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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!Wednesday, September 30, 2009Digital cameras for fall
I love all seasons of the year, but fall has always been one I anticipate the most. When I see all those fall colors, the photographer in me goes a little nuts. If you're like me, then, you should carry a digital point and shoot camera with you at all times. Given the plethora of small digital point and shoot cameras on the market and their truly diminutive size, no reason not to have and carry one. Over the years, I have used Canon digital cameras, Pentax digital cameras and Leica digital cameras and have had good luck with them all. These days, if you stay with one of the major brands, it is actually hard to take a bad pic as long as you know and understand the limitations of these small digital cameras and, yes, fall color is one place a small digital pint and shoot camera can be put to good use. Do you have your camera, ready?
Tuesday, September 29, 2009Wildlife photography from a balcony
If you've ever tried your hand at wildlife photography, you know it is a very camera equipment intensive pursuit. The usual gear is a good SLR camera or DSLR camera, such as the Canon 50D, and a whole array of long telephoto camera lenses, starting with a minimum of 300m, not to mention a top-notch tripod, such as a Bogen. Of course, now and then, wildife just makes it a lot easier for us. This happened, last week, to one of our employee, Alex, who runs our Order Processing department. Alex lives in a high rise apartment building and he has a balcony with a view. He glanced out his window to see a Red-tailed Hawk perched on the balcony rail. The hawk was very cooperative and allowed him to get some good images with nothing more than his cell phone camera. I don't like cell phones with cameras, but I guess there is something to be said for having a camera, any camera, available for that rare photo opportunity. Hey, where's my hawk?
Monday, September 28, 2009Saturn in a telescope
When a beginner buys their first telescope, the first object the want to see, of course, is Saturn or, more to the point, the rings of Saturn. I suppose I get several emails every day from very concerned folks that want to be absolutely sure they can see Saturn with this or that telescope model. This is actually one of the easiest questions I get, because you can see Saturn with any telescope, including the rings, with as little as 40x. That's not much magnification and, in fact, most any spotting scope can do this. Of course, if you want to really see Saturn and any detail in the rings, a larger telescope is the way to go. I've had some excellent views on a night of good seeing conditions in a Meade ETX-125 at 200x power. That's enough to many rings within the rings. I always get a kick when Saturn is well placed to see the rings (it is not, at the present) and I have the honor of showing people their first look at the rings. It never ceases to get a "Wow!" That was my reaction when I saw Saturn for the first time, over forty years, ago, in my small 60mm refractor.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009New Canon cameras for fall
It's time to get that camera out and get ready for fall colors. For most people, the targets will, of course, be trees, but those in the know also head to the prairie for some more subtle fall colors produced by prairie grasses and forbs. As for the camera, go for it if you already have a DSLR like the Canon Xsi and a short Canon lens, but, unless you need to make high grade prints, you can do just as well with small digital point and shoot cameras, such as the new Canon SX200IS or even the less expensive Canon SD1200IS, both of which are even offered in an array of body colors. If your leaf peeping tour takes you into country where there is a chance of some nasty weather, you might want to go for the new Canon waterproof, freeze proof Canon D10IS, which is also a logical choice if your fall tour includes some canoeing or kayaking.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009Birding heaven, birding binocular and scope
I will be moving to a new area, first of the year, not too far down the road, and already I have been thinking in terms of birding and, especially, birding for shorebirds. What little I have seen of my new neighborhood looks great, in terms of songbirds, especially warblers, but my new place is still a bit of an unknown for shore birds and wading birds. Given that I will be closer to Lake Michigan than I am, at present, I am hopeful that my spotting scope even more of a workout. Of course, I still don't know the area in an intimate way, yet, so I am being my usual optimistic self. Still, I have always managed to find birds of all kinds and in good numbers, wherever I have lived - my birding binocular and my spotting scope never collect a lot of dust, regardless. Still, all indications are, I will soon be in a birding heaven, complete with a beautiful backyard and a whole array of bird feeders.
Monday, September 21, 2009Darker sky for better astronomy
It's always nice to walk outside my door in the pre-dawn darkness, as I get set to begin my bike ride to work, and look up at the sky and see those familiar winter constellations in the sky. It reminds me that the seasons are, indeed, changing and that it is time to get out the star charts and make some plans with both my astronomy binocular and telescope for some winter observing. Can't le the cat out of the bag, yet, but I will be observing from a new location, this winter, and I am excited to see how much improvement there will be in my astronomy. No, I won't be moving out onto the dark prairies of the west - I will still be in a metropolitan area - but I will be in a much better neighborhood, close to a forest and park with much less light pollution. That translates into a darker sky and that will be huge, for both my peace of mind and my observing. Subtracting light pollution from your observing equation is like growing a bigger binocular or telescope on the equipment side of the equation. Can't wait!
Wednesday, September 16, 2009Telescope or binocular for astronomy?
There times when astronomy is best done with a telescope and there are times when astronomy is best done with an astronomy binocular. This morning, the binocular got the nod. My mouth nearly dropped off when I saw the crescent moon and Venus hanging, together, in the predawn sky. No way could you get that in the field of any telescope eyepiece, but it just fit in the field of view of an 8x42 binocular - the Carson 8x42 XM HD, which has a very typical field of 6.2 degrees for an 8x42. Yes, it is hard to beat a low power binocular for wide angle views of events, such as this pairing of Venus and the moon, not to mention views of the really large open clusters and nebulae. No one instrument can do it all in astronomy.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009Centaur impact telescope
Getting a lot of interest in telescopes to view the upcoming impact in early October of the Centaur spacecraft on the moon, so I went right to the NASA site to see what the experts say. According to the folks at NASA, "mission scientists estimate that the Centaur impact plume may be visible through amateur-class telescopes with apertures as small as 10 to 12 inches." That's good news and it is bad news. It is good news if you own, or plan to own, a 10" or larger telescope. It's bad news, because most amateurs don't have that size telescope. Is it worth a look, anyway? Absolutely. No one can predict with any certainty what you will see in any amateur telescope for events of this type, so go for it. You have nothing to lose. I would not recommend buying a new telescope, however, especially a small telescope, on the basis of this one event; buy a new telescope, any size telescope, because you want to do some astronomy. There is much more to see than a single impact event on the moon.
Monday, September 14, 2009Binocular or monocular?
With the upcoming holiday season, you may be thinking in terms of a gift for that certain someone who has everything. If that someone is a binocular user, such as myself, you may be thinking in terms of another binocular. Hey, everyone should own a binocular and you can't have too many binoculars, right? Of course, which binocular and what type of binocular? One option you may wish to explore is not a binocular, at all. A monocular can make a good backup to a binocular and it is easier to carry and keep on your person. I own more binoculars than I wish to admit, but, most of the time, I carry a Nikon HG 5x15 monocular in my purse. Like most women, I suffer from purse syndrome: a purse abhors a vacuum; if there is an room in the purse, it will soon be filled. In other words, even a compact binocular struggles to find a place in my purse. My little Nikon monocular always manages to find a corner to hide, though .
Thursday, September 10, 2009Great Spotting Scopes for the Money
Maybe I should entitle this week's blog "Great Spotting Scopes for the Money". Here's another one of my favorites under $1000 and, yes, you can get an excellent spotting scope without mortgaging your house and children. The Brunton Eterna binoculars have been around forever, but the Brunton Eterna spotting scope is, perhaps, a bit less known. That deserves to change because the Brunton Eterna spotting scope is a well made, Japanese produced spotting scope with excellent optics and build quality. The ones I have tested brought a smile to my face and for the asking price, this is another great value spotting scope. The Brunton Eterna spotting scope would be equally at home on the marsh for some birding or on the rifle range for scoring targets out to 300 yards.
Wednesday, September 09, 2009Elite spotting scope
Remember the Bausch&Lomb Elite spotting scope? That Elite was around for many years and was always a good option for folks who needed a decent spotting scope, but couldn't afford to plunk down a fortunes for a premium spotting scope. The good news is that it is still around and survives as the Bushnell Elite spotting scope. In fact, the Elite spotting scope always was a Bushnell. For many years, Bushnell marketed the Elite under the Bausch&Lomb name, which Bushnell reserved for its highest grade products. When Bushnell lost the name Bausch&Lomb to the folks that make contact lenses and magnifiers, they simply relabeled all their Elite products as Bushnell Elites. Regardless of the label, the Elite is a best buy spotting scope for someone looking for a spotting scope value.
Tuesday, September 08, 2009Magnifier for fly tier
I don't know if you are a fly tier, like me, but as we age, it gets harder and harder at the tying bench to see what we are doing, especially when we get down to #18s and smaller flies. That's when you need some kind of magnifier. For me, a bench magnifier with a gooseneck has been an eye saver on those midge patterns. I have used some very expensive tying bench magnifiers over the years, but the Carson Magnifly gets the job done, nicely, and what you save will buy a nice neck or some saddles. Just adjust the gooseneck so the magnifer is placed at a comfortable position above your vise and get to work. Even if you are not quite as old as I am (who is?), you should be using some optical aide if you spend a lot of time at the tying bench. Over the years, fine detail work, either in fly tying, sewing, beadwork and so on takes its toll on your eyes. Once you use a bench magnifier like the Carson, though, you will be spoiled and you and your eyes will not want to work at the vise without one.
Friday, September 04, 2009Best Golf laser rangefinder
One of the many things I like about Bushnell laser rangefinders is the way that Bushnell constantly pushes, forward, with new designs and features, but always with that great Bushnell tradition and philosophy of best value for the dollar in mind. When we heard that Bushnell would be offering a new version of the Bushnell Pinseeker golf laser rangefinder in their Bushnell Pro 1600 golf laser rangefinder, this year, all of our product specialists, here at OpticsPlanet, took note. How could you improve on the Pinseeker 1500, our favorite golf laser rangefinder? The new Pro 1600 laser rangefinder now gets you an easier to hold and less likely to slip body design and improved software, but it is still based on that great Pinseeker 1500 laser rangefinder. In fact, when we heard Bushnell was moving on to the Pro 1600 golf, we jumped right on their remaining stock of the Pinseeker 1500s, in both the Bushnell 1500 Pinseeker Slope version and the standard Bushnell 1500 Pinseeker model and are now offering them at a great price. Want the best golf laser rangefinder on the market? We have both the old and the new version of that great Bushnell Golf laser rangefinder, here at OpticsPlanet.net, at a price everyone can afford.
Thursday, September 03, 2009Jupiter hides its moons.
If you were out observing late Wednesday night, September 2 and you just happened to point your telescope at Jupiter, you might have been surprised at what you saw or, more to the point, what you did not see. This was a very rare case of all of the 4 of Jupiter's Galilean moons - Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto NOT being visible in a telescope or binocular. Unfortunately, I did not see it as I was recovering from a sinus infection, but Bob, my fellow astronomer here at OpticsPlanet, did. Bob now has the honor of claiming that he witnessed a sight that won't be visible, again, according to Astronomy.com magazine until 2019. With any luck at all, I will not have another sinus problem until after 2019. Okay, fat chance, but I will drag myself out of a hospital bed if I must and hobble over to my telescope. I can't let Bob get ahead of me on this.
Tripod lever lock blues
I've never been a fan of lever locks on tripod legs, especially the lever locks supplied on cheap tripods. Those darn lever locks have a tendency to fill with sand and grit and when a lever lock fails, it really fails - you then have a useless tripod unless you have some duct tape, handy. The only lever locks I will tolerate are on quality tripods, such as Bogens 055XB. On cheap tripods, lever locks are usually the first thing to fail. I've also found that even good lever locks have a tendency to slip under a load and there is no option to tighten them as with twist locks or t bolt locks. I'm all for getting a tripod into action, fast, but not at the expense of performance and durability. Maybe that's why you don't find lever locks on high end tripods like a Gitzo tripod with G-locks or on the tripods that support heavy telescopes.
Best window mount
I've always gotten a lot of use out of car window mounts for my spotting scopes (when I had a car and/or truck, that is), but, let's face it, no one ever accused car window mounts of being smooth or full featured, like a good tripod. With that in mind, here is a nice recipe for a window mount for your spotting scope or camera that offers the best, full performance, fluid filled head, a QR release plate and plenty of quality. It starts with a Manfrotto Bogen Window Pod 243. The Manfrotto Bogen Window Pod 243 is just the clamp that attaches to the vehicle window. It does not include a tripod head, but it accepts any standard Bogen tripod head. To keep things manageable and not so large as to cause clearance issues when using a large spotting scope, I like the Manfrotto Bogen 700RC2. This gets you a nice fluid filled video head with a quick release plate, but not so large a head as to be hard to manage. Going too large a head may put the scope too high to use in some vehicles, especially compact cars and other cars that sit you down low, near the floor.
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