Astronomy Giant Binoculars

John · Guest

I am in the markey for astronomy binoculars. Celestron makes a 25 x 100 while Steiner Observers are 25 x 80. I am tempted to go with the Steiners because of their reputation but the extra 20 mm of aperture with the Celestron's is tempting from an image standpoint. But how do the Celestron's compare? Will I lose much image brightness with the 80 mm aperture of the Steiners when compared to 100 mm with the Celestron? Will I even notice the difference? The Celestron price is definitely more comfortable. Help please!!!

opticsplanet.com · Posted: Sat Mar 26, 2005 12:02 pm Post subject:

Hi

For astronomy, a difference of 20mm in the objective is significant. You will see fainter objects with the Celestron and see more detail in anything you observe. For instance, the 100mm will resolve more stars at the edges of globulars and show more of large nebulae and galazies.

The Steiner is a great product by any definition. Much of what you pay for here is the legendary Steiner ruggedness and durability. This, however, is not normally an issue for astronomy.
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ranburr · Guest

I am disagreeingwith OP. The quality of th Seiner glass and coatings make them the logical choice, regardless of objective size. We are talking an exit pupil of 4 vs 3.2. The superior qualities of the Steiner will more than make up for this. If you wanted you could go with the 20X80 Steiners and they too have an exit pupil of 4.

ranburr