Takahashi 60mm Fluorite binoculars, Info!

I need some first hand experiences from people that have used the takahashie 60mm fluorites.
Are they really as sharp & contrasty as the reviews i have read? cloudy nights? & others?
Dose the 60mm aperature "seem" to be larger due to the fact of the really sharp optics as i have read? compared to lesser quality 70mm & some 80mm objectives?
Are the views really that good?
Are they really that good to warrant paying $ 1,100.00 for a pair, construction & optics wise. Ive read several articles on them & the people that have written the reviews really swear by them! Let me know! This seems to be a really good product!
Thanks David Landreth

Hi,

I have a pair and they are excellent. 2 60mm takahashi Flourite tubes at 22x . There is nothing else I have tried that can compare to these as far as sharp, contrasty pinpoint stars other than a Tak FS60 at 22x. I have compared them to both the Fujinon 16x70 and Canon 18x50's. There is no comparison. I believe it is the best Astronomy bino out there under 80mm. And a bargain if you consider the Kowa's Flourite's are $3900 for a mere 22mm aperature gain. My pair are always set up on a heavy duty Bogen tripod with Bogen gungrip head. The Gungrip makes easier to view almost all angles except for straight up...Trust me you will get addicted to how sharp these are and dissapointed when you try to find a larger aperature bino with the same quality optics......

I tried a pair once. Optically they are excellent and are worth the $1100.00 price. Also, sometimes you see them for sale on Astromart for around $950.00.

There are three reasons why I decided not to keep them. First, they're not waterproof and I think they only have a 5 year warranty (If that). While it is unlikely that you will use them in the rain, over time moisture can get into them and form mold on the prisms. If that happens it can cost several hundred to get them cleaned.

The other thing that I did not like about them was their narrow field (both true and apparent). The apparent field is only 45 degrees and while that doesn't look at restrictive in binoculars as it does in a single eyepiece, it is still much narrower than I prefer. That narrow apparent field in turn results in a true field of only 2.1 degrees. That small field makes it harder to locate objects so you will probably have to get one of those red dot finders to attach to it.