Black Night Binoviewer

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Black Night Binoviewer
Finally got a chance to try out the Black Knight binoviewer. used a 10" LX200GPS and the included eyepieces (21mm?). I'm amazed; after switching over to 2" eyepieces I'm gonna need to pick up some 1.25" pairs. This thing works! Mediocre skies tonight and I didn't wait for it to get very dark. I used Polaris to get it focused and spaced; sky was so bad I couldn't see the companion - until I opened both eyes - there it is! Can't see it with either eye but with both it's as it looks on a good night at that power. Went to Jupiter. Views not great there either but with both eyes the cloud bands reveal details I can't see with either eye alone. I know this thing isn't magic but my brain really wants input from both eyes and it does more with what it gets that way.

The "8" rating is because I had objectionable reflections off-axis on Jupiter - might just be the eyepieces, might be because I didn;t bother to use a dew shield. I'll try it again on a better night and different eyepieces and if the reflections go away I'll make a followup post.

John

Overall Rating: 9
Performance:8 Value:10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=228258 

Oops! I posted a followup to this explaining that the refections were not caused by the bino viewer but by the eyepieces I was using. I just noticed that I wasn't logged in at the time and my followup shows as "anonymous".

It's me - the eyepieces were the problem!

John
>The "8" rating is because I had objectionable reflections off-axis on Jupiter - might just be the eyepieces, might be because I didn;t bother to use a dew shield. I'll try it again on a better night and different eyepieces and if the reflections go away I'll make a followup post.
>
--Followup--

I had the opportunity to try Jupiter again with different eyepieces and it turned out that those were the problem; no ghost images even without a dew shield with different oculars. Harry's gonna replace the eyepieces for me.

John
Black Night Binoviewer
Want to apologize to John because of circumstances that only John and I know he got the prototype unit. This unit was sent out before one key change was made to the baffling process. All subsequent units should not have this reflection. I will recall the unit for repair.

Harry Siebert

Overall Rating: No Vote
Weight: 10 (Trustworthy Vote)
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=228259

Black Night Binoviewer
I have had these binos for 2 months..Had a chance to observe Jupiter while it was still well placed ..Using just 20mm and 25mm plossls much detail was easily seen..Could see festoons and the Redspot in my C8..The color saturation seemed deeper using the binos..The 1.8X OCA worked very nicely on Jupiter giving a sharp image with no dimming..The OCA also allows focus in any telescope.I tried it in my CR150 and my 8" dob and the binos worked great..On clear nights I went deep sky observing...M13 was a wonderful sight and the OCA made it a glowing ball of stars..Two eyes are fun..M57 was easily seen as a glowing smoke ring and M27 floated against a background of stars...Another bonus is double star observing giving beautiful star colors and contrast...The bino coatings work on deepsky and the optics are excellent...At $300 this is truly a great value buy for binos..For the cost of one expensive name brand eyepiece you can enjoy using both eyes for viewing ....I rate them a solid 9.....

Overall Rating: 9
Performance:9 Value:10
Weight: 10 (Trustworthy Vote)
Date:
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=266927

Black Night Binoviewer
I own an Orion 5" Mak (127mm EQ mount "Starmax"), and I thought others might be interested in how a lower aperture scope worked with a Seibert Black Night Binoviewer and its accessories.

What I bought from Seibert:
1.25 Black Night binoviewer
1.8x OCA
Barlowed Focal Length Reducer
Pair 24mm Ultra Super Wides eyepieces
Pair 12.5 Standard Eyepieces

I've been observing with this binoviewer for months now, in a wide range of conditions. When I first sent in my order, I have to admit that I was skeptical because of my scope's small aperture. I took a chance with Harry's assurances, and I was not disappointed. After many sessions of observation, I've found they were well worth the purchase price!

Observation Summary:

1. Lunar Observing:
The Binoviewers, eyepieces, and barlow were all outstanding, increasing field of view, clarity, and vastly decreasing eyestrain. I was also able to take magnification a little higher than with single eyepieces.

2. Planetary observation:
the most thrilling differences are here, especially with brighter planets. Disks are bigger, clearer, and show better color. Surface features are MUCH better than when viewed with single eyepiece. A+ on the planetary test.

3. Brighter stars, doubles:
I found it easier to split doubles with the binoviewer, and preferred the color and clarity that came with Siebert's binoviewer (with brighter stars).

4. Deep-Sky Observation:
The binoviewer performance was close, but not as good as single eyepiece views. On Nebulas, Galaxies, and Globulars, I could pick out more detail with single eyepieces. Here, I believe that I paid the price for small (5") aperture. I would guess that larger scope aperture would pay dividends with binoviewer use. Others have told me that binoviewers' light loss becomes unnoticable when used with 10", 12", or larger aperture. I have not been able to test this personally.
I would like to add that Harry Siebert has recently helped with this situation, as he adapted my 1.25” diagonal to accept his 2” 36mm Observatory eyepiece (1.25 downstep adapter also included). This more than doubled the field of view possible with my standard 1.25” accessories. The optical quality, even with my narrow light path, is BEAUTIFUL. The deep-sky Dilemma is solved!

5. Included Siebert Eyepieces:
The Siebert eyepieces were far superior to any other I've had. Their 3 element design preserved a beautiful black sky and bright image, and their eye-relief, FOV, and large optics (no "key-hole" to squint at!) pleasantly surprised me. They easily outclassed my mid-range Celestrons/Meades.

Conclusion:
I would not want to go back to "pre-binoviewer" observing! Even excluding deep-sky disappointments, the "black-night" binoviewer is now the most frequently used of my telescope accessories. Its optical quality is very good, it makes a BIG difference in viewing, it was reasonably priced, and Harry stands behind his work. I have no regrets about this purchase! Thank you Harry!

Overall Rating: 9
Performance:8 Value:9
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=307080

Black Night Binoviewer
I have owned the BNs for a few months now and I feel I can review them objectively. I have owned and subsequently returned two other binoviewers in the past, one Russian and one $1200 American unit. Both of those units showed significant color differences on one side of the unit. The Russian was deep yellow and the American was pinkish. I use apo refractors so I don't care for introducing false color to any object. The Siebert BN unit is clear and natural on both sides. The BNs provide planetary views that are breathtaking and I had the unforgetable experience of splitting Sirius on 11/15/03 in a 4" Fluorite apo. I also had the best split I have ever seen of Zeta Orionis. The only caveat I can give concerning their use in refractors is that the only way I can get them to focus in any of my three scopes, two Vixen one Synta, is two use a 2x Barlow screwed into the bottom of the unit. This arrangement limits the scope to high mags but I don't do much other than planetary and doubles with some Ha solar thrown in with the refractors so I haven't discussed a remedy with Harry. I also use the BNs with the 1.8 OCA in my 10" Newt with great success, focus is achieved easily. Once you get a look at M13 or M42 with a 10 and a pair of BNs you're spoiled for life! The Black Nights have proven to be THE BEST astro accesssory I have purchased to date and I wholeheartedly recommend them and Siebert Optics. BTW, I'm using generic 32mm and 15mm Plossls.

Clear Skies,

Steve

Overall Rating: 9
Performance:10 Value:10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=319433 

>I have owned the BNs for a few months now and I feel I can review them objectively. I have owned and subsequently returned two other binoviewers in the past, one Russian and one $1200 American unit. Both of those units showed significant color differences on one side of the unit. The Russian was deep yellow and the American was pinkish. I use apo refractors so I don't care for introducing false color to any object. The Siebert BN unit is clear and natural on both sides. The BNs provide planetary views that are breathtaking and I had the unforgetable experience of splitting Sirius on 11/15/03 in a 4" Fluorite apo. I also had the best split I have ever seen of Zeta Orionis. The only caveat I can give concerning their use in refractors is that the only way I can get them to focus in any of my three scopes, two Vixen one Synta, is two use a 2x Barlow screwed into the bottom of the unit. This arrangement limits the scope to high mags but I don't do much other than planetary and doubles with some Ha solar thrown in with the refractors so I haven't discussed a remedy with Harry. I also use the BNs with the 1.8 OCA in my 10" Newt with great success, focus is achieved easily. Once you get a look at M13 or M42 with a 10 and a pair of BNs you're spoiled for life! The Black Nights have proven to be THE BEST astro accesssory I have purchased to date and I wholeheartedly recommend them and Siebert Optics. BTW, I'm using generic 32mm and 15mm Plossls.
>
>Clear Skies,
>
>Steve

Addendum: I have spoken with Harry and we came up with the solution of placing a ring on top of the diagonal to help push the binoviewers back. This allows me to now reach focus in my refractors using 2" diagonals with the 1.8 OCA. The 1.8 OCA is a very useful device that maintains the image integrity in my apos while increasing the magnification options of my existing EP collection. Thanks Harry.

Clear Skies,

Steve Stonehill
Black Night Binoviewer
I have used the Black Night BV with my 12.5" portaball reflector with results varying from superb (Moon, and Orion Nebula) to B+ (Saturn). Haven't yet tried them on Jupiter. Mars was a tad disappointing, but then it was a tad disappointing through all my eyepieces so I don't blame the BV.

I haven't used other BVs so I can't do a comparison but I have dealt with Harry Siebert on a number of eyepieces and have found him to be highly ethical and competent. On one occasion he even repaired, for free, a 2" eyepiece that I dropped onto a cement sidewalk from a considerable height. It was my favorite single eyepiece. That's the kind of guy he is.
I have done side by side comparisons of his eyepieces with others, usually others that were considerably more expensive, and his have always performed as well as much pricier oculars).The unit is well made and very good value for the money.

Overall Rating: 8
Performance:8 Value:8
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=329720

Black Night Binoviewer
Because I've seen some of the binoviewer salvos just prior to Christmas, I decided to volley in my two cents. I researched all the binoviewers just asanybody would who is going to spend $500 plus for a few pieces of glass and metal. I called Harry Siebert and chatted for a while. We spoke a similar enough language and I had a sense that the binoviewer would do all right,and the moneyback guarantee makes it a no-brainer. I bought the Black Night Binoviewer over the phone, along with 24 mm wide angle eyepieces with 70% + apov, a .5 focal length reducer and a 2 x magnifier (amplifer?). I don't
know. I'm not a real expert.

I got the shipment right on time, and opened it all up and although it didn't look like it had been made by a Swiss watchmaker the equipment appeared tight, well designed and well-built. Fit and finish, as they say, was 8.5 to 9 on a 10 scale. Finally a break in the cloud cover and I went up the mountain in 15 degree weather. I have a NexStar C11, great scope, unbelievable optics, but it does have 1.25" visual back and star diagonal.

I had read a few people saying they had to fiddle and figdit with the Siebert Binoviewer, and that may have been true for the earlier generation models, but it isn't now, at least for me (or those people just don't have a clue). I aligned the scope, put it on Saturn, closed my right eye and focused the left eye, opened my right eye and squeezed the two sides together to fit my eye-width (don't know the proper terms and I'm not expert in anything at all), and marveled at a beautiful, merged view of Saturn. Swung the scope over to Orion and took two steps back in amazement. It was so in my face! I went and got the .5 focal length reducer and put it in so I could get more if it in the fov. That helped a little, but the view was an orgasm, what I've been waiting for all my life from Orion. I can't wait to see the summer nebulae through that thing. My brother and two friends were there (brother wears glasses) and they simply adjusted it to their eye-width and had a similar orgasm. I asked them if they had trouble merging the image, and they said, "What? No. Is there supposed to be trouble?"

Then over to Andromeda. Oh, my God. Although most people like to veiw Andromeda with low power, I'm here to tell you that that was something to behold. So I put in a 40 mm Plossl just to see what it looked like (although I don't have a second 40 mm Plossl). There was very little vignetting, which may have been my only apprehension about the purchase. I'll be adding another 40 mm Plossl now to my kit. I put in my 18 mm Celestron Ultimas (damned nice eyepieces) and merging was every bit as simple, which was a nice development. Then we scanned a few DSOs and they were all comparable to single eyepiece viewing in image quality, maybe 90% to 95% of the image quality, but what you lack in sharpness and brightness you make up in ease of viewing and the beauty of what appears to be stereoscopic 3D, which is everything for me.

Now, of course not having another binoviewer to compare it with means this is all pretty subjective on the face of it, but I've read the light throughput and image quality are similar between the Teleview BV and this one. The only "downside" that I could register was that my nebula filter passed through quite a bit less light, maybe 15%, than it would have without the BV, although the nebulosity was downright POW! I think it would have worked better in the barrel of the BV (but I had in the .5 focal length reducer) instead of in the star diagonal. My only suggestion to would-be buyers: make sure you get at least 24 mm wide angles and from wherever you have to order them, have on hand lower power eyepieces, 30 mm or lower. The vignetting for a 1.25" barrel wasn't nearly enough to complain about.

So, anyway, a damned fine piece of equipment and I'm excited to get out again. If Harry leaves his prices at this level then perhaps the others will have to adjust downward, because if there is a difference between them I doubt that it could worth more than $100 difference.

Happy viewing...

Jason Davis / jmagus@zptech.net

Overall Rating: 9
Performance:9 Value:10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=334104

Black Night Binoviewer
I found them very well made with a great "WOW" factor.Most bang for the buck for any bino-viewer.

Overall Rating: 10
Performance:10 Value:10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=344697

Black Night Binoviewer
I would like to review an essential accessory for Blacknight binoviewers. I received one of Siebert Optic's new Multi Mag OCAs. This corrector lets you buy one premium set of EPs and achieve six different magnifications with them from 1.5X to 7X. I use APO refractors and a 9.25 SCT for nighttime viewing and an Ha setup for solar viewing. This OCA has performed flawlessly in all of my scopes, especially in the APOs. It maintains the flat field, superior color correction, and ultra-sharp star images that APOs are famous for. The OCA also allows me to use the BVs with my solar scope and maintain low power 2X views. The only thing that even remotely detracts from this excellent OCA is the fact that you have to assemble and disassemble it when you want to reconfigure the magnification. That's a small price to pay for this OCA's versatility, IMO. I have two pairs of Blacknights and it is comforting to know that I can use this OCA in both pairs simultaneously. If this OCA were available earlier I wouldn't own 10 sets of matched EPs. I do not work for Siebert Optics or have anything other than a customer relationship with them. I am however a loyal repeat customer that appreciates good value and excellent performance.

Clear Skies,

Steve

Overall Rating: 10
Performance:10 Value:10
Weight: 5 (Veritable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=345272

Black Night Binoviewer
The fit and finish is excellent. The inter-pupil distance adjusts very smoothly and easily. The Black Night uses the same push-pull method to independently focus the left and right eypieces, which is a bit of a hassle, but is comparable to most other models on the market. The friction locking mechanism for the eyepiece sockets is smooth and secure.

When looking through the binoviewer at bright objects like planets, the view is stunning. I could see detail on Jupiter that I never could before.

When I looked at M13, the view was noticeably dimmer compared to a single eyepiece. However, this is normal for binoviewers, and I didn't have the ability to compare to other brands and models.

I use the binoviewer almost exclusively for looking at the planets and just a few of the brightest deep sky objects, like M31.

Overall Rating: 9
Performance:8 Value:9
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=348125

Black Night Binoviewer
Nice fit and finish. Performs well on planets. Not very good for deep sky, though. A much darker and dimmer image than others I have used.

Good price, and a good beginner binoviewer.

Overall Rating: 5
Performance:4 Value:6
Weight: 6 (Veritable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=420025

Black Night Binoviewer
This is what happened the first time I took my 22mm BlackNights to a star party.

I took the Black Night BV to a Mahoning Valley Astronomical Society star party Saturday night. My nephew and I decided to go and not take any equipment so we could wander around and look through all the other scope there. We still ended up taking some lenses and I grabbed the Black Night on the way out. I was hoping we could find someone who would let us try it in a big scope.

There were some nice scopes there. There was a nice big 14" Meade but we ended up working with a guy (Bill) with a C11 Carbon Fiber Fastar Goto scope. He was at the end of the lineup so to speak.

It seems that no one in that organization had a high opinion of
Binoviewers. I think maybe they had not tried any of the new ones recently. Bill kind of scoffed at the idea of using a binoviewer at first. I told him if he looked though them it would cost him money in the long run. I do not think he believed me.

I pulled out the Black Night and put a set of nice 24mm lenses, they look like they might be yours. (no-name 24mm Plossls that came with a Denkmeier is all I know about them). I got them off Astromart.

Bill focused in on M22 and it kind of went like this..

Bill while focusing in, " Wow.. Oh WOW, Oh MY!!" at which point he jumped up and grabbed another club member and demanded the man run up to the other end of the line and get Rick! Rick had to come and look through these Binoviewers! The Globular cluster of M22 really was sweet. It gave a nice 3D effect. I had just looked at it through some other scopes and it was nothing compared to the view I had through the binoviewer. I had never really been a DSO guy but I think I am heading that way now.

We finally settled on Mars for a while and I ended up putting in a set of 21mm old televue plossls that I had. We also used a 1.25 yellow filter that of course threaded straight in to the Blacknight with no problem. As people reached us at the end of the line almost everyone remarked that this was the best view of mars they had seen. This is after looking through 14" SCTs and some big DOBs. There were not any refractors present to speak of. Also no one else seemed to be using filters. The view of Mars through the 14" was way too bright.

One of the other really amazing things I noticed was that no one had trouble merging the images. They just walked up and looked through the BV with no trouble at all. The C11 scope is an F10. That's a 2800mm FL. We were using 21mm plossls in a binoviewer. I am sure the Binoviewer itself increases magnification. Do you have any numbers on that? Anyway even at 21mm we were looking at 133X power. I think the image looked more like a 200X though the BV.

Later in the night, after the general public got done looking at Mars, we took the C11 on a tour with its software. The dumbbell and ring nebula were great. I wish I would have brought some 32mm or 40mm for the other stuff. Andromeda was magnified too much to really see the shape of it. The
M22 view filled the 24mm. It left me wondering how it might have looked at a slightly lower power.

Two guys insisted that they were ready to stimulate the economy by buying binoviewers. I gave your name and site to around five or six people who truly seemed interested in getting a binoviewer. They were shocked that they could get the basic BV for $300.

Thanks again for a wonderful product.

Don Durbin

Overall Rating: 10
Performance:9 Value:10
Weight: 5 (Veritable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=423142

Black Night Binoviewer
I saw one of these Black Nights at a star party. I had know Idea what a binoviewer could do. But WOW, it knocked my socks off. The images were bright and the magnification was nice and low. The man had one of the Siebert 1.3x optical correctors OCA. He could use it in his Dob or refractor.

I saw two other binoviewers that night. Even though the Siebert was a less expensive setup it was just as nice. One day I will get into binoviewing myself because of that star party. I can always change my vote if I see something better but until I do it is a good 10 in my book.


Amy

If you want more info just ask.

Benkay55@Juno.com

Overall Rating: 10
Performance:10 Value:10
Weight: 5 (Veritable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=427873

Black Night Binoviewer
Well I had a chance to compare 3 binoviewers. The Burgess, Black Nights and a set of Denks. All were very nice. I liked some things better then others about all three units. The Burgess were very inexpensive and came with eyepieces, very nice. The Siebert were slightly more in price. That having been said they had an impressive selection of optical corrector to choose from. They also had very well done self centering eyepiece holders. Now to the Denks. These had a little more clear aperture then the other two and also had correctors to choose from. Optically all three seemed very even in my 8" SCT in terms of brightness and sharpness. So if I were going to choose between them I would have to find something else to look at. If I had only #200 to spend and had an SCT only, the Burgess would probably be it. But since I had other scopes that needed help to focus I would have to EXclude the Burgess. I really liked the Siebert eyepiece holders better then the Denks since they held my eyepieces more firmly. But the Denks had a slightly larger clear aperture. Tough decision. Since all other things seemed equal I had to finally choose with price. And there the Siebert Black Nights had the Denks. Look below. And remember these are current prices and may have changed since this was posted, so check for yourself.

$500 Denk standard binos
$500 Denk 21mms
$300 2" OCS

$1300


$300 Black Night
$198 24mm SWA
$229 2" OCA

$727
So there you have it. Because of the great performance of both units you will have to decide for yourself how to go. If you can, TRY before you BUY.


Martain Bride

Overall Rating: 10
Performance:10 Value:10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=428157

Black Night Binoviewer
Decent performance in a binoviewer. I used to have one of the old Siebert ones which were not good at all. These are much better, and look more "professional" than the old ones.

I recently got to try a pair of Burgess binoviewers, and tried them back to back with the Sieberts. I could see no real difference between the Burgess and the Siebert, and the Burgess ones are a bit lighter. In light of this, I am downgrading the Siebert for value - the Burgess with free eyepieces for $199 has to be the best deal out there right now. I will be selling my Black Knights and have already put an order in for the Burgess.

Thanks for reading my review!

Overall Rating: 5
Performance:8 Value:3
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=436604

Black Night Binoviewer
I bought a set of these after reading the good reviews here. I can only conclude that these "reviews" are from nothing more than a shill working for Siebert.

Mine provided a very dim image in my 10" hardin dob w/ barlow, and caused a severe amount of chromatic aberration on planets. I found them totally unusable.

I switched to a Burgess binoviewer and the difference was night and day.

Overall Rating: 1
Performance:1 Value:1
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=466851

Black Night Binoviewer
I have found that all Siebert stuff are junk!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Evey binoviewer in the market beats the Siebert. Denkmeier is the only way to go .

Overall Rating: 7
Performance:7 Value:7
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=468612

Black Night Binoviewer
I agree wth the other guy. The Siebert binoviewer is no where near as good as my Denk. Make with pluming parts and fell apart before I could get it into my telescope. I added the performance and Value togeather and I gave the Sieberts a 4 the Burgess get's a 10 and the Denkmeier's a 11.5!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

John Johnson

Overall Rating: 4
Performance:2 Value:2
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=468613

Black Night Binoviewer
Sorry, I can’t concur with the other two posts. I have the BN bino viewers w/ the 24mm SWA and mulit-mag OCA, and use them with a 6” dob. Used them for about two months now. I use the BN’s on the moon and planets only as DSO images are too dark with my limited aperture. Although I have not tried the other brands, I am happy with my unit. Merging images are no problem. They are sharp and have a nice flat field w/good color correction. To me, the 24mm SWA are superior eyepieces and when used w/the multi-mag OCA’s, provide good value. It’s basically the equivalent of having six pair of premium eyepieces for about $71 a pair. When I used the OCA in the 7x configuration (which in effect renders the 24mm to about a 3.43mm f.l.) it rivaled the views I had with my Televue 3mm Radian, so I ended up selling the Radian. I have used other Siebert eyepieces as well and although they didn’t have a high tech finish and look to them, they all had a solid build and optically performed very well - definitely not junk.

I have found a couple of minor negatives with the BN’s. I found it hard at first to see in the dark the tiny engraved numbers in the OCA casings that identify each ocular. I was having to rotate it around and around in my fingers until I spotted it, even with a red led flashlight. But now I seem to more readily remember in what order I lay them down in when I change the powers, so it’s not much of a problem to switch them. Also, when using 2x (12mm f.l. equivalent) and higher, the eye relief with the rubber eyecups is not sufficient for my glasses. But normally at higher powers I don’t bother to use my glasses, so it’s not an issue for me.

I am associated with Harry only as a satisfied customer. Harry gives great customer service, stands behind his products and offers a money-back guarantee. I don't think you can go wrong in trying these bino-viewers.

Cameron

Overall Rating: 9
Performance:9 Value:10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=482512

Black Night Binoviewer
I got one of these for Christmas - I was very excited about getting into binoviewing. After trying it, my excitement diminished. Views are very dim, and have chromatic aberration when using these. I finally got to try a William Optics binoviewer at a star party, and was amazed at the difference - much brighter and sharper. The WO feels much more like a quality product in your hands. I dumped my Black Knight on Astromart, and am now waiting for my WO to arrive.

If you are considering a binoviewer, forget the Siebert and get a WO - it is a nicer bino and costs alot less $$.

Overall Rating: 3
Performance:4 Value:1
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=502934

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Starting out in Amateur Astronomy
 
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