just got a chance to use my xmas binos.

too lazy to set up the telescope, so picked up my binos i got for xmas. had a great half hour, the trapezeum looks fantastic, tons of nebulosity visible, wish i wasnt so lazy and set up the scope to look at it. can even see saturn and its rings ( barely) with the binos, can just make out andromeda, and the pliades as always is excellent. moon looks great also. patchy cloud, but luckly i can look through my bathroom at orion, and my bedroom window at leo! didnt think i could have so much fun with binos. guess thats a measure of my ameteurism, the fact that i dismissed binos almost straight away. i now see why people advise ameteurs to start off with binos and move up to a scope. i rarely use the scope to be honest. anyway, the point is, beginners like me, GET BINOCULARS!!!!

Couldn't agree more with the conclusion, Binoculars are the best thing to get a budding amateur. I use my cheap Lidle binos more than my telescope, a lot more! That's one of the reasons I concentrate so much on Binoculars when compiling the what to see in the sky section of the podcast and why I introduced the binocular target of the month section .... trying to spread the gospel of binos!

Bart.

yea, mine are lidl bressier binos! couldnt be happier with them either. compared them to a pair of fuji binos that were 4 times the price and i cant see any difference!

Well said fguihen.
I use my lidil 10x50's ALL the time.
They are the business.


I was in lidl over Christmass and I saw a lady buying the Astronomy book they had on special (a grand beginners book BTY!) - an a pair of the
smaller bino's they had (which were little more than toys)

I walked passed and stopped,
I could'nt help myself,
I went back and politly said I noticed she had the astronomy book
and were the small binos a present?...
Indeed they were for her daughter in college who has a budding interest in astronomy.
I explained I was a member of the SAC (just so she didn't think I was a freek)
and that I had a pair of the 20Euro Bresser 10x50's and that they were
the ones to go for over the 'toy' ones and an excellent beginners choice
that she would use for life.
Well, she was thrilled to bits and very thankfull for the advice as she
didnt want to turn her daughter off with what she got her....
...glad I turned back now....

Nice one Frank!

well done! I dont think id turn back, but i wouldnt even think about it like that. With affordable equiptment, books, and an attitude like yours, the seed of astronomy will never die!