TheSkySearchers

Thinking about getting a pair of 70mm LW Obies, but which mag? My 15x70 Skymasters (which appear to be identical to the Obies) are a bit too heavy for handholding and rather shaky without a tripod for longer looks. It would be nice not to need a tripod, but I'm not sure 11x would be enough mag for good viewing of dimmer clusters and such.

What says the collective mind?

I have an 11x70 and, maybe just me, but I need a tripod to see well with that magnification. However, the views with a 70mm are fantastic, lots of faint stuff, M31, 33 etc very visible.

Clear skies,
Steve

If your 15x70 are collimated there is no point getting 15x70 Obie LWs since they will deliver very similar performance.

Whether you benefit from 11x70 depends on how dark is your sky. I am getting washed out views with exit pupil above 5mm.

I have a good pair of 15x70 and looking for 20x70 since I want smaller exit pupil and higher power.

I can take short looks with hand held 15x70, but for longer sessions and fainter stuff I use monopod even with 10x50.

My Obie 10.5x70s are like a porthole into outer space. They are my favorite pair of binos. Because they have 70 mm objectives, they are pretty hefty. The only time I can use these handheld is when I'm lying on my back in my zero gravity chair or on the patio furniture. Otherwise, you will need a tripod and some form of mount for them.

I also have a pair of Celestron 15 x 70 and for me they don't perform quite as well, I like the lower magnification.

Cheers,
JT

My Skymaster 70mm are not well-collimated. Bad out of the box. I was going to Goodwill them, but tried collimating them myself. I was able to get them almost there, but they're still not 100% and one of the collimation screws is as far as it will go. I do like the FOV and magnification though.

pakarinen wrote: ↑Thu Sep 19, 2019 1:22 pm My Skymaster 70mm are not well-collimated. Bad out of the box. I was going to Goodwill them, but tried collimating them myself. I was able to get them almost there, but they're still not 100% and one of the collimation screws is as far as it will go. I do like the FOV and magnification though.

In this case I would go with 15x70 LW, but if you have funds bump up to 15x70 deluxe.

The Oberwerk 15x70 are one of my favorite smaller binos. The 15 power gives better contrast. really anything bigger that 63MM will benefit greatly being mounted. Any size 70mm or bigger needs support. Mine are the Deluxe, and worth saving up for over the LW, but the LW are still good quality. I hear and read too many problems with Celestron QC issues.

I'm also looking at the Obie 12x60s and even the 20x80s. Different animals, I know, but I'm like a kid in a candy store. I must be coming down with the dreaded bino fever.

I purchased the Obie 25x100's last year. They are a huge improvement over my SkyMaster 15x70's. If you like deep sky observing it's well worth it. I used the 15x70's by reclining on a lounge chair and putting my elbows on the armrests. With regard to the OP question, like Andrey commented the eye relief in 11 mm may be too large if you have a light pollution situation, as many of us do. So maybe stick with 15x.