Binocular Reviews | Binoculars and Telescopes for Birdwatchers and Astronomers

Ostara Elinor 10×50 binoculars OS331493. Ideal for hand held astronomy

Posted on July 4, 2016 by Reviewer

A customer came to the Northern Optics weekend outlet at Barton Upon Humber looking for a set of portable binoculars suitable for astronomy, and would compliment their two large astronomical telescopes.

After looking through a few sets in the 7×50, 8×56, 10×50, 12×60 and 15×70, he opted for the popular Ostara Elinor 10×50 binoculars.

There were two main reasons for this. They felt comfortable to hold and light enough to hold them steady. But the thing that did it was the quality of optics. He said they gave a much sharper image with higher contrast than the others. This is a high priority for quality wide field views of astronomical targets

As always at the Waters` Edge centre outlet, you get a chance to try before you buy. You can not do this on-line

Posted in Ostara Binoculars Reviews | Tagged 10x50, elinor, ostara | Comments Off

Helios Mistral WP6 10x42ED binoculars review 30956

Posted on June 14, 2016 by Reviewer

A customer came to the Northern Optics weekend outlet looking for an upgrade to his Celestron 8×32 binoculars that they had bought from us.

Ideally he wanted a set of high quality 10x42s. Luckily we had a good choice of the new Helios Mistral WP6 range in stock to try. After trying a few sets, he opted for the Helios Mistral 10x42ED. Although the 8x42ED gave a brighter image, the 10x magnification outweighed this. Compared to the non ED models , the 10x42ED gave no false colour fringing in the centre of view. This is a must have optical quality for the discerning birdwatcher.

From our point of view Helios have once again come up with great value for money ED optics without sacrificing quality. No these will not compete with outstanding ED binoculars such as the Hawke Frontier ED models, but then these are half the price

Handling is excellent with a large focus wheel that extremely smooth in operation. This has been highlighted in other reviews I have seen.

Available to purchase HERE

Posted in Helios Binocular Reviews | Tagged 10x42, ED, helios, mistral | Comments Off

North Lincs astro meeting. 6th June 2016

Posted on June 13, 2016 by Reviewer

The North Lincs astronomy society had around 20 turn up for the 6th June 2016 meeting at Far Ings nature reserve. Also 4 fresh faces came along to try the club for the first time.

The talk today was by Paul Cotton on Solar imaging. Before had, he set up his solar telescope to take some images with a CCD camera. Once we were all ready he took us all through the steps on imaging from the start. This included showing us his telescope set up.

Paul then very kindly loaded the data into his laptop and gave us a step by step guide on how to process the image using 3 different software programs. The detail that emerged as we watched was breathtaking , and no doubt gave us all some inspiration to have a go with our own telescopes

Thanks as always to Sarah for the tea,s and the wildlife trust for the use of the venue

Click HERE for more information on the North Lincs astro society

Posted in News and Blog | Tagged north lincs astronomy society | Comments Off

Ostara Elinor 8×45 binoculars OS331479

Posted on May 27, 2016 by Reviewer

If the popular Ostara Elinor 10×50 binoculars are too large for you, the equally impressive Elinor 8×45 are not only a worthy alternative, but better in a couple of ways. For one, they are lighter, and secondly give a picture window 145m @ 1000m field of view.

The larger field of view and impressive optics makes them perfect for general use and birdwatching. But same as the 10×50 version are also ideal for wide field astronomy

Oversized twist eye cups, right eye dioptre adjustment and focuser makes them easy to use even with glasses on. As with all the Elinor range they are as tough as binoculars come, and are backed up with a 30 years warranty

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Skywatcher 1.25″ 8-24mm eyepiece 20149

Posted on May 27, 2016 by Reviewer

The Skywatcher 8-24mm zoom eyepiece is an ideal starter accessory at a sensible price. With a focal length of 8mm – 24mm it will be useful for most situations. It used for astronomy, there will be some loss of light, contrast and a narrower field of view compared like for like with a fixed FL eyepiece of the same setting..But had the advantage of being a single eyepiece rather than changing from one fixed to the next.

I would highly recommend this eyepiece for terrestrial use with short tube refractors such as the Skywatcher short tube 80mm

This eyepiece can also be used in theory for DSLR digiscoping. To do this remove the rubber eye cup to reveal the t-thread. You can then attach a t-ring for use with an SLR camera body. However, depending on the telescope you use, you may need to use with a barlow lens or use a low profile focuser to achieve infinity focus

Posted in Accessories, Eyepieces | Tagged eyepiece, skywatcher | Comments Off

Hawke Endurance PC 10×32 binoculars Ideal for close up work

Posted on April 25, 2016 by Reviewer

A customer came to the Northern Optics outlet looking for a smaller set of binoculars that would compliment his larger set of 10×50.

After trying a few sets, he opted for the Hawke Endurance PC 10×32 binoculars. These have now been discontinued, and this was our last one. However if you are lucky some sellers may still have a few left.

Just the same as so many that have bought these binoculars , the customer was impressed with the handling, optics and value for money. But the thing that impressed him so much was the close focus. This opened up a whole new world of observations like insect life that would not be possible with many binoculars

Posted in Hawke Binocular Reviews | Tagged 10x32, endurance, hawke | Comments Off

Helios Rapide 8×25 monocular 30921 from a customers point of view

Posted on April 11, 2016 by Reviewer

At the Northern Optics weekend display at Barton Upon Humber a customer was looking for a quality compact monocular as a gift idea. After trying a Helios Rapide 8×25 monocular he had no hesitation in purchasing.

There is really no other monocular in this sub £15 price range that offers multi-coated optics and quality build. Also unlike many budget monoculars, they feature twist eye cups and long enough eye relief to be used with spectacles on. Close focus ability is also a major plus point

Posted in Monocular Reviews | Tagged 8x35, helios, monocular, rapide | Comments Off

Hawke Endurance PC 8×32 binoculars HA3942 Customers viewpoint

Posted on April 11, 2016 by Reviewer

A customer came to the Northern Optics weekend display at the Waters` edge visitor centre at Barton Upon Humber looking for a lightweight set of binoculars for general use.

After trying a few sets, she chose the Hawke Endurance 8×32 binoculars. Despite being slightly heavier than hoped for, they ticked all the other boxes. These important factors included great optics, ease of use and being suitable for spectacle wearers.

These are now discontinued, but are still available from a select number of Hawke UK dealerships including ourselves (at the time of this review). The Endurance range offer exceptional optics with superb handling. Not the lightest 32mm binoculars, but this is due to the solid construction and rubber armour

Posted in Hawke Binocular Reviews | Tagged 8x32, binoculars, endurance, hawke | Comments Off

Hibaldstow Astronomy society

Posted on April 10, 2016 by Reviewer

Astronomy society based in North Lincolnshire with a passion for all things space. Meet on the last Wednesday of every month in the Methodist church, Hibaldstow, N.Lincolnshire at 7.15pm

For more information, see their facebook page HERE

Your local telescope and accessory dealer in North Lincolnshire is Northern Optics

Posted in Useful Resources | Tagged hibaldstow | Comments Off

illusion 7×50 WP binocular review. i331349

Posted on April 8, 2016 by Reviewer

After a few enquiries, I though I would give an opinion on the illusion optics WP 7×50 binoculars.

These come in a plain white box with standard spec nylon soft case. But unlike many binoculars they come with a large padded floatation strap.

First thing you will notice is the weight. At 1.2kg they are heavier than your average set of 50mm binoculars, but this is due to the solid construction. So lets have a look through them. First things first, the eye relief is so long there is no need to fold the eye cups down, even with spectacles on !.Remember these are large binoculars, so not suited to small hands.

Optically the large 50mm fully multi-coated optics and BaK-4 prisms give excellent brightness and contrast in all conditions. The 7mm exit pupil makes them suitable for low light / astronomy use as well as everyday use.

They are not close focus, so do not buy if you are looking to use for birds in the back garden. but for longer distances they excel. The large focus wheel is not the most fluid, but saying that the large depth of field means you are not constantly needing to adjust it.

False colour (chromatic aberration) is minimal in the centre and within tolerances on the edge. Nicely blackened edges give virtually no internal reflection which aids contrast.

The 122m @ 1000m field of view is wider than some 7x50s I have tested and makes tracking of moving targets easy

Summing up. If you have larger hands, and do not mind the weight then go for it. You certainly get a lot of binocular and great optics for your money

Click HERE to buy

Posted in illusion | Tagged illusion. 7x50 | Comments Off