A pair of good binoculars is expensive! Agreed! But, if compromises are acceptable, there are some cheaper solutions available. LUXON might not be very well known, I tried to find the manufacturer of these binocs, w/o a major success; I guess it's Synta... I am not sure about this at all.
The optical design is classical with Porro prims of BaK4-glass. The light of the exit pupil shows a homogeneous circular disk. So far, so good.
What mechanics are concerned, the focusing
is a little stiff, for my taste. Besides being stiff, the focuser is
quiet precise. The same is to be mentioned about the diopter
correction.
The rubber eye cups are soft and comfortable, they
are a very good help when observing in an environment with a lot of
stray light.
The optical performance is ok, not brilliant, but ok. Bright objects (streetlights, the Moon, Jupiter, Sirius, etc.) create multiple ghost images. There seems to be no anti-reflective coating applied to any optical element... This does not play a role when observing fainter objects.
M44 shows crisp sharp stars. The binocular
vision makes objects like M44, M45, and alike a viewing pleasure.
Browsing the milky way is really cool.
Stargazing newcomers liked
the easy handling and the impressive amount of stars visible in the
binoculars. Next to the low price, another big pro is the low
magnification of 7x, which can easily be used hand-held, just so,
even single handed.
Conclusion: Fun binoculars for a low price. Do not expect the performance of $$$-TakCanOvski products, which you anyway would not allow in your luggage when going on vacation...
Last modified March 3rd 2005