For what it's worth, I purchased a pair of Barskas as a gift for my brother last year. These were 15x70's (maybe 16x--don't remember for sure) which cost somewhere in the range of $75-$80. I put them up alongside my Orion 20x80's and the comparison was instructive. My Orions are about 4 years old, Japanese-made and weight about 5 1/2 pounds. They're built like a tank. I returned 2 pair because I thought the chromatic aberration was too great. The folks at Orion cherry-picked the last pair for me and they're very sweet--probably as good a $400 pair of binos as you could get. They require a mount unless you're a linebacker. The Barskas were pretty light--light enough that you could do brief observing sessions by hand. The build was solid enough, considering the price. The place where they fall down is the prisms. Some Barskas use BAK-4 glass, but others use BAK-5 (which is inferior). To confuse matters, these differences can be within the same model number, so you have to be careful. I'm pretty sure the pair I bought used BAK-5. The Barskas had a narrower true field-of-view (should have been wider) and a pretty narrow apparent field-of-view. They were a little like looking through soda straws compared to the Orions. And the sights were not real sharp off-axis. I've seen some people (not on this list) who've been excited about owning quality binoculars at a low price. Weeeeelll, you do get what you pay for. I don't think anyone would feel cheated at what they got from Barskas. But compared to a more expensive pair, you can still see what you're missing. Michael On Jan 28, 2004, at 11:11 AM, Chuck Hards wrote:
http://www.sportsmansguide.com
Sportsmans Guide has 2 ecconomy binos suitable for astronomy currently listed:
JC Optics 11x70mm w/L bracket WX2-80792 $49.97 Slightly lower power than the popular 15x70mm, use these only if your pupil opens nearly 7mm.
Barska 10x50mm WX2-78167 $19.97 Excellent entry-level bino, the most-recommended "mid" size bino.
S&H must be added to the above prices.
Spring is just around the corner!
C.
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