Binoculars

I already own a pair of 25x100 binoculars and am on the lookout for a smaller pair, two that have caught my eye, no pun intended are Nikon 7x50s and Oberwerk 8x56s.

I am throwing myself at the feet of the Irish astronomical community, and their vast knowledge , to ask if anyone out there has any experience of either of these makes?

All comments, all clean comments :mrgreen: ,are most welcome.

Thanks

Paul

I already own a pair of 25x100 binoculars and am on the lookout for a smaller pair, two that have caught my eye, no pun intended are Nikon 7x50s and Oberwerk 8x56s.
I am throwing myself at the feet of the Irish astronomical community, and their vast knowledge , to ask if anyone out there has any experience of either of these makes?All comments, all clean omments :mrgreen: ,are most welcome.Thanks Paul

Paul, I think Nikon make a few 7x50 models; are you referring to the Nikon Action 7x50 model? While I don't have experience of the 7x50 pair, I've owned a pair of Nikon Action 10x50 Lookout IV binoculars for many years and found them to be very good although I use them less frequently now, tending to favour my Canon 15x50 IS binoculars for handheld use. Build quality is excellent and the smooth rubber armoured finish looks good and is nice to hold. The aspherical lenses are anti-reflective and multi-coated and the prism is a Porro Bak 4 with a perfect round exit pupil. Lens and eyecup caps fit well - not too tight, not too loose. The eye cups fold down if required. Movement in adjusting the inter-pupilliary distance is smooth as is the central focuser and there is a good wide range in diopter adjustment.

The FOV of my 10x50 pair is 6.5 degrees; the 7x50 pair is more or less the same at 6.4 degrees. Eye relief is only fair on mine at 11.8mm but the 7x50 eye relief is a more generous 20mm. Image brightness is good and the view sharp across all but the edge of the FOV. Stars are pinpoint and I can't detect any flaring on bright stars so the coatings are working well. All in all, a nice pair of binoculars at a reasonable price.

Can't help you with the Oberwerk binoculars as I've never tried them.

Hi Paul,
you know, you can't go wrong holding out for a pair of those 'special offer' ones that come out in Aldi and Lidl now and again. I myself have a pair of Aldi's 'Optus' 8-24 X 50's. Very portable, have had them for almost 5 years, and have seen regular use almost weekly. Even after they have been bounced off the pavement a couple of times, they have had no faults.

Mind you, the zoom feature is not the best, and is only good halfway (you don't see much after '18X' magnification), so they really are a pair of 8 to 16 X 50's. And for IR£24 at the time, a real bargain! They have come out every year since.

Lidl have had a similar Meade pair. I don't have them, but many others on these boards who do have said very little, if anything, bad about them.

Seanie.

Lidl have had a similar Meade pair. I don't have them, but many others on these boards who do have said very little, if anything, bad about them.

Both Lidl and Aldi have had some dodgy batches in the past. So be sure to check them out in store.

That said the Meads I have from lidl are the best binos that I have.

Cheers,
~Al