A Work Commenced January 18 2025
Over the last few months I’ve been field testing 3 larger binoculars for deep sky astronomy: The Celestron SkyMaster Pro 15 x 70, the Opticron Oregon 20 x 80, and the Helios Apollo 15×70.
Tune in soon for full details…….
In this blog, I’ll be posting links every day on various topics of interest to those who value truth over lies in this, the most wicked and depraved of human generations since the Days of Noah.
A Work Commenced December 9 2024.
Product: Svbony SA401 25x-75x 100 APO
Country of Manufacture: China
Clear Aperture: 100mm
Armouring: Forest Green Rubber
Magnification Range: 25x-75x
Field of View: 1.77 degrees @ 25x -0.92degrees @ 75x
Focal Length: 556.2mm
Focal Ratio: 5.6
Close Focus: 10m
Focuser: Single Speed, Helical
Coatings: Fully Multicoated
Objective Design: 4-Element Double ED APO
Prism Type: K9 Porro
Exit Pupil: 4mm@ 25x, 1.3mm@ 75x
Ability to use Interchangeable 1.25” Eyepieces:Yes
1.25” Eyepiece Adaptor: Yes
Waterproof: Yes IPX7
Nitrogen Purged: Yes
Weight: 2.9kg
Length: 458mm
Accessories: 1.25” eyepiece adaptor, SC001 imaging camera, scope protective jacket, IPhone adaptor, instruction manual, lens cleaning cloth
Price(UK): £750.00
Over the last few years I’ve watched spotting scopes grow in size. Just a few years back, birders and nature watchers routinely used 60-80mm scopes to study their targets at distance, but recently, a new breed of super big spotters have been released onto the sports optics market, with apertures of 95mm, 100mm and even a 115mm now being routinely employed by enthusiasts who can now enjoy greater light gathering power and higher resolution images. Big spotting scopes employing ordinary crown & flint glass suffer badly from chromatic aberration at higher powers, making them practically unusable at their highest magnification settings(60x or so), necessitating the need for extra low dispersion elements to reduce colour fringing, and increase image sharpness and contrast. But as the aperture increases whilst retaining the typical fast focal ratios(<F/6) required of spotting scopes, chromatic aberration becomes very aggressive indeed, requiring much more attention to detail. Many of these scopes have triplet objectives with one element employing fluorite crystal to stave off colour fringing around high-contrast targets. Fluorite is very expensive though, is very brittle and slightly water soluble, characteristics that reduce its durability in the long run. Another approach is to use two ED elements, similar to that employed by some fast refractor astrographs.
In this review, I wish to showcase a new 4-element, dual ED APO spotting scope by the Hong Kong-based company, Svbony, embodied in their new flagship line of premium spotting scopes, the SA401 series. Two models are available; the smaller 85mm and the 100mm showcased in this review. Furthermore, both retail for well under £1000.
First impressions:
Typical of Svbony, the SA401 100mm APO scope arrived in packaging I can only describe as immaculate. Double boxed, the instrument was sturdily positioned inside its white foam casing, together with various accessories, including a SV 402 1.25” eyepiece adapter, a 2 mega pixel SC001 imaging camera, and a black scope jacket to protect it from the elements. Let’s take a closer look at the instrument.
The magnesium alloy chassis of the SA401 100mm APO spotting scope is overlaid by a thick layer of forest green rubber armouring, with black extremities at the eyepiece and objective ends. The textured rubber single speed helical focuser is also finished in black. An attractive cherry-red ring positioned behind the retractable lens shade displays the essence of the SA401 design, employing two ED elements in its APO designation, and covering a magnification range of 25x to 75x.
The focused cone of light from the 4-element objective is reflected to the zoom eyepiece via a Porro prism using K9 optical glass(the optical equivalent of BK7) which is perfectly suitable for this F/5.6 instrument. In addition, K9 optical glass has a lower dispersion profile than BAK4, which helps a wider range of visible wavelengths to remain tightly focused before being magnified by the eyepiece.
Like their other spotting scopes, a large, round knob is located on the upper right of the chassis just ahead of the helical focuser. Once loosened, the built-in mounting bracket can be smoothly rotated through a full 360 degrees, which enables the user to achieve a comfortable viewing position irrespective of the location of the target.
The interior of the SA401 spotter is very clean and dust-free, as the photo below shows, with nicely machined baffles, and other blackened components to help reduce stray light and maximise image contrast.
Ergonomics:
The SA401 100mm APO 25x-75x tips the scales at 2.9kg, with the extra heft over other 100mm spotting scopes probably attributed to its 4-element objective. It feels really solid in the hand. Fit and finish are fantastic. The helical focuser moves smoothly and precisely allowing the user to bring any object beyond about 10m to a crystal clear focus.
The zoom eyepiece has plenty of eye relief. Testing with glasses on, I was able to access the entire field throughout the full magnification range of the instrument.
The zoom eyepiece can be removed from the instrument simply by unscrewing it. The user can then insert other eyepieces or the supplied SC001 imaging camera, by means of the SV406 adapter (also supplied), as shown in the photographs below:
For most of my initial testing, I mounted the SA401 on my trusty Vixen Porta II altazimuth mount via a small dovetail plate seen attached to the instrument in the second photo above. This mount has slow motion controls on both axes, allowing me to quickly centre a target or track it. For more portable work away from my home I elected to use the lighter weight SV402 mount with its fluid panning head. More on this later.
True Aperture Test:
A spotting scope costing this much ought to be operating at is full aperture. Researching other models in the same price range, such as the Celestron M2 Regal 100mm ED, revealed that it was not operating at 100mm but more like 90mm. I set up a simple flashlight test to measure the effective aperture of the SA401 and found it to be exactly 100mm.
That’s a reassuring result, as the whole point of using a large spotting scope like this is to avail of its additional light gathering power, especially in low light situations.
Bright Light Test: Not all people who buy and play around with spotting scopes will use them for nature studies. Some folk who live in high rise apartments like to get good views of the town or city in which they live, whether by day or by night. A spotting scope showing strong internal reflections from bright city lights would be off putting. To test this, I turned the SA401 on some bright street lights at various distances up to 100 yards away. I’m happy to report that there was very minimal reflections seen and only on the very brightest sources. This would be a good instrument to enjoy cityscapes after dark.
Optical Impressions:
Arriving late in the afternoon on a dull winter’s day, I aimed it at some trees about 100 yards in the distance. Racking the zoom eyepiece throughout its 25x to 75x range, I was able to get a very sharp, crisp and bright image with excellent contrast at all magnifications. Edge-to-edge sharpness appeared excellent in my test unit. Colours were natural: not too warm or cold. The apparent field of view(AFOV) became quite noticeably wider as I moved up in magnification though. Moving back to 25x I felt the field was a little narrower than I expected based on my experience with other zoom eyepieces. Looking closely at some branches against a grey sky showed that the instrument displayed very minimal colour fringing at the 75x setting. I could immediately tell this was a noticeable step up in colour correction from the SA405 85mm scope(an ED triplet) I reviewed a couple of years ago. Some of this residual CA was coming from the eyepiece for sure. Over the next few days, I took a series of images with my IPhone just handheld to the eyepiece set at 75x to give the reader an impression of the degree of colour correction evident in the scope in various lighting conditions, drawing on the excellent work of Roger Vine who reviewed the Zeiss Harpia 95mm spotting scope. Let’s take a closer look:
The above image zoomed in to look at the aerial:
And tree branches against a dull grey sky:
In the next two images, I present a view of a Rook perched high in a tree with the winter Sun behind me, followed by another Rook against a dull grey sky:
In one final test for chromatic aberration, I inserted the SC001 digital imaging camera into the optical train and pointed the properly acclimated scope at a waxing gibbous Moon. Here is a single shot I obtained:
Commentary on the Images
I hope the reader who carefully examines the images, which have not been processed in any significant way, will conclude, as I have, that colour fringing in the SA401 100mm spotting scope is extremely low or even insignificant. This residual secondary spectrum could easily be removed post processing of course. Reflecting on Mr Vine’s comments on Zeiss’ flagship spotting scope and his posted images, I would agree that even this very sophisticated (with a price tag to match!), shows significant lateral colour, even more I’d say, than the SA401 tested here. Vine also makes the point that observing a jet black Crow against a uniform grey background sky will show colour fringing even on a scope as sophisticated as the Zeiss Harpia. The reason is that high-end spotting scopes have far more complicated optical designs than regular ‘apochromatic’ astronomical refractors, and it shows when eliminating the last vestige of false colour in the image. What’s more, optical testing of high-end spotting scopes show they fall below that of high quality astronomical refractors, but work fine within the magnification range over which they were designed.
Vine likens the view through the Harpia to a Televue 85: a simple ED doublet, at the same magnification. I would add that this is very likely to be the case on any high end spotting scope advertised as ‘APO.’ If you want better apochromatic performance at powers beyond 60x, you’re going to have to move to a moderate focal length (>F/6) astronomical triplet ED refractor and put up with the world the wrong way round(read left-right reversed).
The reader will also take note of the edge performance of the SA401 spotting scope, as evidenced by the image of the trees, showing the sharpness right up to the field stops. That’s an impressive result, in my opinion, and quite in keeping with my initial visual report. The SA401 does not utilise a field flattener but its excellent edge sharpness is probably down to its smaller true field of view(1.77 degrees).
Further Optical Tests:
To further substantiate these comments I set up my Skywatcher Evostar ED 80- an 80mm F/7.5 FPL53 ED doublet APO using Schott optical glass – with the SA401 spotting scope to compare their colour correction on a high contrast target.The little Evostar is a proven standard in apochromatic performance. It shows only a trace of false colour on the highest contrast targets.
I took a handheld image with my IPhone at 75x on a telephone wire about 30 yards in dull, overcast conditions, at about 30m in the distance. Here are the results. The first image is taken through the Evostar 80ED and the second was shot with the SA401. The sky brightened just a little while taking the Evostar 80 ED image.
You can see that the colour correction is very comparable in both instruments. The decently slow F ratio of the ED doublet ensures a well corrected optic. Visually, I felt the Evostar ED had slightly better contrast and colour correction compared with the bigger SA401, though I did notice that the image was significantly brighter in the latter. The reader will note the left-right reversed image from the Evostar.
Under the Stars:
The collimation of the SA401 100mm spotting scope was perfect. I used the SC001 imager to get an image of the intra-focal Fraunhofer diffraction pattern of the bright star Capella, with limited results, as it’s not designed to take high resolution astronomical images. Nevertheless, you can see that the pattern is perfectly round, indicative of the proper squaring on of all the components in the optical train. A few of the outer diffraction rings are also in evidence:
With three outer planets on the sky at the time of writing I was keen to see how they appeared in the SA401. Saturn showed a beautiful yellow globe with the rings seen almost edge on at 75x. Mighty Jupiter, now exceptionally well positioned in the night sky at my northerly latitude, was magnificent at 75x. The creamy-white oblate sphere was tack sharp with no false colour, the planet crisscrossed by numerous belts and zones. I enjoyed several satellite eclipses over a period of weeks and I was impressed to be able to see the famous Great Red Spot at this relatively low power. Fiery Red Mars rising later in the constellation of Cancer, showed a tiny, crisp orange disk with no chromatic aberration that I could make out. The views I enjoyed at 75x inspired me to crank up the power to get a closer look.
As mentioned earlier, the SA401 is capable of accepting 1.25” eyepieces, but not all those I tested were able to come to focus at infinity. While simple short focal length Plossls and orthoscopics worked superbly, one of my absolute favourites, like the exceptional Svbony SV215 3-8mm planetary zoom, did not focus at infinity. By unscrewing the lenses from my 2x and 3x Barlow lenses and placing them ahead of these eyepieces, I could boost the magnification further(up to 200x). Another winning combination was inserting these amplifying lenses ahead of the SV191 7.2-21.6mm zoom to give a useful range of magnifications.
Taking advantage of exceptional seeing conditions during the second week of December, when a huge high-pressure bubble over Scotland brought calm but gloriously clear sub-zero temperatures, I turned the instrument on these planets once again. Saturn at 150x looked even more magnificent with its largest satellite, Titan, easy to see. Jupiter showed very nice details at 139x – swirls, spots and festoons, racing their way across the planet as it rotated. The instrument stubbornly refused to show any significant secondary spectrum. On one night, I watched as a Galilean satellite appear as a tiny ‘pimple’ on the limb of the planet, growing larger as it rounded mighty Jove, before ‘pinching off’ to join the other moons in orbit. Wonderful! In the wee small hours of a freezing December night, I cranked the magnification up to 180x to take a closer look at Mars. Though the ruddy Martian disk remained small, I was clearly able to make out the Syrtis Major and a prominent northern polar ice cap. A word of advice would come in handy here. The complex optical design of this spotting scope needs some time to acclimate. Taking it out on a whim from a warm indoor environment to observe the planets at these high powers will likely disappoint. I recommend a good hour of prior acclimation to get the best out of this telescope.
The SA401 100mm spotting scope shows stars as beautiful pinpoints with no chromatic halos around the brightest luminaries. While I’ve been blown away with the views served up by a high-quality 15 x 70 binocular, the view of the Pleiades through the SA401 on a dark, moonless night, was quite simply a show stopper! The beautiful asterism filled the low-power field at 25x, with its constituent blue- white stars shining gloriously. I could even make out some hints of the reflection nebula around Merope. And while my main telescopes are all optimised Newtonians, the view through the SA401 brought back fond memories from my small refractor days, with its crisp, high-contrast views.
As a double star specialist, I was keen to see how the SA401 fared on a variety of these targets. Choosing a power of about 150x, I managed excellent splits of Castor A & B, Epsilon 1 & 2 Lyrae, Polaris A & B, and the spectacular triple system, Beta Monocerotis. Rigel proved more elusive, but on a night of very good seeing, I managed a convincing sighting of its faint close-in companion. I could have visited many more but star hopping is a lot more challenging without a finder scope. Sighting along the side of the tube just has its limits!
All in all, the SA401 proved to be an impressive performer under the stars. It would really benefit from having a simple finder though. Come on Svbony! Stick a bracket on the side of the tube.
Field Craft:
A large, high-quality spotting scope like the SA401 deserves a decent mount for mobile terrestrial observations. I was looking for a tripod light enough to carry on foot, but strong enough to accommodate the sizeable weight of this big 100mm instrument. I took a punt on Svbony’s SA402 tripod which has a number of attractive features, including its light weight(2.2 kilos) a hydraulic gimbal and large pan handle for easy manoeuvres both in azimuth and altitude.
It comes with a quick-release bracket for rapid and easy mounting and dismounting of the spotting scope. The strong, extendable 30mm-diameter aluminium legs reach a height of about 65 inches: perfect for my standing observations and imaging applications. Fully retracted, it stands just 27 inches above the level ground.
The sturdy head can support weights up to 6 kilos. One other nice feature of the SA402 mount is the ability to lock the leg spreaders in place. The base of the legs also have decent rubber pads to add extra grip. Though I would not recommend the SA402 for astronomical observations, owing to its lack of slow motion, fine controls, it proved ideal for using the scope during the day.
The black neoprene jacket fits snugly around the telescope and provides extra protection of the optics against the elements.
To be Continued…….
A Work Commenced December 22 2024
2024 has been a great year for the binocular enthusiast. Sky Rover launched their new series of Banner Cloud (SRBC)binoculars in 42mm, 50mm and 56mm apertures which has taken the community completely by storm. Delivering world-class optics at very reasonable prices, they have silenced the hate-filled idiots who tried desperately to dismiss them, and completely outclassed all their competition. In the New Year, a new, smaller set of Banner Cloud binoculars with 32mm apertures and flat fields up to 12 angular degrees wide are sure to make heads turn and perform better than anything the woke, out-of-touch European manufacturers are churning out at a fraction of the exorbitant prices they currently demand. The hobby will likely be further transformed for the better by these new arrivals. Check out this hilarious thread over on the bino porn site. I detect a wee bit of cognitive dissonance from the usual brood of vipers. Are you not entertained?
Moi? I’m fully sated by their 8 x 42 model for daytime use. Its produced enchanting, crystal-clear images in all weathers. Not only has it been abroad with me during the summer, but it’s accompanied me on vacations to the Scottish Highlands earlier this autumn, where it continued to deliver in spades. I’ve nicknamed it the “Bruiser of Egos.”
Needless to say that it’s my favourite birding glass, giving alpha-class performance in every conceivable scenario and whatever the elements throw at it. Personally, I’ve no interest in the smaller 32mm models being launched next year as moving from 42mm to 32mm is an exercise in compromise: lower light gathering power and lower magnifications that are too pedestrian for my tastes, despite their wider fields of view. The 8 x 42 is a far better performer under lower light conditions, as I was recently reminded of testing a nifty, inexpensive, 7 x 35 classic Porro I binocular. An 8 x 42 is light years ahead if you want to see the night sky. Indeed, there is much truth in the general consensus that the 8 x 42 is the ideal, ‘jack of all trades’ instrument.
As wonderful as the 8 x 42 SRBC is, I’ve been thinking of ways of enriching my time with it, by capturing good images of some of the more memorable targets I observe through this amazing glass. My first foray into the world of wildlife photography was with the little Canon Powershot Zoom monocular which I’ve enjoyed using for almost a year. This device features a 100mm base setting with 4x optical zoom(400mm), as well as 2x digital zoom(800mm), but its small aperture had its limitations, including rather poor resolution, especially in compromised light. What I was after was a small, ultraportable camera with a powerful zoom function and that led me to buy-in and test both the Canon SX60HS and SX70HS with their super-powerful 65x optical zooms but while these bridge cameras performed well in the field, they were a tad on the heavy side, both tipping the scales at over 600g. Using a standard DSLR with a large and heavy telephoto lens was also out of the question. Then my attention was drawn to the Canon SX740HS. Launched in 2018, this little camera weighs just half that of the SX60 and SX70HS and can easily fit in the smallest pocket.
Going forward l, I was not looking for perfect pictures, just ones good enough to build up a portfolio of visual memories.
primarily garnered through the eyepieces of the SRBC 8 x 42.
Let’s take a closer look round the camera. Measuring just 4 inches across, 2.3 inches wide and 1 inch thick, the SX740HS weighs a mere 299g(with the battery and SD card inserted), about the weight of a pocket binocular. It has a 20.3 Mega pixel DIGIC 8, processor, Canon’s most advanced image processing system. The zoom lens goes from 24mm to 960mm focal length or 40x optical zoom, as well a further 1.6x- 4x digital zoom with 5-axis image stabilisation.
The Canon SX740HS has many of the standard features you’d expect to find on a quality bridge camera including, manual mode, aperture priority and shutter priority. For most applications, the auto mode takes care of the majority of situations you’re likely to encounter. It shoots video in 4K but only captures images in JPEG format. Big RAW files are of no interest to me, so that’s a non-issue. One downside of the SX740HS is its lack of a viewfinder which takes a bit of getting used to. The built-in 3-inch LCD screen is bright enough and has enough resolution(Very impressive!) to work in pretty much any lighting conditions, from bright sunshine to dull and overcast.
Though it’s not waterproof, I can tuck it away in my coat pocket should the weather change suddenly. It has built in WIFI and bluetooth connectivity if I wish to access the images remotely.
Some Results:
The SX740 HS is also a very capable lunar imager:
During my night walks over winter, I’ve managed a few long exposure photos with the SX740HS. The camera gives a maximum of 15 seconds @ ISO 100 but you can use exposure compensation to increase the light gathering power a little more. This is shot at 24mm focal length setting:
One of the great virtues of having a zoom camera that can bring things closer than any binocular is its ability to identify new bird species. And that’s exactly what happened during my walk around the estate on Christmas Eve. I was glassing the pond to see what was out on the water when my 8 x 42 picked up an unusual target. At first glance I thought it was a Black Headed Gull about 100m in the distance, but a second, more studied, look revealed it was something else entirely! It was then that I reached for my SX740HS and took some handheld shots at 40x zoom, and then closer in at 160x zoom:
When I got home, I put the second (enlarged) picture into the Merlin Birding App and it told me it was a male Northern Pintail Duck, a migratory species that probably arrived from Iceland or Northern Scandinavia to winter here.
How cool is that!
I’m positively delighted to have discovered this amazing little camera. It has proven ideal for capturing very satisfactory images to complement and extend the reach of the great views served up by my 8 x 42. It will be my constant companion in my ongoing exploration of the Creation.
Dr Neil English explores the world of binoculars in his latest book, Choosing & Using Binoculars, A Guide for Stargazers, Birders and Outdoor Enthusiasts.
“In a book of magnificent sweep and daring, Guillermo Gonzalez and Jay Richards drive home the argument that the old cliche of no place like home is eerily true of Earth. Not only that, but if the scientific method were to emerge anywhere, Earth is about as suitable as you can get. Gonzalez and Richards have flung down the gauntlet. Let the debate begin; it is a question that involves us all.”
Simon Conway Morris, former Chair of Evolutionary Palaeobiology, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge.
This thoughtful, delightfully contrarian book will rile up those who believe the ‘Copernican Principle’ is an essential philosophical component of modern science. Is our universe congenial to intelligent, observing life? Passionate advocates of the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) will find much to ponder in this carefully documented analysis.
Owen Gingerich, Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.
Full review coming soon……
A Work Commenced October 5 2024
For the past few years I’ve been using a very good 10 x 50 Opticron Porro prism binocular, which has served me well as a longer range terrestrial magnifier and also for conducting astronomical observations. I chose this instrument for its great build quality and bright and sharp optics. It’s small field of view(5.3 degrees), was enough to frame nearly all the celestial objects I visit throughout the observing year. This size of field also pretty much guaranteed a fairly flat field from edge to edge, keeping stellar images tight and sharp no matter where they’re placed within the field. Back in May however, I bought in an amazing new high-performance roof prism binocular: the Sky Rover Banner Cloud(SRBC) 10 x 50 for review, and its quality literally stunned me. This instrument sported an ultra-flat field, fully double the size of my old 10 x 50 and with excellent colour correction. And while I was able to demonstrate its daylight capabilities in Part I( see the preamble above), I was unable to evaluate its night sky performance owing to the encroach of summer twilight which graces the Scottish landscape between May and the end of July, during which time there is no proper darkness, with only the brightest stars visible in the heavens.
A Trip to Italy
During early July, our family took off on vacation to northern Italy, basing ourselves in a small commune called Revine Lago, Sottacroda, in the foothills of the great Dolomite Mountain Range, and right in the heart of the Prosecco wine cultivation region of northeastern Italy.
With a climate of hot summers and frequent rain, the area is lush with vegetation. I brought along the 10 x 50 as well as its smaller sibling, the 8 x 42 SRBC, to do some daytime birding and visual astronomy after dark. It was also an ideal environment to test the hardiness of these instruments as they were exposed to dust and intense summer heat, where daytime temperatures soared to well above 40C in direct sunlight. I can report that both instruments coped admirably in these hotter, dustier conditions.
While most of my birding was conducted with the smaller 8 x 42 glass, I also found myself using the larger 10 x 50 SRBC quite a bit at my local birding patch, overlooking Marine Lago, a small freshwater lake just a kilometre’s walk from our holiday home. For example, while the 8 x 42 frequently picked up some birds fishing the lake far from shore, it was difficult to make a reliable identification, as they remained small in the huge field of view of the 8 x 42, I was able to use the higher power of the 10 x 50 instrument to tease out more detail. And it paid off! These turned out to be Great Crested Grebes, a species I’ve never personally encountered before.
Both the 8 x 42 and 10 x 50 are extremely stable in my hands. I can hold the 8 x 42 almost rock steady owing to its long barrels and excellent inertia. The 10 x 50 is marginally less stable, of course, more due to the magnification than the weight. My own experiences with lower mass models has definitely shown me that they are less stable at any given power. And if it’s a windy day, I’ll always opt for a heavier glass. This is a very overlooked phenomenon in my opinion, as many folk mistakingly opt for smaller, lighter glasses that are easier to transport. But in my book, optimal inertia overrides such concerns under most conditions.
In early July in northern Italy, sundown occurs shortly after 9 PM local time, although full darkness doesn’t come until after 11 PM. Venturing out about 10:30PM to assess sky conditions, I was greeted by a truly amazing sight: fireflies! Apparently, this location provides the exact hot and humid micro environment for their thriving. I stood in sheer amazement as they flashed in front of my eyes, flying off to gather in nearby bushes. By 11:30 PM they had vanished!
Sky conditions were not as dark as I’d have liked though: a solid Bortle 4, a little bit brighter than my skies in rural central Scotland. Nonetheless, I made full use of the true darkness beginning with Sagittarius and Scorpius well placed in the south around local Midnight. These constellations are too low in the sky at my far northerly latitude of 56 degrees north, so I relished the opportunity to preferentially observe them, together with some selected targets in Ophiuchus. Sitting comfortably in a reclining chair I used the 10 x 50 hand-held to drink up the views. The instrument picked up the rich river of Milky Way starlight coursing through Sagittarius, looking ‘downtown’ as it were, into the centre of our galaxy. Sweeping northwest of the constellation’s brightest luminary, I moved the glass over the Teapot asterism and then on to the Spout, placing Lambda Sagittarii on the eastern edge of my binocular portal, where the 10 x 50 SRBC’s great field of view allowed me to make out the tidy globular cluster M28, and further west, the soft, ghostly light from both the Lagoon(M17) and Trifid Nebulae(M20), with the bright open cluster M21 above them to the north. A delightful view if ever I’ve experienced one!
Moving further west into Scorpius, I centred the bright ruddy star, Antares, and immediately picked up the faint glow of the magnificent globular cluster M4. Spanning an area roughly the size of the full Moon, it’s the closest cluster of its kind to the solar system – a mere 7,200 light years from the solar system. Most of them are situated far out in the halo of our galaxy. Just to the north of Antares, I could see the comely triple system Rho Ophiuchi, arranged in a neat little triangle. I forsook looking further south towards the celestial gems in the Scorpion’s tail owing to the encroach of a light dome from Vittorio Venito, about six miles to the south of our commune.
Positioning my binocular field between northern Sagittarius and northern Scorpius, I examined the region of sky around Theta Ophiuchi, when I quickly chanced on the pretty binocular double 36 Ophiuchi, with its golden primary and fainter white secondary. In the opulent 7.5 degree field of the 10 x 50 SRBC, I picked up the faint glow of yet another summer globular cluster – M19 off to its west. Ophiuchus has many resplendent globular clusters. Centring Marfik and panning slightly in a southeastward direction I was able to bag two more in the same field: M12 and M10 – both about 12 billion years old! Splendid!
The great river of stars of the summer Milky Way was plainly visible overhead and, sitting back in a recliner, I aimed the 10 x 50 SRBC at Sadr in the heart of Cygnus. The view was stunning! Myriad stars of various degrees of glory filled the field, remaining sharp pinpoints from edge to edge. The dust obscured region immediately around Sadr provided some gorgeous contrast surrounded by a blizzard of faint stars. I had to have a quick look at the fetching colours of O^1 and O^2 Cygni. Their beautiful hues stood out starkly against a coal black sky.
In the following days, we hooked up with my family to attend my nephew’s wedding in the grounds of the beautiful medieval fortress of Castello San Salvatore on the afternoon of July 9.
A beautiful crescent Moon greeted us in the sky after sunset. Once we got home, I fetched the 10 x 50 for a quick peek. And I wasn’t disappointed: she was marble white with no colour fringing in the centre of the field, the vast southern highlands bristling with craters. It was a fine ending to a most beautiful day!
After a few days in Venice, we returned home to the cool of Scotland. It was a great experience but ultimately too hot for my liking.
Both SRBCs coped admirably though in the intense Italian heat, serving up delightful views by day and by night.
Astronomical Forays under Scottish Skies
While the 10 x 50 SRBC is good to go for short, hand-held astronomical viewing, it certainly benefits from stabilisation using either a tripod or monopod, neither of which were available to me on the Italy trip. For all of my observations here in Scotland, I opted to use the extremely robust and well designed Oberwerk Series 2000 monopod, with a trigger grip mechanism built into the ball & socket mount, which enables the user to alter both the altitude and azimuth movements very easily. At its full extension, it allows six footers like me to observe targets fairly comfortably, even when they are situated near the zenith. This kind of stabilisation rig greatly facilitates studying astronomical targets for longer periods, reducing fatigue and revealing fainter objects within its vast field of view.
Beginning my observations in mid-August, with the return to true dark skies to our latitude, the circumpolar constellations of Cassiopeia and Perseus are already well placed high in the eastern sky after midnight.
The Milky Way runs richly through Cassiopeia and the 10 x 50 revealed stunning panoramic views within its generous field. To put this somewhat in perspective, the SRBC field is much wider than the 6.6 degree field of the Swarovski EL 10 x 50 and it’s even a tad wider than the newly-launched NL Pure 10 x 52(7.4 degrees)! Couple this with an ultra-flat field and excellent control of chromatic aberration and you can begin to appreciate just how compelling the views are through this instrument.
My first sweep through Cassiopeia with the 10 x 50 really thrilled me. Starting at Ruchbah, sparkling in its striking blue-white light, revealed a few beautiful star clusters in the same field of view, most notably M103, with the Owl(or ET) cluster(NGC 457) off to its south southeast. Several other fainter clusters showed up in the same starfield. After admiring the prominent orange colour of Schedar, I followed a line through to Caph where I picked up the prominent misty patch of M52 about 6 degrees off to its northeast. About 3 degrees south of Caph, the same field easily picked up the open cluster NGC 7789 spanning the size of the full Moon. Some observers have remarked that it looks like the head of a tailless comet. I certainly can’t argue with that description! Scanning the area between Gamma Cassiopeiae and Caph easily picked up the smaller star clusters NGC 129 and 225 in a rich background of Milky Way stars.
Before leaving Cassiopeia, I noticed the bright star, Capella, had reached a decent altitude in the northeast. Then aiming the 10 x 50 at a spot roughly mid-way between Epsilon Cassiopeiae(the fainter star marking the tip of the Wonky W) and Capella, I was quickly able to bag Kemble’s Cascade in Camelopardalis- a remarkable line of about 15 faint stars extending over 2.5 degrees, with a single brighter star marking its centre(almost!). The cascade ends by bifurcating into two distinct starry patches, one of which is marked by a compact 6th magnitude open cluster, NGC 1502. Doubtless, the great light gathering power and huge field of view of the instrument greatly facilitates finding this showpiece object easily and quickly.
By October, Perseus is very well placed for observation high in the eastern sky. Pointing the 10 x 50 SRBC at Alpha Persei(Mirfak) serves up a view par excellence. The entire field is peppered with bright stars. Roughly half of the two dozen or so members lie within a mere 2 degrees of Alpha Persei, with the remaining members fanning out in stunning swirls and streams of starlight. Many of the members of this loose open cluster are youthful, hot white stars, yet the excellent colour correction of the SRBC picks up members with a different hues; orange, yellow and creamy white.
Moving up the sky to a spot roughly midway between Perseus and Cassiopeia the naked eye easily picks out a misty patch that is transformed into yet another visual treat in the 10 x 50: the famous Double Cluster. Steadied on the monopod, the instrument presents this cluster in all its glory but the eye is also drawn to a prominent curving chain of stars moving off northward ending in the enchanting Stock 2 open cluster. The Double Cluster and its rich Milly Way hinterland is arguably one of the most beautiful sights in all the heavens!
Placing Algol, the Demon star, on the eastern side of the field of view, you’ll see the bright open cluster, M34 off to the west. The SRBC resolves about a dozen of the brighter members of this condensed cluster well, with the remaining constituents creating a misty backdrop easily covering the size of the full Moon.
This time of year the constellation of Cepheus looms large high in the northwest and I couldn’t resist the temptation to have a look at one of the most fascinating and colourful stars in the heavens: Mu Cephei, or Herschel’s Garnet Star. By aiming at a patch of sky between Alpha and Zeta Cephei, the large field of view of the view of the 10 x 50 SRBC very quickly picked up its unmistakable deep red hue. It’s a stunning sight in this instrument – glowing across the light years, like the dying embers of coal fire. About one binocular field off to the northeast of Mu Cephei towards Cassiopeia, the binocular showed me the faint but exceedingly rich star cluster Trumpler 37, which spans an area roughly 3 full Moon diameters in area. It’is a lovely sight in the 10 x 50 on a dark, October night.
Moving round the autumn sky, the Andromeda Galaxy M31 and its satellites, M32 to its south and M110 further away to its north are fine sights in the SRBC. More challenging is M33 in Triangulum. But it proved easy pickings for this wide angle 10 x 50, simply by placing Alpha Trianguli towards the eastern end of the field when the ghostly glow of this face-on spiral galaxy appears to its west, and with plenty of room to spare.
Waiting until the wee small hours of a dark moonless night, Taurus, Orion and Gemini begin to dominate the eastern sky. Mighty Jupiter rises early with the stars of Taurus and shines like a bright, distant lantern with its steady, creamy white light. The stabilised 10 x 50 easily shows the ephemeral dance of its four large Galilean moons, constantly shifting their positions hour by hour, as they orbit the giant planet. Mars rises later, its dimmer but unmistakable ruddy hue seen just under Wasat in the midsection of the Twins.
Auriga, the celestial Charioteer, is also very well placed at these ungodly hours of an October night. The three Messier open clusters, M36, M37 and M38 show up beautifully in the SRBC, within the same field of view, with M36 being partially resolved into stars.
The Hyades and Pleiades are spectacular objects in the 10 x 50. The horns of the celestial Bull fit comfortably within its large field, and I was delighted to see the lovely open cluster, NGC 1674 to the eastern edge of the same field, something quite beyond the capability of my old 10 x 50 Porro.
Orion holds many treasures for the dedicated star gazer, but you’ll have to wait until about 4.00 AM this time of year before it approaches the meridian. The Belt Stars and its surrounding cluster, Collinder 70, is a spectacular sight on a night of good transparency, with the familiar Snake asterism showing up prominently.
Further south, the Sword Handle of Orion is a sight for sore eyes steadied on a monopod, but I also enjoyed studying the lovely group of stars in the north of the constellation- Meissa – a neat little Pythagorean triangle of brighter stars, with a delicate line of three fainter suns linking Lambda Orionis to Phi^1. Incidentally, Meissa lies just north of a line joining bright red Betelgeuse and Bellatrix, which are conveniently separated by 7.55 angular degrees of dark sky. This was a good test to measure the true field size of the 10 x 50 SRBC and, sure enough, they were just too far apart to fit inside the field.
Finally, at about 4:30 AM, looking east of Orion, Gemini loomed large, with Mars, a bright ‘nova’ decorating its mid-section. I took the opportunity to seek out the wonderful open cluster M35, clearly fan-shaped, with many of its stars resolved, framed by two beautiful orange stars, Mu & Eta Geminorum, pointing the way in the same field of view. Such an enchanting sight!
Conclusions
The above observations are but a small selection of celestial objects I visited over the last few months with the 10 x 50 SRBC. Incidentally, a new and thorough review of its 12 x 50 sibling has also been published and is well worth a look!
Starting too early in the evening shows up countless artificial satellites: many dozens seen on a typical evening, with sometimes two or three seen crossing through the same field! As the night progresses, those orbiting at lower altitudes disappear first, with those placed in higher orbits fading out last. Temperatures ranged from a balmy 25C on the warmest nights to a few degrees below zero on the coolest.
Throughout these vigils, the SRBC performed flawlessly, with no change in the kinematics of the focus wheel and no fogging up of the eyepieces and objective lenses due in part to the excellent hydrophobic coatings applied to the exterior lenses. It’s been a joyous experience looking through such high quality light cups, their enormous fields making it much easier to find the more elusive objects visited. Alas, I have as yet not been lucky enough to bag the new comet gracing our western skies after sunset, but I hope to finally glimpse this icy interloper from the Oort Cloud, before it disappears into the cold dark of interstellar space.
Wish me good luck won’t you!
Update December 6 2024: I did manage to see Comet Tsuchinshan on the evening of October 14 and again on October 17 using the 10 x 50 SRBC. Past its prime I know, but still well worth the effort! Mars moved from Gemini into Cancer on October 20, and in the wee small hours of a very blustery December 6, it was observed just over two degrees north of the celebrated Beehive Cluster. A glorious sight to see right now. It should inch a little closer to the Beehive in the hours to come!
Neil English has been observing the night sky from the tender age of eleven, and has written 8 books about these experiences.
Sometimes it pays to turn down the light and enjoy the moment……..
In this new blog, I’ll be explaining why I still love and regularly use a late 1950s E. Leitz Binuxit 8 x 30.
Tune in soon for full details……
A Work Commenced November 29 2024
A few months back I bought in two of Canon’s Image stabilised binoculars: the 10 x 30 IS II and the 12 x 36 IS III for testing and evaluation. Having been suitably impressed with the smaller 8 x 20 model, I was keen to see how these larger units would perform. Of the two instruments tested, one emerged as a firm favourite- the 12 x36 IS III.
Both instruments have nice ergonomics. Focusing is precise and backlash free. These instruments focus by moving the objective lenses back and forth. The rubberised armouring affords excellent grip too. By storing these instruments in water-tight Tupperware containers with about 150g of silica gel desiccant, I was able to quickly render them fog proof. The interiors become bone dry after a few days of storage, allowing me to use them for extended periods in cold weather.
The 10 x 30 delivers crisp images from edge to edge. It is small and lightweight, and provides a good magnification boost at 10x in a 6 degree field. In a series of handheld tests against my 10 x 50 SRBC, the 10 x 30 IS II was easily shown to deliver finer details of critical targets at distance while the stabilisation button was engaged. Contrast is good as is resistance to glare. Examining the entrance pupils of both instruments shows well executed control of stray light as the photos below attest.
Both the 10 x 30 and 12x 36 exhibit modest chromatic aberration on high-contrast targets, with the 12 x 36 IS III exhibiting substantially more than the 10 x 30 unit. In contrast, the world-class optics on the 10 x 50 SRBC APO delivers virtually no colour fringing all the way across its enormous 7.5 degree ultra-flat field.
I noted no significant differences in the degree of stabilisation on both instruments, even though the 10 x 30 has a more generous range of stability at +/-1.0 degrees( as opposed to +/-0.9 degrees for the larger 12 x 36. I did note a slight defocusing of the image on both instruments as the stabilisation button began to be engaged, but a few moments later, they would settle down to give a nice, sharp image of various field targets. As well as seeing finer details than any handheld 10x binocular, I found I could tweak the focus post stabilisation ever so slightly to get the finest images these instruments can deliver.
I would recommend the 10 x 30 as a fine ultraportable platform for casual bird watching or nature studies. It’s also quite decent on the night sky but ultimately it proved to be inferior to the views garnered by the 12 x 36 ISIII.
I’ve been experimenting with various types of battery with these instruments. I found alkaline batteries to be troublesome to use on extended walks in cold weather when they would quickly discharge. I then switched to rechargeable lithium ion batteries. Despite warnings that they may overheat, I found them perfectly suitable for my purposes, delivering better cold weather performance in sub zero conditions, as well as longer lasting power delivery. I can also leave them inside the instruments while not in use without the worry of leakage and corrosion of the electrodes.
The 12 x 36IS III is an excellent, all-purpose instrument, delivering good daytime views. Weighing only a little more than the 10 x 30, it can be carried easily over miles of countryside. The extra magnification comes in real handy for identifying smaller birds at distance, though it struggles a little under dull winter light with its small(3mm) exit pupils.
What I absolutely love about the 12×36 ISIII is its astronomical performance. With the shorter days of autumn and winter, I’ve started night walks around Culcreuch Castle Estate, when I take along the 12 x 36 IS III to combine my love of stargazing with my enthusiasm for walking. In this capacity, the instrument gets regular use after dark. I have thoroughly enjoyed views of the showpiece glories of the night sky: with my eyes fully dark-adapted and away from village lights, I have soaked up magnificent views of the Pleiades, Hyades, the Double Cluster, the Alpha Persei Cluster, the Coathanger asterism and Kemble’s Cascade to name but a few. The 36mm objectives provide far more compelling views of fainter star clusters such as M36, M37 and M38 in Auriga than the smaller 10 x 30. M35 in Gemini and M34 in Perseus are well resolved. Collinder 70 is very impressively rendered, as is the Sword Handle of Orion. And while my 10 x 50 SRBC produces brighter images with more stellar sparkle, the smaller exit pupils of the 12 x 36IS III, serves up a darker hinterland, often producing more aesthetically pleasing views. Indeed the stabilised 12 x 36 shows me just as much as the larger 10 x 50 handheld.
Views of the Moon are excellent in the 12 x 36, with its 12 x delivering stunning views of maria and crater fields. Though some chromatic aberration is present, I don’t find it distracting. Jupiter shows a nice, clean, yellow-white disk. The Galilean satellites are well resolved once adequately placed away from the glare of the planet.
I’ve visited many binocular doubles with the 12 x 36 IS III. For example, Albireo is very nicely resolved handheld, the green and golden components showing up nicely. And just southeast of Vega, I was able to cleanly resolve Zeta Lyrae, the components of which are separated by 44 arc seconds with one component over a full magnitude brighter than the other. This is a challenge for a non-stabilised binocular but rendered easy using the stabilisation button on the 12 x 36 ISIII.
One final thing to mention: The Porro II optical design of these Canon IS binoculars render stars as very tightly focused and pinpointed, in contrast to what many roof prism binoculars serve up.
All in all, I’m thrilled to bits with the 12 x36 ISIII binocular. Any quibbles? Maybe just one: it’s less than stellar close focusing compared with many roof prism instruments I’ve enjoyed. It’s a small drawback for birding but not a deal breaker.
Read many more reviews of binoculars of all sizes in my book, Choosing and Using Binoculars: a Guide for Stargazers, Birders and Outdoor Enthusiasts.
A Work Commenced October 23 2024
Product: Leica Ultravid HD 8 x 42
Country of Manufacture: Portugal
Chassis: Magnesium alloy overlaid by protective rubber
Exit Pupil: 5.25
Eye Relief: 15.5mm
Field of View: 130m@1000m(7.4 degrees)
Dioptre Compensation: +\-4
Coatings: Fully broadband multicoated, AquaDura Hydrophobic coatings on ocular and objective lenses
ED glass: Yes, Schott Fluorite
Field Flatteners: No
Waterproof: Yes
Nitrogen Purged: Yes
Close Focus: 3m advertised, 2.9m measured
Tripod Mountable: Yes
Dimensions:12.1 x 14.2cm
Weight: 790g advertised, 792g measured
Accessories: Soft padded carry case, objective covers, ocular rain guard, padded neck strap, instruction manual, test certificate & warranty card
Warranty: 10 Years
Price: £1000 (bought used), £1799 new
The Leica Ultravid series of high performance binoculars were introduced in December 2003, followed in 2006 by their so-called HD series incorporating Schott Fluoride glass in their objectives. Finally in 2016, Leica brought the latest incarnation of the Ultravid to market with their HD Plus line of binoculars which offered slightly better coatings to improve light transmission. Long sought after by binocular enthusiasts for their elegant design and uncompromising optical performance, they’ve remained a favourite among birders and other outdoor enthusiasts.
That said, in the past few years new and highly advanced binoculars promising equal or better optical performance at a fraction of the retail price of the Ultravids have now come to the fore. I was keen to see how these expensive Leica binoculars stacked up against one of these products in particular: the Sky Rover Banner Cloud (SRBC)APO 8 x 42. The results were very enlightening to say the least!
Having related highly accurate data concerning the SRBC APO 8 x 42 and 10 x 50 models – now corroborated by dozens of user testimonials – these instruments have been almost universally lauded for their sensational optical performance at an amazing price, I was keen to see how they would perform against a known quantity in the high-end binocular market, so I bought in a used Ultravid HD 8 x 42, which has essentially the same optical and mechanical features of the newer HD Plus model.
Having previously shown the SRBC 8 x 42 to be optically superior to both the Zeiss Conquest HD (see post #1069) and the Zeiss SFL binocular, I knew going in that the Ultravid HD would be facing a formidable challenge.
A Brief Look Around the Leica Ultravid HD
For many, the Leica Ultravid represents the pinnacle of optical and mechanical refinement. With a magnesium alloy chassis, a titanium alloy focus wheel, overlaid by a sexy black vulcanised rubber armouring, you can see why these instruments were drooled over by many on binocular porn sites like Birdforum.
The underside reveals thumb indents- a feature designed to baby the user into positioning their thumbs while looking through the instrument. Thankfully this feature has largely fallen out of fashion. I personally dislike them and find it patronising that a company as big as Leica would presume to know anything about how I like to handle binoculars.
The twist up eyecups are excellent: some of the best in the industry. They offer plenty of eye relief and can be unscrewed to assist cleaning the ocular lenses.
The objective lenses have excellent multilayer coatings that maximise light transmission (of the order of 90 per cent) and the outer lenses of both the objectives and eyepieces are treated with the company’s patented AquaDura film designed to prevent the build up of water droplets while glassing in adverse weather conditions.
The focus wheel is large and centrally placed, with a built-in dioptre adjustment accessed by pulling out the top part of the objective. Once you’re done with that adjustment, you simply pop the focuser back down to lock it in place.
But while many of these features first found on European- made binoculars were considered state of the art only a few years ago, cutting-edge Chinese-made binoculars like the SRBCs now share many of these features, and then some. It has comparable or slightly higher light transmission, excellent hydrophobic coatings on its outer lenses and twist-up eyecups of comparable quality. They can also be unscrewed for cleaning.
Thankfully though, the SRBC dispensed with a locking dioptre. Instead it is smooth and continuous, avoiding the common problem of shifting out of place as it is slotted into position.
Examining the exit pupils of the Leica Ultravid HD showed excellent results as you can see below. The pupils are perfectly round and have very dark surroundings indicative of excellent stray light control
That said, the same is true for the SRBC binoculars as my review link above shows.
Comparative Testing
High-end, full-size binoculars like the Ultravid HD series are necessarily chunky. They just have many optical components that make them so. Recent efforts by Zeiss to cut the weight down by mounting thinner lenses etc invariably result in compromises, as I was to discover field testing their SFL range. Accordingly, the 8 x 42 Ultravid HD weighs 792g while the SRBC 8 x 42 tips the scales at 883g, so not much difference there.
The differences did begin to show however, once I began to handle both instruments.
For one thing, I was shocked to discover that the vulcanised rubber armouring on the Leica Ultravid had come loose on the underside of the binocular, manifesting a crunching sound as I pressed my thumbs on the belly of the instrument. Worse still, I was sorely disappointed with the focus wheel on this unit. It was sluggish, with uneven kinematics, and to top it all off, displayed an alarming level of free play. Granted this was an older binocular but Leica has supposedly prided itself in creating products with great longevity. Indeed, this was one of the more desperate manoeuvres by the bino porn stars, who, having conceded the optical excellence of the SRBC (more on this shortly), began looking for other ways to diss them. Well, based on my experience with this Leica Ultravid HD, it’s clearly in need of a service. So much for longevity eh?
The Leica Ultravid HD has a short and stocky frame compared with the SRBC 8 x 42. I found it harder to hold it steady, as the large bridge makes it more difficult to wrap one’s hands around compared with the longer barrels and shorter bridge found on the SRBC. Moreover, the silky smooth focuser and lack of free play on the latter renders it much more responsive to making quick focus adjustments. Overall, I much preferred the ergonomics on the Sky Rover.
The SRBC hydrophobic coating proved the equal of the Leica(Aqua Dura) in being able to disperse a thick layer of condensation applied to the 42mm objectives. Both instruments dispersed this condensation with equal speed.
Unquestionably, the Leica Ultravid HD has very fine optics, but I judged the SRBC to be superior overall. Shining an intensely bright beam of white light from across my living room showed up excellent results with both instruments. I would give the SRBC the nod though in having slightly less internal reflections (read very minimal).
Glassing rocks and the grain on the trunks of trees in the middle distance showed their sharpness to be identical in the centre. The Ultravid HD might have had slightly more ‘sparkle’ and slightly more saturated colours but the differences were very subtle to say the least. Glare suppression was very good in the Leica but it was inferior to the SRBC, as evidenced by glassing some shaded vegetation immediately below a bright afternoon Sun.
Off axis aberrations were better controlled in the SRBC too, especially pincushion distortion, which was much more pronounced in the Ultravid HD. Chromatic aberration was excellently controlled in the centre field of both instruments, but was a little bit more pronounced in the Ultravid HD near the field stops. This appears to be a recurring issue with all Leica binoculars, including their flagship Noctivid model.
Close focus was considerably better in the SRBC (2.09m)than in the Leica, which came in very near 3m in comparison. With a field of view of 9.1 degrees, the SRBC serves up a portal 50 percent larger than the Leica Ultravid HD and it really shows! To my eyes, the SRBC view was just far more compelling, with excellent edge-to-edge sharpness. In contrast, the image looked noticeably softer at the edges of the Ultravid HD. Image brightness appeared the same in both instruments after sunset, and far into the dusky twilight.
Left disappointed, I contacted the seller of the Leica requesting a refund, explaining the deficiencies of its ergonomics, and advising that it be sent in for a service. After resisting for a while, the seller eventually agreed to refund me the money.
In summary, these comparative tests left me in no doubt that the SRBC is a better, more technologically advanced binocular than the Leica Ultravid HD. Indeed, another report issued by a chap in South Korea revealed the 10 x 42 SRBC was also superior to Leica’s flagship Noctivid 10 x 42 as well.
A Work Commenced October 12 2024.
Product: Opticron Discovery SP 7 x 28
Country of Origin: China
Chassis: Aluminium & Polycarbonate overlaid by protective rubber
Exit Pupil: 4mm
Eye Relief: 18mm
Field of View: 136mm@1000m(7.8 angular degrees)
Dioptre Compensation: +\-4
IPD Range: 52-72mm
Coatings: Fully multicoated.
ED glass: No
Waterproof: Yes
Nitrogen Purged: Yes
Close Focus: 3m advertised, 2.76m measured
Tripod Mountable: Yes
Dimensions:15.4 x 10.5cm
Weight: 345g advertised, 380g measured
Accessories: Soft padded carry case, objective covers, ocular rain guard, padded neck strap, microfibre cloth, instruction manual
Warranty: 5 Years
Price(UK): £69.00
I’m delighted and excited to provide my initial impressions of a charming little Porro prism binocular newly launched by Opticron: the Discovery SP 7 x 28. I ordered a unit from the Birder’s Store, Worcester for £69, who I highly recommend, and two days later the package arrived. A small blue box greeted me inside, containing the instrument tucked safely inside a soft padded black case, together with a logoed neoprene neck-strap, rubber ocular rain guard, and tethered objective caps, a lens cleaning cloth, instruction card and warranty (5 years) details. Tipping the scales at just 380g, it weighs scarcely more than a typical pocket binocular, yet delivers a much more satisfying and comfortable optical experience than any pocket glass I’ve personally encountered.
The accessories provided were all excellent too – something I rarely see in products costing many times more!
The Discovery SP 7 x 28 is small, sleek and good looking, with a very well armoured, thick rubber substrate protecting the aluminium and polycarbonate chassis. The central hinge is strong and holds your ideal IPD very well. It features modern, twist-up eyecups that work well for those who wear glasses and those who don’t. Three positions are offered and all lock in place firmly. The large, ribbed focus wheel on my unit operates smoothly with a fair amount of friction, turning through 1.5 revolutions anticlockwise from closest focus ( a decent 2.76m) to well beyond infinity. This will therefore be good news for those with very short sightedness!
The right eye dioptre is located under the right eyepiece, and is reassuringly stiff, ensuring it won’t easily move out of place during field use. There is also provision to mount the instrument on a tripod if required.
I detected only the smallest amount of play in the focus wheel which didn’t detract much from my visual impressions after testing it in dull, overcast conditions and in bright, sunny conditions. The view is very impressive: bright, accurate colours, tack sharp in the centre and only a little softer at the edges of its 7.8 degree field. Depth of field is also noticeably better than an 8 x 30 glass. Star testing showed precise collimation as well as excellent, pinpoint stars nearly all the way to the field stops, with only a trace of field curvature and astigmatism creeping in at the extreme edges.
What really surprised me was the darkness around the exit pupils: truly remarkable for a binocular costing so little! Indeed, they were substantially better than those exhibited by the Kowa YF II unit I recently showcased. Control of internal reflections was also very impressive, as judged by observing a very bright light source across a darkened room. In addition, when I turned the glass on a bright gibbous Moon on the night of October 14, it showed a very impressive image, with Saturn just a few degrees away from it. Lunar details were crystal clear and sharp, showing remarkably little chromatic aberration, and with only a moderate amount of ghosting that didn’t bother me that much.
Briefly comparing the Opticron to the Kowa YF II, I formed the distinct impression that these were cut from the same cloth, so to speak, with similar build quality and overall optical performance, showing only moderate levels of pincushion distortion off axis.
Like the venerable Kowa YF II, the Discovery SP feels great in the hands. It provides a very comfortable, stable and pleasant viewing experience, with its generous 4mm exit pupil. While the AFOV is noticeably smaller than the Kowa YF II( 55 vs 60 degrees), it never felt constrained to my eyes. Performance against the light is surprisingly good – even a tad better than the Kowa costing twice as much!
It is small enough to slip into an ordinary coat pocket.
I captured a few hand-held images through the Opticron Discovery SP 7 x 28 using my Canon Powershot Zoom monocular giving a power of 8.4x( See below):
It’s exceptionally easy to capture images with this feather light instrument.
Conclusions & Recommendations
Cor, Blimey!
What a delightful little instrument!
Who says you have to cough up a lot of dosh in order to enjoy a pleasant optical experience? Those days are well & truly behind us!
With its generous IPD range, the Discovery SP is ideal for kids and those with smaller faces. Optically very impressive and surprisingly well built, most anyone would be pleased with this little instrument. It’s an ideal travel binocular with its pocket-glass weight and diminutive physical dimensions, ideal for stowing away in a small space. Opticron has hit the ground running with this new arrival, and I think it will prove to be very popular!
Very highly favoured!
Neil English delights in bringing exceptional binocular bargains to the masses. Please support his ongoing work by purchasing a copy of his latest book: Choosing & Using Binoculars: a Guide for Stargazers, Birders and Outdoor Enthusiasts.