Celestron 71008 SkyMaster 25×70 Binoculars (Black) & 93524 Binocular Tripod Adapter (Black)

This is a great product overall. You will see spectacular views of the moon and larger deep sky objects like the Andromeda galaxy and the Orion nebula. These are a better entry to the world of astronomy than a telescope due to their portability and ease of use.

First, these binoculars are meant for astronomy.
These are heavy, and due to the 15x magnification need to be mounted on a monopod or tripod. I can’t overemphasize that.
The focus is slow and stiff.

If sports, hunting, or birding is your primary use, look elsewhere at smaller, lighter binoculars.
If astronomy is you primary use, you may be able to live with these for occasional terrestrial viewing.

These binoculars are not a telescope. Sounds kind of simplistic,I know, but if you are seeking to see the bands on Jupiter or detail in Satrun’s rings, these won’t do that for you. But you will be able to see Jupiter’s moons and the rings on Saturn – enough that you can tell what you’re looking at.

The “very good”:
Optically these binoculars are very good. The field is bright and flat and they focus sharp to the edges. False color (Chromatic aberration) is visible as red/blue fringing around bright objects. It is not at all severe, but it is there and visible on bright celestial and high contrast terrestrial objects. It is worse at the edges of the field than in the center. Views of large deep sky objects like the Orion nebula are really beautiful. The contrast is very good.

The “just ok”
Mechanically the focus is a little hard to adjust. There is some play in the mechanism that has to be accounted for, but it is very easy to focus out, then back in to the point of perfect focus. Once focused they stay that way for a long time.

The “totally unacceptable”
The plastic tripod adapter is totally and completely useless. The binoculars just rotate back and forth and it takes forever for them to settle down after you move them. That’s a shame because at 15x magnification these need to be mounted on a sturdy tripod. Even in light wind the tripod adapter just causes the binoculars to wiggle back and forth.

I have ordered the Celestron 93524 Binocular Tripod Adapter and will see if it is good enough. Even with that adapter, the center of graviry of the binoculars won’t be at the tripod’s pivot point, so you have to keep the friction on and that makes it harder to move them. A better balanced tripod mounting scheme would be killer.

Summary:
An incredible value. Good optics, decent mechanics, and an unusable tripod adapter.

Celestron:
Throw a decent tripod adapter that is sturdy and fit for the purpose. Extra credit for centering the CG at the the tripod attachment point. Lose the useless strap, and raise the price