the Sun, Moon, Saturn, Mars and Venus. As the cloud cleared, we got delightful views of Nebula, open clusters, globular clusters, double stars and the Andromeda Galaxy

And to cap it all off, against the odds the clouds cleared enough to see a fleeting glimpse of the ISS

Thank you to the Lincolnshire wildlife trust for the use of the venue, and Glenys for help with the teas and refreshments

Image shown, courtesy Paul Cotton

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Ostara Elinor 12×50 binoculars for birdwatching

Posted on October 3, 2016 by Reviewer

So are the 12×50 Ostara Elinor binoculars suitable for bird watching. I would normally recommend for plane / ship spotting or long distance terrestrial. But recently a customer came to the Northern Optics weekend display at Barton Upon Humber, North Lincolnshire looking for a high quality set of porro prism binoculars for bird watching.

He liked the porro prism design due them feeling right in the hands. After trying a few sets, including 10x50s and 8.5x42s, they opted for the Ostara Elinor 12×50 binoculars. Despite the others giving the bigger picture, the 12×50 Elinors gave a field of view that was more than adequate, and allowed better views of distant targets

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Skywatcher Nirvana 28mm 2″ eyepiece. Dimensions and specs 20222

Posted on September 20, 2016 by Reviewer

The Skywatcher Nirvana 28mm 2″ (50.8mm) is designed to give stunning picture window 82 degrees (apparent) field of view. 2″ fitting only. Lens construction is 6 elements in 4 groups. Optics are fully multi-coated

Excellent blackened internal baffling to increase contrast and reduce glare

Dimensions 137 x 75mm with twist eye cup out. Weight 1kg . With the heavy weight in mind, make sure your telescope and mount can accommodate

Now discontinued. More Skywatcher eyepieces available Northern Optics

North Lincs astro society

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