Yet another pair of 'ALDI' binoculars!

I can confirm my subscription to the Aldi/Lidl binocular club (and telescope club too :roll: ). I have a pair of the Meade 10x50's which I find great for terrestrial and astronomical work. Haven't tried any of the other types - one pair is enough for me Leo

Aldi - bringing the heavens closer to Ireland :lol:

I fear that I'm turning into a binocular freak!

You are not the only one. I now have
Bresser 10X50
meade 10X50
a pair of 16X50 quite old
Barska 20X80
8X21
10X25
an obscure pair of ??X60

I must agree with you though I have had a look through a few pairs of the 10-30X60 that aldi were offering, they really do not stack up against the lidl 10X50's at all. One set even managed to turn the moon egg shaped at anything over about X20

From Terry:

Hi all,

I've now had a quick check of the Bresser 10x50 binocs on sale from today in LIDL at £13.99. They seem to be essentially the same as the excellent Meades which were on sale last year, and in fact on the base of the box it says "Meade Instruments Europe". Not to mention the fact that, although the instruction leaflet says "Bresser" on the outside, inside it refers to "your Meade binoculars"!
The service address & telephone number is in the UK, but the email address is Meade in Germany.

Here's the spec:

BAK 4 porro prisms
Field of view 6.5 deg, or 114m @ 1000m. (fine for 10x50s)
Fully coated lenses (blue) (but not 'fully multi-coated')
Long Eye Relief (16mm) Eyepieces
Twist up eye cups
Dioptre compensation on right eyepiece (i.e. separate adjustment if your eyes have different foci)
Tripod adaptor socket at front (for 'L-shaped' adaptors)
Metal body, rubber armoured, black.
Large central knurled focus wheel.
Nylon carry bag, strap.
Caps for all lenses; the ones for the eyepieces are joined together so you're less likely to lose one.
The instructions are clear and in perfect English!
5 year guarantee.

COMMENTS:
They seem robust & mechanically sound.
A quick look shows a bright well-illuminated field, with very little fall-off at the edges.
Distant objects were clear & sharp.
There seems to be only very slight field-curvature, certainly nothing to worry about.
The prisms seem to be full-size - no squaring-off of the exit pupils.
Focussing is smooth & easy, with no tendency to shift when the binoculars are held upright, nor if you press your eyes against the eyecups.
Internally they are well baffled and blackened, but there are two blobs of white 'glue' at the base of the prisms on each side. The front sections can be unscrewed, so if you were really fussy you could very carefully blacken those with a black marker pen, but I doubt if it's really necessary. (If you do, let the marker dry thoroughly & then ventilate them well to let all fumes escape before you seal them up again; the fumes might affect the coatings. In fact there's a very slight chance that the chemicals in the marker could affect the glue, though I doubt it.)

Venus & Mars in twilight showed clean images without flaring. A quick star-test, which is of course the important one, showed sharp point images over almost the whole field of view! They certainly seem excellent value for money! I have to admit that I have bought a pair - even though I already have Zeiss 10x50s, and a pair of the Meade 10x50s from last year....

Well, they're only £13.99, and I might lose a pair!

They are not quite Leica standard, but Leica 10x50s would cost you about forty (40) times as much!

Clear skies,

Terry Moseley

just shelled out on a pair of 22x100mm Oberwerks (from Strathspey) . . . now all we need is clear skies

seriously though, I've been using the 20x60mm Helios binoculars since 1989 and they are really good. Lots of deep sky stuff along with touring the Moon, cleanly seeing the rings of Saturn separate from the planet (when wide-open), and much more besides (no Seanie, not the neighbours).

however, it was time to upgrade to really see what big binocs can do. I looked at lots of models (and had a budget to keep to) but the best source of good info was the binoculars forum on www.cloudynights.com . The site has a "sticky" with links to loads of binocular reviews. The Oberwerks rate about 8 out of 10 and although the 25x100mm Celestron Skymasters have a slightly higher mag, I thought the slightly better exit pupil (objective diameter in mm divided by magnification) was good. Oberwerks have a good name too.

haven't got them yet but am constantly peering out the window whenever I hear a vehicle pulling in to the office car park!

atb,

John

You should have a blast with those. Enjoy

seriously though, I've been using the 20x60mm Helios binoculars since 1989 and they are really good. Lots of deep sky stuff along with touring the Moon, cleanly seeing the rings of Saturn separate from the planet (when wide-open), and much more besides (no Seanie, not the neighbours).

I'm sayin nuthin'...

John, you forgot aurorae!