Three binoculars offering very good performance for a modest price.

April 14 2020

As my regular readers will know, I’ve spent quite a lot of time in recent years seeing what’s what in the binocular market. But just like the telescope market, all is not what it seems. You don’t always get what you pay for and you can find genuine bargains that offer much better bang for buck than those usually presented on internet forums frequented by amateur astronomers, birders and the like. The trouble with these forums is that they usually become hijacked by folk who insist on using and promoting premium products that are usually way beyond the price range of most enthusiasts and many good products simply fall below the radar and so never see the light of day. In this blog, I’ll be presenting three binoculars from the pocket, compact and mid-size aperture range that offer exceptional value for money, having been thoroughly tested(not the usual ‘mickey mouse testing’ seen on the internet) by yours truly in a variety of field conditions.

I’m writing this fully in the knowledge that a lot of folk are hurting financially at the moment, owing to the international crisis precipitated by the corona virus. Millions of people’s mobility has been severely restricted and so there may be quite a few individuals out there who may be looking for cost-effective products that will make life in lock-down that little bit more palatable. What better way than a good binocular to bring the world closer and to examine the beauty of the creation from the vantage of a garden, rooftop or balcony?

All of the binoculars featured in this blog are well made, coupling very good mechanics with excellent optics, all have price tags under £150(UK) and all come with a ten-year guarantee so that if you’re not fully satisfied with the product you can always return it in due course. These instruments include:

The Opticron Aspheric LE 8 x 25 pocket binocular

The Nikon Prostaff 7S 8 x 30

The Barr & Stroud Savannah 8 x 42

The Opticron Aspheric LE 8 x 25:

The Opticron Aspheric LE 8 x 25 has an rugged aluminium body with dual hinge design that allows it to be folded up into a very small size so that it fits inside a pocket.

Are you looking for a well-made pocket glass that you can take anywhere to deliver very sharp, high-contrast images of your environment? The Opticron Aspheric LE 8 x 25 may be all the binocular you might need. Opticron is a well established British firm with a long history of delivering high quality optical products to their customers. The unit has fully multi-coated optics, high-reflectivity silver coated, phase corrected BAK-4 prisms to maximise light transmission. My glare tests using a very intense artificial light source shows to show up internal reflections and unwanted glare revealed that not one, but two of these instruments produced very satisfactory suppression of stray light. This is a good indicator of high contrast optics even in difficult lighting situations, such as glassing artificial light sources at night and observing heavily back-lit daylight scenes. The unit shown above was purchased for my wife and was acquired before the newer model was brought to market. The only difference between the newer and older models is that the former are fully water- and fog-proof, purged internally with inert, dry nitrogen gas.

The Opticron Aspheric LE folds out to suit most anyone’s inter-pupillary distance( IPD) and has well made twist up eye cups.

Tipping the scales at about 290g, the little Opticron pocket glass has good quality, twist-up eye cups that hold their position well and possess generous, 16mm eye relief, making them well suited both for eye-glass wearers and non-eye glass users alike. The Opticron also features a built-in lanyard for easy transport in the field so there’s no need to fit a strap. Focusing is smooth and precise, and the newer unit has slightly better rubber armouring for comfortable handling in the field. Close focus is also exceptional on these units. I measured one at 1.4 metres!

The Opticron Aspheric LE  8 x 25 allows you to get to work or play quickly.

Optically, these little Opticrons serve up very sharp, high contrast images and their aspherical ocular lenses ensure that the image does not degrade appreciably even when subject is imaged at the edge of the field. The only slight downside with these units is their relatively small field of view; just 92 metres at 1000m(~5.2 angular degrees),  but the fine optics more than makes up for this small field!

The newer model comes with a beautiful neoprene carry case that perfectly fits the binoculars.

The well-made logoed carry case fits the pocket binocular exceptionally well for easy transport and storage.

Retailing for £129(UK), these pocket glasses will provide years of hassle-free entertainment that is sure to delight anyone who uses them! I’ve often employed them for limited astronomical applications too, where they have proven their worth in delivering razor sharp and glare free images of the Moon, bright planets, and with an almost flat extended field, are well suited for glassing larger star fields and bright deep sky objects.

An elegant, ultra-portable pocket binocular.

The Nikon Prostaff 7S 8 x 30:

The Nikon Prostaff 7S 8 x 30 compact binocular.

The next binocular featured in this blog was a very pleasant surprise! I took a punt on the Nikon Prostaff 7s 8 x 30 out of sheer curiosity, since the vast majority of comments made by their owners were very positive indeed. And I can now say they weren’t wrong!

Weighing in at 415g, the Prostaff 7s 8 x 30 is very light weight for a binocular with these specifications. The optics are fully broadband multi-coated and the prisms are phase (and silver) coated for bright and sharp images. Being significantly larger than a pocket glass, they are easier to hold and easier to engage with owing to their larger exit pupil( 3.75mm). I was very surprised to learn that the Prostaff 7s has a higher light transmission than Nikon’s more expensive offering, the Monarch 8 x 30, as revealed in my more in-depth review I conducted on this binocular earlier this year. With a length of only 12cm, it is only one centimetre longer than the Opticron pocket glass keeping it very small and tidy!

The Nikon Prostaff 7s 8 x 30 has good quality twist -up and down eye cups that hold their position very well.

Despite being very light weight, it’s very easy to hold steady in my hands owing to its shorter bridge which exposes a larger area to wrap your hands around the barrels. The big focus wheel is buttery smooth and moves effortlessly with zero backlash or slack from close focus (just over 2 metres) to infinity in less than one revolution. The Prostaff 7S has well-made, twist-up eye cups that offers generous (15.4mm) eye relief to suit both eye glass wearers and those that don’t. The poly-carbonate body is overlaid by a thick rubber-like armour with exceptional grip. In addition, the instrument is fully water proof (1m depth for 10 minutes according to the user manual) and being filled with dry nitrogen gas, is also fog proof.

My tests show that the little 8 x 30 was superior to the Opticron in suppressing glare and internal reflections, which came as yet another pleasant surprise to me. Optically, this compact-sized binocular packs a powerful optical wallop. Having a true field of 114m @ 1000m (6.5 angular degrees), the image is very sharp and contrasty, and retains its sharpness almost to the very edge of the field. In addition, there is very little attenuation of light as one moves from the centre to the field stop, unlike many other models I have tested(sometimes costing many times more). This level of optical excellence is achieved by keeping the field of view on the small side compared with many other 8 x 30/32 units you are likely to encounter. I found this a very acceptable compromise though, as 6.5 degrees is still plenty good enough for most applications.

Although the Prostaff 7S units don’t employ ED glass, the chromatic aberration is, to all intents and purposes, non-existent, and delivers no appreciable reduction in performance over an equivalent unit employing ED glass. Like I said before, don’t fall for marketing hype. Most users won’t be able to tell the difference between a unit with ED glass elements and one without, provided that quality optical components are properly assembled in house.

The Prostaff 7s 8 x 30 compact binocular has an exceptionally smooth focus wheel for precision focusing in the field.

Having both larger objective lenses and exit pupils, the Nikon Prostaff 7s is noticeably superior to any pocket glass in low light conditions, where it serves up brighter images at dawn or dusk or on dull winter days. But its biggest performance difference over pocket glasses comes into play when turned on the night sky, where its greater light grasp pulls in significantly fainter stars, making deep sky observing more rewarding.

A fantastic performer for a great price: the Nikon Prostaff 7S 8 x 30.

Together with a good rain guard and high quality padded neck strap featuring the Nikon logo, this 8 x 30 unit is likely to please the vast majority of users and will deliver flawless performance for many years. All in all, the Nikon Prostaff 7s 8 x 30 offers exceptional value for money in today’s market, combining great ergonomics with remarkable optical performance for its modest price tag (~£140 UK).

The Barr & Stroud Savannah 8 x 42:

The Barr & Stroud Savannah 8 x 42 super-wide angle.

Now for a very special binocular. When I started out looking at the modern binocular market, I took the advice of a number of more experienced glassers who recommended I try a Barr & Stroud roof prism binocular. Now, several years on, I’m very glad I did. Every model I have tried for their range has been impressive. But one model in particular stood out from the crowd; the Barr & Stroud Savannah 8 x 42. Having owned and tested two samples of this product, I can say, hand on heart, that it’s got to be one of the best bargains your money can buy.

Built like a proverbial tank, it sports a whopping 143m@1000m true field; one of the widest on the market for a binocular with these specifications. But unlike a string of other models in this modest price class, you get an extraordinarily well corrected field with an enormous sweet spot that keeps the object well focused even near the edge of the field.  With a larger exit pupil of 5.4mm, the 8 x 42 is supremely comfortable to use, even by complete novices, since it is very easy to get good eye placement. The body is covered with a thick rubberised armouring, which provides excellent grip even in tricky conditions. Unlike most other roof binos in this price class, the Savannah has its dioptre ring located just ahead of the focus wheel, making it very easy to access should you wish to tweak the optics in the right barrel. On the downside, its location makes it that little bit easier to knock out of place while glassing in the field and so a little bit more care should be afforded to it when removing the instrument from its hard, clam shell case.

Everything about the Barr & Stroud exudes quality. The focuser is a joy to use and one of the best I have experienced in an 8 x 42. It is buttery smooth and moves effortlessly with absolutely no backlash or bumpiness in either direction, taking nearly two full revolutions from its closest focus (under two metres) to beyond infinity. The eye cups are of very high quality and twist up to give extremely comfortable eye relief. What’s more, they remain firmly in place even when significant pressure is applied to them. The instrument is fully waterproof(1.5m for three minutes) and is dry nitrogen purged to eliminate internal fogging when used in cold, damp conditions.

My glare and internal reflections testing showed that the Savannah has exceptional control of stray light and the result is that you get very punchy, high-contrast images. Indeed, the only binocular that has produced better results than the Barr & Stroud Savannah is my little Leica Trinovid BCA 8 x 20, but at a price fully three times the asking price of the former! It has noticeably superior control of diffraction spiking (tested on night light sources) compared with a Zeiss Terra ED 8 x 25 and the aforementioned Nikon Prostaff 8 x 30 and Opticron Aspheric LE.

The Barr & Stroud Savannah 8 x 42(right) has exceptional glare and internal reflection suppression that is only just bettered by the premium Leica Trinovid 8 x 20 costing three times more.

The first model I acquired was second-hand but developed a dioptre fault. But I received a brand new instrument from the parent company who own Barr & Stroud,Optical Vision Limited(OVL) and the rest, as they say, is history. The model features fully broadband multi-coatings on all optical surfaces and phase coated Schmidt-Pechan prisms to boost light transmission and image contrast. It ‘s extremely sharp, even when compared with premium models. In one series of tests I conducted in the summer of 2019, the Barr & Stroud Savannah 8 x 42 yielded images that were only very slightly less sharp compared with an optically perfect Swarovski EL Range 10 x 42. I believe the vast majority of users will be delighted when they look through this instrument. Don’t let zealous binocular gayponauts coerce you into buying a model costing many times more before checking this unit out first!

It might be all the 8 x 42 you need!

The large well-made eyecups and buttery smooth focuser on the Barr & Stroud Savannah make for supremely comfortable viewing.

The 8 x 42 serves as one of the best all-round binoculars for a wide variety of glassing applications, whether it be bird-watching, hunting in low light and for casual stargazing. Its nearly flat, super-wide field will delight those who wish the cruise the Milky Way or  ogle large deep sky objects. The only downsides are its weight and slightly lower overall light transmission compared with premium models; at 820g the Savannah is not light by any means but I suppose that, in creating the highly impressive near-flat and super-wide field of view, it needs more optical components to execute this correctly and thus the trade-off is reduced portability and reduced overall light transmission. That said, unlike the two other binoculars discussed in this blog, the Barr & Stroud Savannah 8 x 42 can easily be affixed to a tripod or monopod for ultra-stable viewing, should you require it.

The Barr & Stroud Savannah 8 x 42; a truly remarkable value in today’s market.

This impressive binocular is always a joy to hold in one’s hand and the images it serves up keeps you coming back to it again and again and again.  And while you can pick this model up for about £120, I would rank it as my personal favourite binocular. It’s just a supremely sweet instrument made by a company that once supplied optics to the British Navy during two world wars. And that counts for something!

Storing and Transporting the Binoculars

There is further good news when you purchase any of these binoculars. They all come with good quality carry cases. I have already highlighted the nicely designed yellow and black neoprene case fitting the newer Opticron Aspheric LE(illustrated earlier in this blog). The Nikon Prostaff 7s comes with a black padded case with the Nikon logo on the front and fits the binocular very well together with its strap wound tightly around the body. The Barr & Stroud Savannah has arguably the best quality case of the lot though. As you can see form the image below, the 8 x 42 comes with a hard clam shell case that can be zipped up to seal in the binocular and keep out dust and moisture – the destructive enemies of all optical instruments. As with all of my binoculars, I highly recommend placing a sachet of silica gel desiccant inside their cases, as well as  leaving the caps for both the objective and eyepiece lenses on for added protection.

All three binoculars featured in this blog come with good quality carry and storage cases. On the left, the original Opticron Aspheric LE had a simpler padded case to the one now being offered. the Nikon Prostaff 7S case is featured in the middle, followed by the hard clam shell case of the Barr & Stroud 8 x 42 Savannah(right).

Well, I hope that you found this short blog useful. Above all, I hope you’ll agree that you don’t have to spend a small fortune to get good optical and mechanical quality. Indeed, those days are well and truly behind us!  And if you take reasonable care of your binocular it will provide flawless performance for many years to come.

Thanks for reading!

Neil English is the author of seven books and several hundred magazine articles in amateur and professional astronomy. He has many decades of experience testing and evaluating all manner of astronomical equipment. You can help him continue this work by purchasing one of his books. 

De Fideli.

Two good binoculars: The Barr & Stroud Savannah 8 x 42(left) and the Celestron Trailseeker 8 x 32(right).

Many binocular enthusiasts will often recommend a good 8 x 42 as the near perfect all-round instrument for birding, hunting and astronomy. This recommendation seems sensible enough given their medium size, weight and decent light gathering power for use in bright daylight, low light conditions and stargazing. But the increasingly popular compact 8 x 32 has also earned a respectable place in the hearts of many birders and sightseers owing to its lighter weight but greater light gathering power over a pocket binocular. But that raises an interesting question; which model is more versatile in the long run?

To begin to answer that question, I’ve spent some time comparing and contrasting the efficacy of two binoculars in these size classes; a Barr & Stroud Savannah 8 x 42, which I have written enthusiastically about in a past blog, and more recently, a Celestron Trailseeker 8 x 32, described in more detail here.

Let’s first look at the specifications of both models at a glance:

The Barr & Stroud 8 x 42

Fully multi-coated

Phase coated(probably silver or enhanced aluminium)

8.2 degree FOV(143m@1000m)

5.25mm exit pupil

18mm eye relief

Dry nitrogen purged

Waterproof

810g

Retail Price: £120 UK

The Celestron Trailseeker 8 x 32

Fully broadband multi-coated

Phase coated(high reflectivity dielectric coatings)

7.8 degree FOV(137m @1000m)

4mm exit pupil

15.6mm eye relief

Dry nitrogen purged

Waterproof

453g

Retail Price: £125(recently reduced for clearance owing to the discontinuation of the model)

Performance in Bright Daylight Conditions

Both instruments serve up  very sharp, high contrast images of well-illuminated targets with virtually no chromatic aberration(this is widely exagerrated by many reviewers but is actually not really an issue in any realistic situation. Indeed, in my comparison of smaller high-quality ED and non-ED instruments there has never been a target that I have imaged where ED glass made any meaningful difference to the viewing experience). The Celestron has a narrower field of view and a smaller ultra-sharp sweetspot. The Barr & Stroud displays a wider, flatter field with a noticeably larger sweetspot. The larger exit pupil on the latter makes viewing that little bit more comfortable, since positioning the eye over a larger shaft of light is easier to achieve. Both instruments generate images that are about equally bright under these conditions though. Near equal too is their ability to suppress glare and internal reflections owing to good baffling and high-quality coatings applied to all optical surfaces. The objective lenses are also deeply recessed in both binoculars, offering protection against rain, wind-blown dust, as well as serving as an effective barrier against peripheral glare.

I also noted slight differences between these instruments in colour tone when observing brightly illuminated daylight targets. The Celestron had a more neutral colour tone, whereas those of the Barr & Stroud were ever so slightly yellower and darker in comparison.

The focusing wheels on both instruments are notably different in field use however. The Barr & Stroud possess one of the best focusers I have personally experienced(indeed they have been very good in a number of other instruments marketed by the same company). It is buttery smooth and very easy to adjust in situations where rapid changes of focus are necessary. The Celestron focuser has much more tension in comparison, even after using it for a considerable number of hours in the field. When rapid focusing is required, the Barr & Stroud Savannah is clearly superior, which makes a significant difference when scanning fast-moving targets like birds flying across the field of view.

There is also a significant difference in eye relief between the two instruments. The Barr & Stroud has a whopping 18mm eye relief whereas the Celestron Trailseeker only exhibits 15.6mm in comparison. What this means in practice is that the latter is far more comfortable to use while using eyeglasses. I can see the entire field of the Savannah if I use my eyeglasses but it’s a lot more challenging with the Trailseeker.

The weight difference between the models is considerable however; with the Celestron tipping the scales at just over half the weight of the Barr & Stroud. Indeed the latter is one of the heaviest  8 x 42s currently available, while the Celestron Trailseeker is one of the lightest models in its aperture class. This has a significant  bearing on  prolonged use and transport in the field, where neck strain is effectively eliminated in the light-weight Celestron.

Low Light Performance

On paper, one would reasonably expect that the significantly larger 8 x 42 would prove better in low light conditions, such as those experienced at dawn and dusk, but my testing revealed some surprising results! In a nutshell, the Celestron Trailseeker proved to be much closer to the Barr & Stroud under such conditions! Immediately after sunset on several late January evenings, I found that both instruments produced very similar performance in terms of the brightness of the images garnered of a heavily lichen-adorned tree branch located some 50 metres off in the distance. Indeed, the 8 x 42 only pulled noticeaby ahead well into twilight when the last light of day was ebbing from the landscape. This seemed genuinely puzzling to me, as I fully expected the results to be well, like night and day.  But why though?

The first significant difference between the models relates to the coatings used on the roof prisms in both instruments. The Celestron Trailseeker has state-of-the-art dielectric coatings that significantly improve its light transmission over a similar sized model with lower reflectivity aluminium or silver coatings. Maybe the Trailseeker has better anti-reflection coatings applied to the lenses making up the objectives and the eyepieces? The second thing that I noted is the significantly larger frame of the Barr & Stroud Savannah, which will have commensurately larger prisms than the smaller Celestron, with the implication that more light will be absorbed while traversing the former. That said, I still couldn’t understand why an instrument with 42mm objectives was not pulling very far ahead under such low light conditions than an instrument with only 32mm aperture objectives. Quite frankly, it still didn’t add up!

It was then that I realised that the best explanation possibly pertained to the size of the exit pupil under the same conditions. As any amateur astronomer worth his/her salt will tell you, the pupil of the eye is designed such that it dilates in low light conditions to allow more light to reach the retina. Indeed, this is one of the ABCs in telescopic deep sky observing, where a fully dilated eye pupil shows you much fainter objects than eyes that are newly accustomed to the dark. But while some dilation certainly occurs under low light, I wondered whether there was a limit to how much dilation actually occurs during early twilight, when the differences were observed to be most similar in both instruments. If my eyes only extended from say 2.5mm during bright daylight to a liitle over 4mm in early twilight, the extra millimetre or so offered by the 8 x 42 would be of no significant benefit. Maybe my eyes were just not capable of using the 5.25mm offered up by the larger 8 x 42 under such conditions?

I also noted that the tests on both binoculars were carried out more or less simultaneously for the duration of about 15 minutes, so not long enough to induce big changes in the ratio of rhodopsin(which reaches higher concentrations in darker conditions) to retinal(which exhibits higher concentrations in bright light conditions) In addition, the eye takes quite a long time to effect these biochemical changes, and most certainly longer than the 15 minute duration over which these tests were conducted. Moreover, rhodopsin is still rather labile even in low light conditions such as those encountered during the twilight sessions. However, these findings were quite in keeping with the subsequent experiences I had with both binoculars under well-adapted dark conditions; specfically under a clear night sky with no Moon.

Dark Sky Performace Compared

Donning some dark sunglasses I sat out in a deck chair for about 25 minutes after leaving a bright indoor environment to accelerate dark-eye adaptation. By then I was sure that my eye pupils had dilated to their maximum extent and the process of rhodopsin biosynthesis was well under way. Examining the region centred on Orion’s belt stars, I immediately noted a very significant difference between the glasses; this time the clear winner was the 8x 42 Barr & Stroud binocular. It was easy to see that it was pulling in more numerous and fainter stars in Collinder 70 than the smaller 8 x 32. The same was true when I critically examined the Sword Handle of Orion, and in particular, the marvellous gaseous nebula of M42. The 8 x 42 was very much superior, indicating that my eyes were indeed gathering in more light( as they should do) owing to its larger exit pupil of the 8 x 42 binocular.

That said, the 8 x 32 was more comfortable to hold over prolonged periods(several minutes), owing to its much lower weight and transmitted a surprising amount of light; far more than any pocket glass (25mm aperture or less) I had recalled from memory, yielding quite impressive views of star fields and open clusters like the Auriga Messier trio, then very high overhead in the winter sky. The slower focus wheel on the Celestron was far less of a problem under these viewing conditions owing to the relatively tiny focus adjustments required when viewing astronomical targets, and especially when moving from the zenith to objects imaged nearer the horizon.

Overall Implications

The Barr & Sroud Savannah 8x 42(left) gets my winning vote over the Celestron Trailseeker 8 x 32(right).

So which instrument is more versatile? Unsurprisingly, this is a deeply personal choice and, as such, there are no absolute answers. If you don’t mind carrying around the extra weight, then the 8 x 42 would get my vote. I just love the way the instrument feels in my hands, its solid, Spartan construction, wonderfully sharp, super-wide field of view and spectacular bang for buck. The 8 x 42 is exceptionally easy on the eyes with its very comfortable 18mm eye relief(compared to the considerably tighter 15.6mm on the Celestron) and larger exit pupil, so pulling well ahead as an astronomical instrument, or when glassing under deep twilight conditions. It’s only significant downside over the 8 x 32 is its lack of dielectric coatings on the Schmidt-Pechan roof prisms, but it more than makes up for this with its fine optical quality and sturdy mechanical design. Indeed, the 8 x 42 Savannah remains this author’s personal favourite binocular!

But if weight is a big issue and you like to do all or nearly all of your glassing during daylight hours, then a high-quality 8 x 32 will certainly deliver the readies and thus deserve serious consideration.There are some other models in this binocular size class that are as good, if not better than the Celestron, and at prices that won’t leave you out in the cold; the Vortex Diamondback HD 8 x 32(with its famous ‘no questions asked’ VIP warranty), the Nikon Monarch 7( 8 x 30) and the Hawke Frontier X HD, immediately come to mind, all of which retail in the UK for between £200 and £300 and well worth checking out. If possible, you should try before you buy to avoid disappointment.

Thanks for reading!

Neil English is the author of several books on telescopes and astronomical observing, but does not endorse bling. He is seriously considering writing a similar text dedicated to binoculars in the future.

PostScriptum: I intend to have my fully dilated eye pupil size measured on my next visit to my optician.

De Fideli.

Two mid-priced 8 x 32 binoculars compared: the Celestron Trailseeker(left) and the Helios LightWing HR( right).

The march of technology continues apace and never ceases to amaze me. This is especially true when it comes to telescope and binocular optics. You can now buy very decent optics at budget prices that display a level of quality we could only dream of a couple of decades ago. And technologies that were only available on premium optics up to fairly recently are now being offered by companies offering much more economical packages to sate the requirements of the masses.

That’s exactly how I feel about my recent foray into binocular testing. Advances in coating technology, in particular, has allowed many new optical firms to offer products that are edging ever closer to the performance levels only available on premium models until recently. Even entry-level roof prism binoculars feature decent anti-reflection coatings on all optical surfaces(which can be as many as 30 in a good roof prism binocular), as well as phase correction technology that significantly increase contrast, accurate colour rendition and image brightness. These less expensive models used either aluminium or silver coatings to boost light transmissions to as high as 80 to 85 per cent, but one can now obtain very economically priced models that also feature super-high reflectivity, broadband dielectric coatings that have increased light transmission to above 90 per cent, in touching distance of the most expensive, premium binoculars money can buy.

Unfortunately, many amateurs who enjoy using quality binoculars mistakenly conflate high-level optical performance with the introduction of extra low dispersion (ED) glass, but the truth is that such an addition contributes little to the quality of the optical experience. Much more significant is the use of higher quality coatings that significantly increase both the brightness and contrast of the images, which in turn enables one to see those finer details, thereby boosting resolution(perhaps this is why the Helios has HR in its name?). Of course, many(but not all) premium binocular manufacturers use a combination of ED glass elements and the finest dielectric coatings, making it all the more difficult for the user to assess the relative importance of either component. But I was able to explore and confirm the dramatic effects of the latter by putting a couple of  mid-priced 8 x 32 compact roof prism binoculars through their paces; a Helios LightWing HR and a Celestron Trailseeker(both pictured above), both of which feature premium quality dielctric coatings on the prism surfaces as well as high-quality broadband anti-reflection coatings on the multiple lenses and prisms used in their construction. Neither instrument contains ED glass elements however. For more on this, check out this short youtube presentation by an experienced glasser and binocular salesman describing one of the models I will be evaluating in this blog(the Helios LightWing),  and who formed the same conclusions as this author.

Both instruments were acquired from the same source, Tring Astronomy Centre. Their friendly and knowledgeable staff have offered exceptional service with a number of past purchases and I had thus no hesitation approaching them again for the acquisition of these 8 x 32 compact binocular models.

The first model I acquired was the Helios LightWing HR 8 x 32, which set me back £127 plus £5 to ensure an expedited delivery of the package within 24 hours of ordering. As soon as it arrived, I inspected the contents, which included the binocular with a rain guard, soft carry case, a lens cloth and generic(read single page instruction sheet) and padded neck strap. Within minutes of its arrival, I had the binocular out of its case to perform my iphone torch test in my living room to see how well an intense beam of white light behaved as it passed through the instrument. As I outlined in a few previous blogs, such a test is extraordinarily sensitive, showing up even the slightest stray reflections in the field of view and revealing how well the optical components suppressed the tendency of the light to diffuse across the field, reducing contrast as it does. Well, to my great relief, the result was excellent! Despite the torch being set at its highest setting in a darkened room, the Helios LightWing HR showed only the feeblest level of ghosting on axis. What is more, there was no difraction spikes or diffused light in the field! The image was exceptionally clean. Indeed, comparing the result to my control binocular, a Barr & Stroud Savannah 8 x 42, which also exhibits exceptional stray light control, the Helios was providing even better results!

To put this in some additional context, the torchlight test result for the Helios 8 x 32 was better than my Zeiss Terra ED 8 x 25 pocket binocular and a Swarovski EL Range 10 x 42, as I recall from my notes!

I now had a new standard by which to measure all other binoculars!

The same was also true when I placed the light beam just outside the field of view. Only a very minimal amount of glare was seen in the field.

The Helios LightWing HR 8x 32 revealed exceptional control of stray light and annoying internal reflections.

Wow!

This told me that the binocular ought to produce very high contrast images in even the most demanding conditions, either by day, glassing in strongly backlit scenes, or at night, when looking at bright light sources, such as artificial street lighting or a bright Moon. No doubt, this is attributed to a variety of factors including excellent multi-layer coatings on all optical surfaces, as well as a sound knowledge of how to adequately baffle the instrument.

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Note to the reader: My pet peeve is seeing excessive glare and strong ghosting from internal reflections in a binocular image. Indeed, I am quite intolerant of it! Moreover, I usually dismiss any reviews that do not test for this phenomenon. Unfortunately, that also entails taking the majority of user reviews I read online with a large dose of salt!

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Examining the Helios, I noted the unusual colour cast of the anti-reflection coatings on both the objective and ocular lenses. They seemed to be immaculately applied! I also noted how the objectives were recessed very deeply; with ~ 10mm of overhang. This is a very good(and often overlooked!) design feature, as it cuts down on peripheral glare during bright daylight observations and also affords considerable protection from dust and rain.

The unusual colour cast of the anti-reflection coatings of the Helios LightWing objective lenses.

Mechanical assessment: The Helios is very well constructed. The chassis is fabricated from a magnesium alloy which combines light weight(500g) with good mechanical strength. This is an unsual offering in such a low-cost instrument, with cheaper polycarbonate or even ABS plastic being the rule rather than the exception on models offered at this price point. The central hinge had enough tension to maintain my particular IPD but I would have liked it to be just a little bit stiffer(just like my wonderful Barr & Stroud Savannah 8 x 42). I found handling the binocular to be unusually tricky, as the rubber eyes needed to attach the neckstrap protrude from the barrels a little too much, making it rather more awkward to get the binocular comfortably placed in my hands while observing.

The focus wheel is very large in relation to the overall size of the instrument. Indeed, I thought it was a little too large! Although I could get a good grip, rotating it showed that it was somewhat clunky and offered unusual resistance to movement. In contrast, the dioptre ring moved with silky smoothness, and you can actually see the right ocular field lens moving as you rotate it!

The buttery smooth right-barrel dioptre ring is a joy to adjust.

The eyecups are rather stiff but do extend upwards with two clickstops. With an eye relief of 15.6mm, eyeglass wearers will find it difficult to image the entire field. Fortunately for me though, this wasn’t a problem, as I don’t wear eye glasses while glassing. The cups are made from quality metal covered by a soft rubber-like material. They are very firm and hold their positions securely even when undue pressure is applied to them. Overall, a very nice touch!

The chassis is covered by a rather thin rubberised skin, which was somewhat thinner than I’ve seen on a variety of other binoculars I’ve sampled. As a result, it has slightly less friction while man handling, which can prove important, especially if used for prolonged periods in the field. It also means that it would wear down that little bit faster after extended use.

The Helios can be attached to a tripod or monopod for increased stability via the built-in bush located between the barrels, toward the front of the instrument.

Optical daylight testing: Scanning some autumn leaves in my back garden confirmed what I had witnessed in the torchlight test. The image was very bright and tack sharp with wonderful contrast and colour fidelity. There was nary a trace of chromatic aberration( which continues to affirm my belief that ED glass is unnecessary: -a marketing gimmick? – for such small, low power binoculars). However, this was only true in the central 50 per cent of the field. The outer part of the field became progressively softer with the edge being out of focus. Examining a telephone pole about 25 yards in the distance unveiled very strong field curvature as it was moved from the centre to the edge of the field of view.

I hit another snag when I attempted to image the Fintry hills about a mile in the distance. The focus wheel was racked to the end of its natural focus travel but I still could not quite reach a sharp focus. Adjusting the dioptre ring on the right barrel allowed me to just get there but the left barrel was still not sharply focused. After dark, I did a test on the bright star Vega, which unfortunately confirmed my daylight tests. Although I could achieve pinpoint sharp images in the right barrel, the left barrel showed that the star was badly bloated. Another test on the Moon showed the same thing. The right barrel gave a razor sharp image with exceptional contrast and no internal reflections or diffused light around it, but the image at the edge was badly out of focus.

The whole experience left me somewhat bewildered. Why expend so much effort into applying state-of-the art coatings into a binocular with nice mechanical features, only to see excessive field curvature in the outer part of the field? It just didn’t make sense! I mean, Helios could have made the field a little smaller(it has a true field of 7.8 degrees) with sharper edge definition and I would have been happy.  In reallity you see, I had been spoiled by the nearly flat fields presented by my Barr & Stroud Savannah 8 x 42(and over a larger field to boot- 8.2 degrees), as well as those presented by my Zeiss Terra pocket and my other models with aspherical ocular lenses. Needless to say I was disappointed and decided to contact the staff at Tring the same evening, explaining my findings.

Next morning, they contacted me, apologising for the defective optic, as well as suggesting that I could have a replacement Helios LightWing, or try a Celestron Trailseeker 8 x 32, which apparently had very similar specifications to the former. Now, I had a bad experience with an 8 x 25 Celestron Nature DX(an entry-level roof prism binocular) which showed far too much glare and internal reflections for my liking. But I had a good look at the specifications on the Celestron Trailseeker models, which were recently discounted by 20 per cent and were now being offered at the same price as I had paid for the Helios LightWing. After some deliberation, I decided to accept their offer of trying the Trailseeker. And to their credit, Tring shipped out the binocular, together with a return label for the Helios, the same day, and I received it less than 24 hours later!

How about that for customer service!

The Celestron Trailseeker 8 x 32 package.

With some trepidation, I opened the package and inspected its contents. First impressions looked good. I received the binocular, a much higher quality carry case, a binocular harness, tethered rubber objective caps and rain guard, a decent quality padded neck strap, a lens cleaning cloth and a comprehensive instruction manual dedicated to the Trailseeker  line of binoculars( in five languages).

The Trailseeker binocular specifications looked very similar to the Helios, which included the application of premium-quality phase and dielectric coatings, a 7.8 degree field (136m @1000m), Bak-4 prisms, o-ring sealed, dry nitrogen purged, making it fog proof and water proof(though to what extent was not revealed). And just like the Helios, the Trailseeker can be mounted on a tripod or monopod.

As with the Helios, the Trailseeker has very deeply recessed objectives (again about 10mm) but the anti-reflection coatings looked different in daylight;

The Trailseeker also has deeply recessed objective lenses but the coatings appeared different.

Just like the Helios, the Celestron Trailseeker has a rugged magnesium alloy chassis but the focus wheel is significantly smaller. Weighing in at just 450g, it is 50g less bulky than the Helios. The Trailseeker build quality is excellent; rugged, much easier to handle than the Helios and overall having better ergonomics. The tough, rubberised covering has better grip than the Helios too, and small thumb indentations on the belly of the instrument makes it that little bit more comfortable to hold in the hand.

Nicely placed thumb indents on the underside of the Trailseeker make handling that little bit more intuitive.

Well, you can guess what I did next; yep, I set up my iphone torch, turned it up to its brightest setting and placed it in the corner of my living room with the curtains pulled to cut off much of the daylight. With a good close focus of about 6.5 feet, eagerly I aimed the Trailseeker binocular at the light and examined the image.

Drum roll……………………………………….

An excellent result! Internal reflections were minimal, diffused glare was all but absent and diffraction spikes were very subdued. Comparing the Trailseeker to my Barr & Stroud Savannah 8x 42 control binocular showed that it was on par with it. What a relief! To be honest, I had some reservations about the Celestron, owing to my unfavourable experience with the cheaper Nature DX model, and so I half expected that they might skimp on this important process. But no, they did a very good job! So far, so very good!

I was also impressed with the mechanical attributes of the Trailseeker, which is difficult to ascertain vicariously without man handling it. Though quite conservative in design, the eyecups are of high quality(metal over rubber) but have a nice feel about them. They twist up much more easily than those on the Helios and have two settings. Like the Helios, the eye relief is pretty tight(15.6mm) for eye glass wearers but is plenty good enough for those who observe without glasses.They do not budge even when considerable force is applied to them. I would rate their quality as very high, so much so that I don’t think I will have much in the way of problems with them going forward.

The metal-over rubber eyecups of the Celestron Trailseeker are a good step up from the Nature DX models and feel very secure while glassing.

The focus wheel has a ‘plasticky’ feel about it but unlike the Helios, infinity focus does not lie at the extreme end of the focus travel. This is actually useful for ‘focusing out’ some of the aberrations at the extreme edge of the field. Unlike other user reviews of the Trailseeker, the focus wheel on the unit I received was quite stiff to operate out of the box but this will surely loosen up with more use. Rotating the focuser both clockwise and anti-clockwise revealed little or no backlash or bumpy spots that you often encounter on cheaper binoculars. Some users balk at the idea of using a plastic focuser but I cannot for the life of me understand why it would make much difference. I mean, if it works, it works! What’s to give?

The focus wheel on the Trailseeker is nothing out of the ordinary but does work well in field use.

The dioptre ring is located under the right eyecup. It rotates smoothly with just the right amount of friction.

Optical daylight testing: As I’ve illustrated above, good mechanical design and great control of stray light don’t count for much if the images don’t deliver. So I was eager to see how the Celestron Trailseeker behaved when looking ’round the landscape. Accordingly, I examined the same autumn leaves in my back garden set a few tens of yards away. This time, the results were very much more encouraging! The leaves focused beautifully, throwing up excellent brightness, contrast and sharpness with a much wider sweet spot than in the Helios, which I estimated to be about 70 per cent of the field.  I could immediately tell that there was much less field curvature in this binocular than in the Helios, allowing me to sharpen up the edge of field definition with only minor tweaking of the focus. This much reduced field curvature was also apparent when I examined the same telephone poll I observed with the Helios. Instead of the strong off-axis distortions I encountered with that instrument, as the pole was moved from the centre to the periphery of the field, the Trailseeker proved much more forgiving.

What a relief!

Having said all of this, there was more off-axis field curvature in the Trailseeker than in my Barr & Stroud Savannah 8 x 42, which, in comparison, throws up a wider and flatter field nearly all the way to the edge. As I’ve said many times before, the Savannah is a phenomenal operator given its very modest price tag. Perhaps some of the drooling gayponauts reading this blog right now could get off their fat backsides and confirm it!

Nah, probably too much to ask!

The Barr & Stroud Savannah 8 x 42 wide-angle binocular; an existential threat to the hubris of thieving gayponauts.

Nightime testing:

After dark, the Trailseeker delivered excellent results on artificial street lights, just as my torchlight tests reliably anticipated. There was no annoying glare, internal reflections and the diffraction spikes were small and very subdued. Turning the instrument on a low Moon skirting the horizon showed wonderful sharpness on axis, with well above average contrast. And when I placed the Moon at the edge of the field, it remained quite sharp, though visibly softened by a small amount of field curvature. Needless to say, it was in a completely different league to the Helios in this regard!

Later in the night, with the Moon having set, I examined the appearance of the large and sprawling Alpha Persei Association located nearly overhead at the time. This provided an excellent test of how its many bright stellar members would behave from the centre of the binocular field to the field stop. To my relief, the stars remained acceptably small and sharp across the entire field, with the stars at the edge of the field requiring only a small tweak in focus to improve their definition. They did not balloon to stupidly large sizes like I observed in the Helios.

Turning the binocular on the Hyades in Taurus gave very pleasing results too. Contrast was excellent with its many colourful stellar components remaining acceptably small and crisp even at the edges of the field.

I considered these results to be very acceptable. This is one small binocular that can be used profitably for nightime observations!

A Walk in the Countryside with the Celestron Trailseeker 8 x 32

Although the Celestron Trailseeker 8 x 32 is a small, high-quality and lightweight instrument, it is not readily pocketable, unless you have a coat that has rather large and deep receptacles. Having tried a few 8 x 32 binoculars, I personally find them a little awkward to use in comparison to my two favourite pocket binoculars like my Opticron Aspheric LE and my Zeiss Terra(both of which are 8 x 25 formats) or a larger instrument such as my 8 x 42. I just find the 8 x 32 format a bit kludgy in my rather small hands. That said, the 8 x 32 seems to be a popular choice for birders and other nature enthusiasts, who tire of schlepping around a larger instrument for hours on end. In good light, there’s no real advantage in using a larger format binocular and so I tend to use my pocket binos most often. But if you are observing in low light conditions, such as a dull, overcast winter day, late in the evening or early in the morning, the 8 x 32 would definitely be a better choice. I have verified this wisdom by comparing the views through my  8 x 25 Terra and the 8 x 32 Trailseeker at dusk, where the brighter images served up by the latter are plainly in evidence. And because you have a relative abundance of good quality light to play with, you can see more details in the image. Shimples!

Choosing a small binocular is a deeply personal choice that you can only decide on after trying them in the field.

The consensus view is that larger binoculars are more comfortable to use since their larger ocular lenses make it easier to place your eyes in the correct position to see and immerse yourself in the field of view. I believe there is definitely some truth in this, but in the end it’s really about what you get used to. I personally have no trouble lining up my eyes with the smaller eye lenses on my pocket binos, so I never see this as being much of an issue.

Enjoying the rich colours of autumn on a hill walk overlooking Fintry.

All that having been said, the Trailseeker 8 x 32 is a very handy companion on my daily two-mile ramble ’round Culcreuch Castle Estate, which has some extensive wooded areas, a fast-flowing river, numerous small brooks, open fields which extend towards the surrounding hills and a small pond, where I enjoy watching the antics of a variety of water-loving avian species. The field of view is very generous at 7.8 degrees, which is quite large as most 8 x 32 binoculars go, though some models sport still larger fields in excess of 8( ~ >140m@1000m) angular degrees. The razor sharp optics on the Trailseeker has given me many wonderful views of golden autumn leaves glistening in weak November sunshine. I especially love to stand under a tree and glass the branches above me, focusing in on their wondrously complex contours. The low autumn Sun this time of year illumines the trunks of the trees in the wooded areas around the estate, highlighting the wonderful texture of the tree bark and the play of light upon the lichens and mosses that live symbiotically with it.

If time is not against me, sometimes I like to stop and focus in on a stretch of water flowing from the numerous small streams that feed into the Endrick, imaging the contours of rocks laden with fallen leaves and closing in on the foamy organic bubbles that swarm along the fast-flowing stretches. And when the Sun shines on the water, I can feast my eyes on the beautiful and intense reflections emanating from its surface. This is where glare control is paramount, as even a small amount of light leakage can ruin an otherwise compelling binocular scene.

Binoculars have come a very long way since their founding days. I find it amazing that one can acquire quality optics and durable mechanics like this at such keen prices. The Celestron Trailseeker 8 x 32 has been a very pleasant surprise, combining wonderful ergonomics with state-of-the-art optical science. I think a lot of people will enjoy it.  And now that its price has come down significantly, this is a good time to grab yourself a real bargain and enjoy the wonders of nature up close and deeply personal.

Just in case……………..

Thanks for reading!

Neil English has fallen in love with what binoculars have revealed to him, and is seriously thinking of compiling a larger portfolio of  binocular experiences for a future book-length treatise on their various applications.

De Fideli.