Celestron Skymaster 15x70

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Brand and Model:Celestron Skymaster 15x70
Price ($USD):$79-89
Attributes:un-checked Waterproof un-checked Armored
Objective Lens Size:70 mm
Magnification:15 x
Prism Type:BAK4 Porro
Coatings:Multi-Coated
Field of View:4.4 degrees
Eye Relief:18 mm
Near Focus:43 ft
Weight (lbs):3 lbs
Dimensions (w/h/d):8 inches wide X 11 long
Description:Celestron's Skymaster page

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Celestron Skymaster 15x70
I have observed with binoculars for several years and consider myself fairly experienced with them. I have had my Skymaster 15x70s for about 8 months. Unfortunately, the right ocular's prisms were slightly out of collimation upon their arrival. Fortunately, I knew how to correct this and immediately did so. Of the three binoculars that I own, they are now my most used. They are well worth what I paid for them despite the corrections I had to make and I would definitely recommend them.

Overall Rating: 9
Optics:9 Value:9
Weight: 5 (Veritable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=576172

Celestron Skymaster 15x70
There may be better 15x70 bins available,but I haven't seen any better value ones than these.The optics are really pretty good and they are light enough to hold by hand for short periods,though I usually mount mine on a photo tripod.

Used them the other night and had great views of M35 in Gemini,all the Messier open clusters in Auriga and M42 in Orion was impressive.

I could quite easily make out M81 and M82,which surprised me considering the light pollution is quite severe where I live.
These binoculars are a great bargain that I can highly recommend.

Overall Rating: 10
Optics:9 Value:10
Weight: 5 (Veritable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=488721

Celestron Skymaster 15x70
Just got one of these for a friend from Astronomics....$89! A steal! Nice wide field, bright, v good eye relief, nicely finished w lite armor....mechanicals smooth but firm....coatings look even and nicely done. Weight just right at a hair over 3lbs...supplied tripod mount is ok and works well enuf but the glass is balanced so well that u can get decent views hand-holding for a few minutes...not bad for a 15x! Amazingly good star test....very slight ring diffraction on left side going out of focus and small amt of flaring on v brt objects (Mars, Sirius) but really not noticable unless u look for it....did notice a little ghosting on the full moon, but that's not uncommon on most porro glasses until you get up in the hi end stuff (Nikons in particular). The folding eyecups are easy to roll down and with glasses you get no vignetting (at least I didn't), diopter adjustment needed to be +1 for me, just what my other glasses require, so attention to detail at the factory is right on. Also did a little terrestrial testing....there are two very tall TV masts (one almost 2000ft-600m, the other just over 1850ft-565m) nine miles from my friends back patio. They are about a mile apart and on both (on a perfect air day...no thermals) the guy wires and antennae on both were easily visible in considerable detail....also got some very good looks at the undersides of a couple redtail hawks at an estimated 400m against a bright sky....was able to determine that one was a juvenille by the breast streaking...that's not bad performance with that much backlighting! The multicoatings do their job. All in all, you just can't go wrong for a hipower bino at under $100 shipped!. If I didnt already have a Canon 15x50IS, I'd grab one of these in a heartbeat!...now one other thing....couldnt find a mfg imprint anywhere...not on the bino, the case or the box...assume this is one of the many clone models coming out of the mainland, probably done to a specific importer's spec. In the past, Alan Hale and the Celestron gang have had many of their models done by the various Japanese makers and invariably, theirs are always just a little better than the competition with an outwardly similar unit. This (apparently) Chinese bino follows that trend...highly recommended.

Overall Rating: 8
Optics:8 Value:10
Weight: 5 (Veritable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=325187

Celestron Skymaster 15x70
very good binocular light and easy to use without a tripod

Overall Rating: 10
Optics:10 Value:10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=577824

Celestron Skymaster 15x70
Excellent value.

Overall Rating: 8
Optics:7 Value:10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=564423

Celestron Skymaster 15x70
I used to own Helios Stellar 15x70's,which were only slightly better than the skymaster binoculars and at £149 were £69 more expensive.
For £80 these are an excellent buy,that you won't be disappointed with,highly recommended.

Overall Rating: 9
Optics:8 Value:10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=488171

Celestron Skymaster 15x70
Purchased a pair to replace a set of Oberwerk 11x70 FMC. The stars are not sharp 25% off of center, focus varies within the field of view.The coatings are not very good,there is much reflected glare on bright objects. Collimation is very good, the optics are low grade.

Overall Rating: 7
Optics:7 Value:7
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=365221

Celestron Skymaster 15x70
Great for the money. The kind that you don't have to be afraid of loaning out or keeping in your car or truck. A very good value.

Overall Rating: 8
Optics:7 Value:10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=360898

Celestron Skymaster 15x70
After reading the opinions posted here I decided to try a pair of these and at 100 dollars it was not a big risk. I was delighted to find they were as good as described. I'm sure they would'nt compare with much more expensive astronomy binos but when all you're going to use them for is a little casual stargazing how can you resist buying them. I was surprised at the sharpness and fairly easy handholdability of these for daytime scenic views. If your looking for a pair of competent knock around astro binos that you don't have to worry about leaving in your car or losing at a star party, these are the ones for you! Highly recomended

Overall Rating: 9
Optics:8 Value:10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=333635

Celestron Skymaster 15x70
These binoculars are an incredible deal at $89. Even under moderately light polluted conditions (~ magnitude 4.0 skies), I could discern vivid details in M8 (dark dust lane visible with averted vision + a number of resolved stars), M11, M16, M17 (saw the swan shape), and M22 (large & quite bright). Could just begin to notice an out-of-round shape to the (bright) Dumbbell Nebula. Open clusters in Cassiopeia were bright and clear; could resolve some stars in objects such as M103 and NGC 663. The Double Cluster was beautiful with many stars resolved. Easily split the blue and gold components of Albireo with plenty of dark space in between. Mizar A and B split as well but not nearly as cleanly (might have been the seeing). Resolved the disk of the near-opposition Mars but could not see any surface details. The slightly-past-full moon was spectacular - no ghosting and only a slight amount of color on the limbs (green and violet) that had to be intentionally sought out to be noticed. Lightweight but reasonably solid construction. Nice coatings - I did not notice a difference between the two sides as the previous reviewer. Stars are sharp to about 90% of the way out from the center - field curvature and spurious color noted at the last 10%. Larger AFOV than my Orion 9 x 63 Mini-Giants. My only gripe is the supplied tripod adapter which is plastic and introduces too much wobble - you'll want to replace it with a metal bracket. All in all, highly recommended.

Walt

Overall Rating: 9
Optics:8 Value:10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=286776

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