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Self Centering BinoViewer choices

Started by toml, 06/24/2008 04:34PM
Posted 06/24/2008 04:34PM Opening Post
about to take a dip in the water with binoviewers. read some reviews and talk about how you should get ones with self-centering eyepiece holders otherwise it's easy to get the 2 eyes out of collimation. oddly, the threads i was reading, didn't list the brands that were self-centering, which left me some googling to do.

burgess comes up when you google 'self centering binoviewers' but 2 things strike me: first, the design looks exactly like orion's and many others (with the 2 rows of dots on the barrels...it's clearly the same chinese factory right?). second, they SAY self centering, but then the design has 3 set screws per side for you to try to center/collimate the eps... does this not seem contradictory - like what is the opposite of self centering if not 6 set screw design?

however their page says this is a new design with a bigger 24mm prism and thicker side walls so those set screws don't fall out.

if i don't splurge on denks, is this a good model to get my feet wet with BV or perhaps the William optic package is better? can anyone help compare or advise?

Thanks. Here's the links...
Burgess:
http://www.burgessoptical.com/Accessories/Binoviewer24.html

looks like stellarvue but $100 more:
http://www.opticsplanet.net/stellarvue-binoviewer-with-2-e3023-eyepieces-bv3.html

which looks like the celestrons at the top of this page, mind you there are Standard Denkmeiers here for $299..hmmm?
http://www.scopetronics.com/binoview.htm


and then there is william optics which don't LOOK LIKE they are made by that one factory feeding all these brands, is that better or worse, i don't know (doesn't mention self centering, but looks like one set screw which could make it really hard to collimate/center the 2 eps i would guess)
http://www.williamoptics.com/accessories/binoviewer_features.php

Posted 06/24/2008 11:43PM #1
Tom,

I THINK the denks, seiberts, TVs, and baaders are the only self-centering ones. Since Ive owned 5 or 6 pairs before I arrived at my "preferred set-up" (denks with 24 pans), my advices is to buy a used seibert black night and try it out. I think you can get them used cheap (like under 200) and they are WORTH it. Some of the burgess and other celestron/etc units are just not up to the quality of the smaller US manufacturers.

What king of EPs are you planning to use?

-Peter