Thanks, Kent, for the great info on binoculars.? If anyone is in the market for a pair, the Orion 8x42, normally selling for $139, is on sale on the "Clearance" page on Orion's Web site for $111.20.
George
?"S. Kent Blackwell" wrote:
The Orion Ultra series are made by Adlerblick, as are the top on the line Celestron's. Adlerblick (German for eagle-eye) is a little-known optical company, which is a division of Carton. They utilize BAK-4 glass which has a very high refractive index. I have a pair of 10x50 Adlerblicks and are optically superb.?They are about the lightest?10x50's out there, but seem a bit fragile to me. I have had to collimate them twice in their lifetime. Isn't it amazing?...I?have a pair of US-made Bausch & Lomb's, ?made in 1942 which?have NEVER slipped out of collimation. They are simply dazzling, both optically and mechanically. I think the B&Ls knock the pants off any other?glass I've seen. And they made it through a?World War unscathed. I've always been an advocate that a high degree of polish on a lens is more important than fancy multi-coatings. The B&L are very heavily coated with a deep purple magnesizm fluoride, which predates multi-coatings by 40 years. The Germans actually invented lens coatings, but leave it to the good ole fellas at Bausch & Lomb to come up with a coating?that didn't wear off. The German binoculars in the era after 1941 were coated, but only the inside surfaces because they were not "hard coated".
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If you cats out there really want a super pair of binoculars check out Pentax's image-stabilized models. The 10x30 are highly recommended, not very expensive and light as a feather. Because of their stabilization, I can see stars every bit as faint with the 10x30 as with the non-stabilized 10x50 Adlerblicks, despite the fact the 50mm objectives of the Adlerblicks gather 2.8x more light!? To add to their strengths the Canon's are very good optically. Stars are pinpoints nearly to the edge of the field.
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Please don't get me started talking about?binoculars. I love them.
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Kent Blackwell
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Check out these sites:
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----- Original Message -----
Sent: Thursday, February 27, 2003 9:26 AM
Subject: Re: [backbayastro] Dale Carey's Binoc's
Rick,
If you don't yet have a good pair of binos, a good all-around pair is the Orion 8x42 Ultraview.? Here is something I wrote a while back, and it still holds:
Alan Adler's great article on binoculars in the September, 2002 issue hit the mark for me.? I had a cheap pair of Simmons 10x50's ($24.95 at Wal-Mart) and last year, on the strength of Alan Adler's review in a link off the Todd Gross Weatherman web site*, I purchased a pair of Orion Ultra-View 8x42 binos and use them regularly in my observing.? I enjoy the bino views of M6, M7, M45 (The Pleiades), the Double Cluster in Perseus and of course, M31 The Great Andromeda Galaxy, as well as just wandering through the Milky Way.? I also use them consistently to find targets to point my scope at.? I wish my finder scope had the good contrast the Ultra-Views have.? Alan could have included "8x42" in his "Astro Index" table on page 96.? It would fall between the 7x50 and 9x63 binos, with an astro index of 50.
* Superb article by Alan Adler on
George Reynolds
?"Rick Bish <2bookworms@...>" <2bookworms@...> wrote:
Hey Dale, were you able to use the Barska 15 X 70's much before the
flood hit Tidewater? I believe you were the one who got a good deal
on them online (Jan. meeting). What have you seen in them? Are you
happy with them? I've been kicking around getting a pair, but I'm not
much of an "equipment person" though they might come in handy in
getting my Lunar Cert.
Rick Bish
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George Reynolds, Deputy Commander, Tidewater South Section Royal Rangers
Visit my Web page:? ?
"Solar System Ambassador" for South Hampton Roads, Virginia
?Member, Back Bay Amateur Astronomers (BBAA)?
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- Powerful. Affordable.
