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Allright, I've got a question. About three or four years ago I picked up a set of chinese bv's. You know, the ones supplied by Orion, SV, WO, and others. There not bad actually, in fact, compared to single eye...they're great! In scopes eight inches and under they privide wonderful views of the planets and moon. In my 14", the brighter deep sky objects take on that same three dimensional aspect I've seen on the planets. Always able to see more detail with two eyes, so for me, there's no going back.
Here's the question. I got into to binoviewing for less than two hundred bucks. What would I gain by going for one of the premium units? If I kick up the dough for Televue or Denk, what do I get that I don't got now? Interested in any comments!

Almost 24 hours and no answer from any of the experts complaining about this being a dead forum. I'm beginning to understand why it went dormant...

Doug
Midway, FL

Larry,

I was waiting for someone else to answer this. Since they have not, then I will take a shot at it. These are my opinions and not any endorsement of any brand or brands of binoviewers.

It is my understanding, although not my experience that the Chinese versions can be knocked out of alignment easier and are harder to align afterward. I have never knocked any of my binoviewers out of alignment and I have had a few accidents with them.

The Denks and the Televue both have more clear aperture than the standard Chinese version. The standard Chinese version has a shorter light path which does help compensate for the smaller clear aperture. If your not looking for superwide views then this is probably a toss up.

The newer Denk IIs and the Televue both have prisms with better surface accuracy. (I am not sure how the prisms in Standard Denks compare). The better prisms should provide a better high power views. The coatings are probably better in the name brand binoviewers. Again this should provide a better view. Is it enough to make a real difference to you? That you will have to decide for yourself.

My advice is to take your binoviewers to a star party and compare them to other binoviewers.

Don Durbin

Larry Seguin said:Here's the question. I got into to binoviewing for less than two hundred bucks. What would I gain by going for one of the premium units? If I kick up the dough for Televue or Denk, what do I get that I don't got now? Interested in any comments!

Always be aware of the laws of diminishing returns when you upgrade just about anything, a binoviewer, an apo, a fancy eyepiece or even a car.

My suggestion is to continue using your low cost viewer, and if sometimes in the future you get a chance to look thru someones high end viewer that will be the time for you to decide if its worth moving up.

I started with two viewers, one Zeiss and the other Lomo, after a short while I decided to sell the Lomo as it was not even close to the Zeiss.

Vahe