Binoculars and Tripods: worth it?

Binoculars are fantastic to look at the sky. The small increase is fully offset by the large field of view, providing fantastic images that illuminate both eyes of the beholder, against only one of the telescopes. And when we go looking for a pair of binoculars, so we were tempted by bigger lenses, like 70 or 80mm. But unfortunately many people says that they are too heavy and therefore we, sedentary nerds, will not have the strength to carry these monsters for more than a few minutes.

A miracle solution, of course, is on a tripod. I read it all the time on forums Astronomy. So if you dropped with a parachute on my blog here that is looking for binoculars and tripods, before you rush to buy a site binoculars 20x80mm three pounds, thinking they have wonderful nights of observation using a tripod, I wanted make some notes.

I've had the experience of using a binocular with tripod and have to say: it was horrible. Unlike refractor telescopes normal binoculars does not come with a diagonal of 90 degrees, which allows the observer to look down or up forward when you're watching the sky. And that, believe me, generates a tremendous discomfort. Moreover, if you want to look up using the tripod, so this will have to be taller than you. In my case It is not easy to find tripods over six feet, my height.

The solution would be to use the tripod while sitting in a chair, but you will soon realize that you'll got totally immobilized, taking the binoculars to his best quality is the ability to wander freely across the sky in a few minutes.

In astronomy the best viewpoints are in the highest places of the sky. The farther the horizon less atmosphere the light of the star have to cross to get to your eyes, which makes a big difference. I spent a few months using a binocular on a tripod until I realized that it was legal for use on terrestrial objects, but for astronomy he soon became useless.

A good and great binoculars for astronomy would be like the following, which has 90 degree diagonal materials, providing the comfort needed to observe objects higher on the horizon, but unfortunately these devices are extremely rare in Brazil (my country) and also very expensive.

Binocular prisms with large diagonals of 90 degrees, which ensures comfort in the observations. Image http://www.teleskop-express.de/

The tip I give is: if you do not have binoculars and want to buy one to start astronomy, does not fall into the illusion of buying a unit of three pounds and a tripod thinking that all your problems will be solved. Stay in a unit with a maximum 60mm, but know his weight before buying. In the end, I must know that the a friendly binoculars of the astronomer will always be 50mm, with a maximum increase of 10 times, which will be always with you and will be always at hand to study and contemplate the sky, ensuring comfort and priceless hours of observation in a goodnight.

Another problem related to tripod and binoculars is that will not be any small tripod with 5mm thick legs that will let you good observations. The tripod has to be strong and firm not to shake too, so it will not cost cheap. In the end, the binocular along with a good tripod will cost more than 1000 dollars. If dealing with a encumbrance of these, at this price, then leave immediately for a telescope.

But wait, all is not lost. There is an interesting solution, in my opinion, if you are able to do, can solve the problem and make the observation of the sky with binoculars on tripods quite enjoyable. It would make an apparatus as shown below, with a mirror-aligned binocular, playing the prism diagonal. I imagine that with a device like the view with binoculars should be very fun and comfortable, the way it should be. Only well worth it.

A mirror placed below the binoculars, as this interesting homemade tripod, lets bring binoculars with the necessary comfort. Image http://www.swindonstargazers.com/

Things you will learn when you want to buy a good binocular (in Brazil)!

Excited to be returning to practice astronomy, I decided to compile below some things I learned about binoculars during this time. Some go completely against what I imagined when I started to practice astronomy. I hope that helps those who want to buy a pair of binoculars.

The first thing you need to know is about binoculars that are sold from street dealers in Brazil for US$10 to US$20. They are pure garbage, made with plastic lenses. Comparing the quality of these binoculars with something decent is a joke. In many cases you see better without them than with. If you want to buy a good pair of binoculars in Brazil, You will have to agreed paying a couple hundred dollars. Do not commit the crime of giving a US$10 binoculars to his son, much more if he is interested in astronomy. Unless you just want him to forget this practice.

The harsh reality is that binoculars have absurd prices in Brazil. A US$150 model found in a Brazilian store, costs about thirty dollars in the United States. One that costs US$1000 here, costs about US$ 300 there. Moral: products seen as high level here, as the cheapest binoculars from Celestron or Orion, are seen as toys in the United States, while the products seen by them as quality products, to us are products of the English aristocracy.

It is when you look at the night sky that you really find the quality optics of a binocular. Products that look perfect when you're looking at a landscape during the day will reveal its shortcomings when are pointed toward a planet or star in the night: the picture does not come together, chromatic aberration spreads, reflexes pollute the image, the stars deform approaching the edge of the field of view. Even US$150 will present real problems when looking at the night sky and you'll understand why there are those that cost about 2000 dollars.

Something that will make you confused, is finding that image increase is a totally different meaning than you imagined. The first thing you will hear from experienced practitioners when buying binoculars is to much increase is "very bad, and little increase is good." You will take longo to accept this, but will soon realize that a binocular with too much increase delivery very dark and absurdly blurred image, and a narrow field of vision, making it a great difficulty to find and watch what you want. You will find that the highest good increases are between 7 and 11 times. Above that you will need a very large and heavy binocular and a robust and high tripod (and both will be very expensive.

You will also find that, for astronomy, zoom is a nuisance that can undermine the quality and much observation, mainly to greatly reduce the size of the image field of view.

In the beginning you'll also hear about prisms and BaK4 BAK7 and will not understand the difference, the only thing I understood is that all the experienced say BK4 is best for those who want to use the binoculars for astronomy, sometimes without explaining the law because. When you look at a star with a binocular with BK7 prism and see how it deforms when approaching the edge of the image, you'll understand the difference.

A very common type of nonsense you'll find on sites like "Mercado Livre" are things like "Binocular with a range of 1km." It does not exist and who describes his binoculars so normally do not have the slightest knowledge about the product they are selling. Binocular is a product made by lenses. What they do is give more power to your eyes without changing its basic characteristics. As your eyes, binoculars can see to infinity if there is nothing in front of the opaque object.

If you are in order to find a good pair of binoculars on the Internet and live in Brazil, watch for addresses of two of Brazil's most respected sites:

www.astroshop.com.br

www.armazemdotelescopio.com.br.

I believe that a good pair of binoculars to get started in astronomy has the following characteristics:

• BK4 prisms.
• increased from 7 to 11 times.
• opening between 50 and 63mm
• maximum weight of  three pounds.
• Fully Multi-Coated Lenses
• Visual comfort above 11 mm if you do not wear glasses and about 20mm if you use.
• Price between US$100 and US$200 (in Brazil).

 Good luck with your purchase