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OpticsBlog – Thoughts and reviews of binoculars, telescopes, scopes, sights, and much more - birdwatching, astronomy, target shooting - pretty much anything related to optics, nature, and life!Thursday, July 31, 2008My astronomy
Had a customer ask why he couldn't see Jupiter like it showed on the outside of the box on his new telescope. False advertising? I explained all the technical reasons, of course, but I could tell he was disappointed. I get this a lot. Not sure if it helped, but I explained to him that the biggest thrill for me in astronomy is actually finding all the wonders of the night sky, on my own, and then seeing them all with my very own eyes with my very own equipment. That way I can say I actually have seen these things, for myself, rather than second hand in a magazine, or a TV show or, yes, even an illustration on the outside of a telescope box. It's the difference between being out in the field, in the game or up in the stands, watching everyone else have fun.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008Shorebirds, where are you?
Been scouting, locally, for a place to catch some shorebird action with my spotting scope, but nothing, so far. Of course, my range is a bit limited, traveling exclusively by bicycle as I do, but sometimes it's the little spots that draw shorebirds. Only takes a little wet mud, sometimes, and you get Yellowlegs, Sandpipers and friends. The mountain bike has been a great tool for exploring some of the more remote sections of our local Forest Preserves. Gotta keep looking. Have spotting scope, bicycle, will travel. If you see some shorebirds, tell 'em Joanie is looking.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008OpticsPlanet Info Portal
A big part of my job is dealing with unreasonable expectations regarding the capabilities of products, such as digital binoculars, spotting scopes and telescopes. This is understandable, given the fact that there is often a large gap between what folks see in the media - TV, movies and so on - and what you actually get with a product. Largely a matter of experience with products that makes the difference. Always glad to help a beginner, though. That's why I have written many articles for our Optics Planet Info Portal. Help yourself. Lots of good stuff.
Monday, July 28, 2008Hybrid prism diagonal
Sometimes combining two features into one product is a good idea and, well, sometimes not. What do get when you cross a 90 degree mirror star diagonal with a 45 degree erecting prism, for instance?
A star diagonal uses a mirror, which tends to maintain good image quality and sets the eyepiece on a telescope at a comfortable 90 degrees for viewing objects high overhead. Only penalty is that images are reversed right to left - not a big deal and most users find it easy to make the adjustment. This is the standard diagonal uses and supplied with most telescopes. For daytime work, most users prefer the correct right to left images provided by an erecting prism, which also sets the eyepiece at a more comfortable 45 degree position for viewing objects over land, but at the price of reduced image sharpness and quality. So what happens when you combine a 90 degree angle for astronomy with an erect image prism? Answer: you get an telescope accessory that degrades image quality and a daytime accessory that is a pain in the neck to use. Thursday, July 24, 2008Carrying the Kowa 883 spotting scope
Seems like I am swimming against the current, at times, when it comes to my personal choice in optics. Premium spotting scopes are a good example. Here I am, thinking small and portable, when Kowa comes in with their jumbo and quite fabulous 88mm spotting scope, the new TSN-880 series. Yes, it is actually light and compact, considering it's large objective, but is it small enough to carry on my bicycle? Of course, that was the last thing Kowa had in mind when they designed this stunning spotting scope. After looking through a Kowa 883, though, I am sorely tempted to find a way to carry it on my mountain bike.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008Spotting scopes for ...?
We all know that spotting scopes are widely used for birding. We all know that spotting scopes are widely used for target shooting and hunting. We also know that spotting scopes are tyhe heart and soul of digiscoping. We may even know that spotting scopes can be used for long distance observation of scenery and horizons. Unless you are in the business of selling spotting scopes like I am, though, you may not know that some people buy spotting scopes to search for UFOs and extraterrestrials. How about a spotting scope to see if the fish are jumping out on a lake? Don't forget that sheriff trying to spot marijuana pickers in a rural area. Even had a gentleman buy a spotting scope to spy on his boss. Not a big deal as far as I am concerned. Always glad to help a customer.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008Binocular and telescope quality time
"Been too long for too long" is a good way to describe the last time I looked through a telescope or astronomy binocular under a truly dark sky. Just need to be patient, though. The day is coming when this gal and her bicycles, binoculars and telescopes will once again see the great wide open spaces out west, where she belongs and where her heart remains. In the meantime, I am grateful for all the wonderful natural areas I have at my disposal, right here in the northern Chicago suburbs, not to metion grateful for all the woderful friends I have, right here at OpticsPlanet. Just wish I could get everyone in the greater Chicago area to turn off their lights at night so I could have more quality time with my telescope and binoculars. You, too Milwaukee.
Monday, July 21, 2008Clip on magnifiers
Browsing through our OpticsPlanet site and was happy to see we carry some clip on magnifiers, such as the Carson Tymate and the Zeiss LC Both bring back wonderful memories of me in another life, tying tiny flies on the end of a 7x leader on a western trout stream. Yes, folks, I did a lot of fly-fishing way back when, but that's a long way from these local Chicago suburban ponds. Still, I've also found clip on magnifiers to be very useful for doing any fine detail work - I've used them for threading needles when I sew and I also found them handy when I helped my son-in-law with his model train layout. Sometimes, old eyes need all the help they can get.
Thursday, July 17, 2008Cheap triods
As I work on article on tripods for our website, I am reminded of how important, but also how overlooked, this accessory is to many applications. Many beginners, when buying a spotting scope, a camera, or a giant binocular, tend to focus on the optics and add a tripod as an afterthought. Always a mistake. The tripod is every bit as important as the optic that goes on it. Makes no sense to spend big bucks to get high performance with a spotting scope, camera or observation binocular and lose that performance with a low quality tripod. It's a lesson learned very quickly when you struggle with a cheap tripod.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008Big telescope for less
The main factor in telescope performance for the faint stuff - nebulae, star clusters and galaxies - is the size of the lens or mirror, not all the gadgets and electronics that tend to get bolted to telescopes. Beginners sometimes forget this when choosing a telescope and, as a result, overlook one of the best and affordable designs in a serious telescope. I'm talking about a Dobsonian telescope and the Meade Lightbridge is a good example. Back in the old days, back before truss-tube Dobs such as the Lightbridge, I used an old Meade 10" Starfinder Dobsonian for all my serious deep-sky observing from a dark site and logged many wonderful hours, not to mention enough objects to fill a book. Big telescopes and big performance don't always come down to big bucks.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008Binocular rules?
Sometimes recommendations get repeated and passed around so often they acquire the weight and status of a rule or law. Good example is an astronomy binocular. Sure, if you are shopping for a binocular to use for astronomy, it only makes sense to get one with the appropriate features. Does that mean you cannot use a mid-size binocular or even a tiny monocular to look at the sky? Of course not. Any optical instrument will show you more in the night sky than you can see with your naked eye. For instance, I have shown people a view of the moon through my tiny 5x Nikon monocular and they are astounded to see craters. Even an 8x compact binocular will show Jupiter as a small round disc and, under a dark sky, even pick up some of Jupiter's brighter moons alongside, even though they will appear as nothing more than tiny dots. Guess what I am saying is to get outside with any optic you have on the next clear night and turn it skyward. You'll be amazed at what you can see.
Monday, July 14, 2008Flash versus laser for astronomy
Years ago, back when I was a volunteer tour guide at a local astronomy observatory, we used to use a flashlight with an adjustable beam to shine up in the sky to point out constellations and stars during our "tours" of the night sky. Later, when laser pointers appeared, we quickly replaced the flashlight with the laser pointer - better precision with the laser pointer and more user friendly to dark adapted eyes. Laser pointers, though, can be expensive and in some areas, around airports, for instance, their use may be restricted. As a former science teacher in a small rural school, I also know what it's like to operate on a threadbare budget, so if a laser pointer is not in the budget, just borrow or buy a flashlight with an adjustable beam. Either item is a great learning and teaching tool for astronomy.
Thursday, July 10, 2008Learn about telescopes
I do my best to help beginners who want to learn astronomy, but there are times when there is no substitute for standing with someone next to a telescope to show them how to use it. Obviously, I can't do that, but what every beginner can do is to visit a local astronomy club. Every astronomy club I have joined has outings that are open to the public. Walking up and down a line of telescopes, visiting with astronomers of every kind is the quickest way I know to learn both astronomy and telescopes. Best of all, astronomers are almost universally willing to help a beginner. To me, sharing has always been part of the fun.
Wednesday, July 09, 2008Spotting scopes need mud
Kind of hurts, knowing that a birder, somewhere, is looking through a spotting scope at shorebirds, right this very instant, and I am not. As a lifelong and passionate birder, I have to say that the Chicago area has been great for so many bird groups, but not for shorebirds. Warbler and forest songbirds, yes, some waterfowl and even waders, yes. Shorebirds, though, no. As always, finding birds is a matter of the right habitat and my neck of the Chicago suburbs does not have the exposed mudflats that bring shorebirds. Guess stinky mud is not appreciated here in the suburbs. Go figure.
Tuesday, July 08, 2008Binocular and telescope treasure
One of the best weekends, ever, for astronomy, here in the Chicago suburbs, even with all the fireworks on the 4th. It's been a long time since I've been able to do some astronomy with my binocular or telescope two nights in a row. Wow! I was especially pleased to see the constellation Cassiopeia edging its way upward in the sky. It's a favorite area of the sky for me with both easy and challenging open clusters for binoculars and it means that Perseus and Andromeda are not far behind. That area is a treasure trove of objects for both binoculars and telescopes.
Monday, July 07, 2008Jupiter telescopes and binoculars
Jupiter is now what I call a bedtime object. It is high enough in the sky to provide a decent view in a telescope just about the time most folks are going to bed. Look for it in the southeast. This summer, it won't get too high above the horizon, so it won't show as much detail as in other years, but still worth a look, even in a binocular. I like to use my astronomy binoculars to watch Jupiter's four largest moons trade places, night by night. Even a small telescope can show cloud belts and more on a good night. Jupiter, along with Saturn, are the two best planets for beginning astronomers. Enjoy.
Thursday, July 03, 2008Vixen telescope mounts for a beginner
Too many beginning astronomers buy a cheap telescope and give up after one or two nights under the stars. The big culprit in this scenario is typically a poor mount, not the optics. A lot of cheap telescopes actually have useable optics. The telescope mounts, though, are almost universally bad and without a good mount, the best telescope optics are useless. It is sometimes hard to convince a beginner of this fact when they are shopping for their first telescope, but it really is worth saving to get a telescope on a good mount. One of my favorite series of beginner telescopes, for this very reason, is the A series of Vixen telescopes. These come with the very useable Porta mount, which is actually good enough to keep when a beginner has outgrown their smaller refractor. Good job, Vixen.
Wednesday, July 02, 2008China binoculars and spotting scopes
A lot of folks have issues with products made in China for various reasons, but as far as optical quality goes, you cannot make blanket statements, anymore, about the quality of optics made in China. Sure, still a lot of junk being made in China, but some good binoculars, such as the Nikon Monarch and spotting scopes, too. For instance, I really like what I have seen with the Vortex Skyline spotting scope and the Nikon Prostaff spotting scope. No, they are not in the same class as premium spotting scopes from Europe and Japan, but, then, neither are they priced like premium spotting scopes from Europe and Japan. For most applications, these spotting scopes may be all you ever need.
Tuesday, July 01, 2008Birding this weekend
A rare weekend for me - no binocular, camera or spotting scope used. Ouch! On Saturday, had to ride my bike down through 23 miles of traffic into the city for an appointment and, along the way, dodged heavy rain and hail, not to mention gale force winds. Sunday was a music day for me. Rocked them at the church with some hot blues harp (harmonica), then played music all afternoon at the park with a friend. Not to worry, though. With the long weekend, ahead, I will be doing some serious birding.
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