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ScopeViews’ Best Buys 2020
Here
are my best buys for 2020, sifted from many recent reviews, some ongoing. I
update this from time to time to reflect recent product releases and new
reviews.
Best
Buy High-Power Astronomy Binoculars
Swarovski
15x56 SLC HD or Vortex Razor 18x56 UHD
These
two models share my recommendation for the best available hand-held astronomy
binoculars. But in both cases, only if
you can handle their weight and high-power shakes – try before you buy. Both
do work well on a tripod too, but the adapter is extra in both cases.
Swarovski’s 15x56 SLC HDs were my once my absolute favourites
for astronomy. Technically, the 15x56 SLC HDs are some of the best binoculars I
have ever tested, period, with a wide flat field and outstanding correction for
false colour as well as very sharp optics and good eye relief. Their astronomy performance is astoundingly
good if you can hold them steady – they will find things 10x50s just won’t and
they cut through sky glow better too.
The Vortex Razor 18x56 UHDs were launched last summer.
They are slightly less perfect than the SLCs: they have a bit more field edge
softening and quite a lot more false colour. However,
their view is otherwise every bit as brilliant and detailed, whilst that extra
power does give them even more reach for deep sky. On the Moon they offer
detail to rival a small telescope. What’s more, their unusual flared-barrel design
makes them very easy to hold steady.
Runner up is Zeiss’ 15x56 Conquest HD. The Zeiss
remain a great binocular, but the Swaros are smaller,
better made and have a better corrected field, whilst the Vortex offer more
power and are slightly lighter and comfier to hold.
Best Buy General Purpose Astronomy
Binoculars
Swarovski
10x50 EL
Given
that 10x50 is perhaps the ideal format for a general purpose
astronomy binocular, it’s a shame there are so few premium examples to choose
from. Neither Zeiss nor Nikon make a premium 10x50 at the time of writing.
That’s not a problem though, because Swarovski make a 10x50 version of their Swarovision EL line and if you are prepared to spend the
cash it is a superb do-everything binocular.
The
EL 10x50 shares its basic qualities with other members of the EL range. It
gives a wonderfully wide, flat, bright and aberration-free view. It’s not a big
or heavy binocular for a 10x50 either. So if you
choose to buy it you get the best of both worlds – a view like the best birding
binoculars, but the night-sky reach of something larger. The only price you’ll
pay (literally – they are much the same cost as the 10x42 EL) is a couple of
hundred grams extra weight.
The
10x50 EL is anything but cheap, but I can justify its best buy status because
it does everything so well it you could save you money by being your only
binoculars.
If you want to treat yourself to just
one pair of fine binoculars for birding and astronomy, make it a pair of
Swarovski 10x50 ELs. If you want a bit more power, but don’t want a pair of
15x56s, then the 12x50 ELs are great too.
Best Buy Mid-Price Binoculars
Leica Trinovid
HD 10x42
These newer Leica Trinovids
do almost everything well. They have a great view from HD optics, comfortable
eyepieces with plenty of relief for glasses wearers and a comfy hold. They are
light too, focus close and have an excellent focuser. The only downsides are a
bit more field-edge softening than some and a bit more false
colour than Zeiss’ Conquest 10x42s.
Their European build quality (made in Portugal) is
almost embarrassingly good – much like Leica’s premium models in fact. The icing
on the cake is that their price is currently very reasonable – lower than the
equivalent Zeiss Conquest or Nikon Monarch HGs, which helps them get the
recommendation here.
Best Buy Budget Binoculars
Nikon
Monarch 5 10x42
These
binoculars seem to be a bit of an exception to the rule that you get what you
pay for. Online you can get them for as little as £250, yet the view is very
comparable with the next price bracket up which includes budget models from
premium brands at over twice the price.
On
the upside, these are very light weight, well made and give a bright, sharp
view. The Monarchs use ED glass to kill false colour and do it as effectively
as any binocular I have tested. They handle well, have good eye relief for
specs-wearers and a smooth focuser too. They work well for birding, but very
acceptably for casual astronomy as well.
The
only downsides to the Nikon Monarch 5 10x42s are that they have a narrow field
of view and a bit of astigmatism at the edges; but overall, they are an
excellent binocular from a quality brand for a modest outlay.
Best Buy Travel Binoculars
Zeiss
Victory 8x32 FL
If
you want a pair of ‘proper’ binoculars for that special trip (or maybe lots of
special trips) it’s going to have to be small and light or you’ll end up
tossing it out of the case to make room for more underwear. I know, I’ve been
there.
So,
which is the smallest and lightest proper binocular that gives a really great
view? The answer, in my view, is easy – the Zeiss 8x32 FL.
The
Victory 8x32 is an old model now. It’s the last of the Victory FL range still
on sale and there’s a reason: it’s still an unbeatable package. The 8x32 FL is
tiny but it gives a wide, bright, sharp view, has an excellent focuser and is
very rugged.
You’ll
appreciate the composite body of the tiny FLs because it’ll keep your hands
warmer on the deck of that ice-breaker you’re taking beyond Svalbard. And its
super-bright optics will let you find the Magellanic
Clouds and Eta-Carinae on that big trip down under.
Competition?
Not really. Yes, the Swarovski EL 8x32 gives just as good a view, better even, but
it’s significantly larger; heavier too. The Leica Ultravid
8x32 HD is just as compact and slightly lighter, but it has too little eye
relief and a lower level of optical performance. The Swarovski 8x30 Companion
is even lighter, but the view just can’t cut it –narrower and dimmer and not
HD. The Kowa 8x33’s focuser is too stiff and its view not as sparkling.
The
only downside is that the deals you could once get on the 8x32 FLs seem to have
all dried up. Perhaps everyone has cottoned on to the fact it’s (still) in a
class of its own.
Best Buy Travel ‘Scope for Eclipses
Takahashi
FS-60Q or Questar Standard 3.5
Lunar
eclipse through Takahashi FS-60Q.
The
FS-60Q is a tiny portable quadruplet refractor. It is basically an FS-60 (an F6
fluorite doublet) with a special doublet 1.7x extender called the ‘CQ Module’
threaded into the OTA.
The
result is superb small apochromat with a very well corrected and flat field
covering a 44mm image circle (in other words you get a flat, well-illuminated
field across a full-frame sensor). The extender also removes most residual
aberrations, so the FS-60Q works at very high magnifications and image scales
for its size.
All
that makes the FS-60Q a super-sharp 600mm telephoto lens for fantastic photos
of the Moon that belie its small size; it works brilliantly as a visual
instrument too. It packs up into a tiny carry-on bag and will fit on the
smallest mount. So it’s ideal for travelling to
eclipses – both Solar and Lunar.
You
can either buy the FS-60Q as a complete scope (see above), or just get the
thread-in CQ module to upgrade an existing FS-60.
Since
I started recommending the FS-60Q for eclipses, Takahashi have brought out
another 60mm ‘Q’ telescope, the FOA-60Q. I love the FOA-60Q, so why aren’t I
recommending it instead?
Although
the FOA-60Q does have slightly better correction than the FS-60Q, along with
larger image scale, it is significantly longer, heavier, more expensive and
slower at F15.
Questar
The
reason this category has two best buys is that the FS-60Q is just a telescope,
whilst Questar is a complete package in a way nothing else is: a tiny carry on
case that contains ‘scope, finder, mount, drive, star and Moon maps, eyepiece, barlow lens and a white-light solar filter. No, it’s not
cheap, but nothing else comes close to its functionality as a travel scope.
That case contains everything you need (except maybe for a camera adapter).
Optically,
Questar is a long-focus Maksutov, so it’s not nearly
as flexible as the FS-60Q for imaging, though perfect for eclipses.
Best
Buy 3” Refractor
Takahashi
FC-76DCU
The FC-76 replaced Takahashi’s superb-but-big FS-78.
It is lightweight, very well corrected and good for high power visual use as
well as imaging (the field is surprisingly flat, even without a
reducer/flattener). If you want a basic flattener, Tak’
make a cheap-but-good multi-flattener that will cover full frame and work with
any other Tak’s you might own.
The FC-76 now comes in two versions; optics are the
same:
·
The FC-76DS
weighs about 3kg and has a sliding dew-shield for maximum compactness; it looks
like a Sky-90 and shares its 95mm O.D. tube and focuser
·
The FC-76DCU is
cheaper, has a fixed dew-shield and 80mm O.D. tube and the smaller FS-60
focuser. It is longer than the DS, but only weighs a paltry 1.8 Kg
Crucially, the DCU splits in half for easy carry-on
portability and gets the nod from me.
You could get an FC-76DCU in three ways:
·
Buy the
FC-76DCU as a complete product
·
Buy the FC-76
objective unit to upgrade an existing FS-60C
·
Create a
complete split-tube FC-76 from the objective unit using a third
party focuser and the FS-60C to CB conversion tube.
Best Buy 4” Refractor
Takahashi
FC-100DC
Takahashi’s
100mm equivalent of the FC-76 is another excellent Tak’.
The FC-100D is a fluorite doublet and though it’s not quite as well corrected
as the discontinued TSA-102 triplet, it is pretty good, with low false colour,
a flat field and good coverage (hence the ‘D’ for Digital tag). So the FC-100D is great for imaging, with various reducers
available but still good without. Surprisingly, it also works very well for
high powered visual use too.
There
are now four versions of the FC-100D, but unless you need the DF’s imaging
focuser or the DZ’s perfect correction, get the FC-100DC – it is light,
cheapish, portable and great.
Best Buy Budget Refractor
Sky-Watcher
Evostar 100ED
This
is easy. The Sky-Watcher 100ED Pro has excellent optics with minimal CA and a
smooth dual-speed focuser. It is a proper 4” apochromat, so shows a lot more
than smaller scopes, even premium ones. Yet it’s available for a very modest
price, much less than the 120ED. It’s light-weight too, so you can mount it on
an EQ5. And you can get a cheap reducer for imaging.
The
main downsides are its length, compared with say an FC-100DC, and slightly
lower performance at high magnifications.