Skywatcher Telescopes

Reviews

These binoculars are great big wonderful things. I don't mind lugging them with me up the mountains to get the great views. I also don't really need to climb up the mountains anymore, since I can see the top from way down here. The moon looks fantastic, awooooo. I have found that they can be steadied without a tripod by gripping them at the farthest end of the lens tubes, or by sitting down and resting my hands on my knees. Works good with glasses and without. Totally changed my perspective of the visible world around me. Thanks Chinese!

These binoculars are wonderful. I have not experienced any quality/collimation problems with mine (Bought January 2010). Was tracking high altitude fighter jets practicing dogfighting over the city last night. These are excellent for looking at the moon, The Pleiades, and other distant objects. They are much more practical than my telescope for away from home use. They get used a lot because they are cheap, mobile, and work well. If they break or get lost I'll just buy a new pair, which I can't say about the telescope. Thought I could use these with just a pair of steady hands. The other reviewers are right in that I did need to order a tripod. You can steady your arms against something, like a tree, and get a stable view for a few minutes. If you are going to be out looking for more than 5-10 minutes you will most definitely want a tripod. It's not just the stability either. Your forearms may go numb after about 10-15 minutes, especially if you are wearing a heavy winter coat. If you don't already have one save yourself some time, and maybe some shipping costs, and just order the tripod at the same time.

I can't say enough positive tings about this fine set of binoculars which came well collimated. Its one instant where there should be no unpleasant surprises. Quality per dollar spent excels in every way.

I could never expect to see what I did the first clear night I took these out. Having little to no experience viewing the night sky the result is inspiring. My first object was the Pleiades cluster. After some other views of stars and the moon (which is amazing) I turned to find the Orion Nebula. A faint glow of pale green can be seen emitting from the center but make sure to try and stay steady. Being that the magnification is so high steadiness becomes a problem. Its ok for clusters, stars, etc. but if you want to focus on any faint objects or even catch a good look at the moon and planets a tripod is essential. Trying to view Jupiter using only my hands produced a small dot of light shaking around violently in my view. As soon as I put them on a tripod not only could I see a steady ball of light (no bands or anything like that) but to my surprise I was able to make out at least 3 of the moons. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this to anyone looking for a good way to enter the hobby.

Wow, the clarity is very impressive. I live in the sunny side of US, so I can see things clear and bright. The product itself is bit heavy so can't hold still or for long time. Bought a Dolica ST-500 68-Inch Lightweight Tripod tripod stand but still you got to be uttermost careful in not shaking it for obvious magnification reasons, otherwise objects are shaky. I absolutely love it. Yet to explore the star gazing side of it.

Reviews

I bought this for my avchd camera in places where a large tripod just would not go (cruise ship) and it worked perfectly. The attention to design detail here is great: 1 - feet are beveled to keep it level on a flat surface 2 - all 3 legs extend (amazing in a tripod so small) 3 - sturdy - enough to hold much more weight 4 - lens allignment stud compresses when used with non-camera gear like audio systems 5 - Best for last - small enough to get onboard a flight with a TSA agent soing through your bag of gear. I had another small tripod like this that folded 3 different sized legs together - that one looked like a gun in x-ray and got my bag open every time - with this, all legs are equal and it looks like a tripod - goes through xray without a hitch. Would I change anything? no. It's fine the way it is. I even used it to secure my marantz PMD-661 recorder on a helicopter flight with the seatbelt of the next seat over. The PMD-661 has a tripod mount underneath and with this I made a secure position that allowed me to see the vu meters during flight.

If you don't give this product a 5 star rating, you have under-rated it. It is everything it claims to be, and priced right to boot.

This mini-tripod is compact and lightweight, yet it can hold a lot of camera (and lens) with no danger of tipping. When not in use, this stays in my backpack at all times (and fits so nicely!). Well worth the money. The quality is even MORE than they advertise it to be.

I bought this small tripod to hold a Bushnell spotting scope. It is well made and does a great job for this purpose. Very stable and light weight.

really nice and sturdy triopd and you can trust it with your camcoder. It is really helpful when filming with tele setting where even the small shakes are amplified. strongly recommend it.

Reviews

Great product for the price. Hardcase is excellent and the tripod is just ok. As a spotting scope this one is perfect for the price, clear optics and an all around good value.

Works great at 100 yards. Nice to have my own scope and not have to try and find one at the range that works.

I bought this scope for sighting in my hunting rifles. I normally sight in at 100 yards, so this scope has all the range and resolution I need. If you need the clarity of Nikon or Leupold, this scope might dissapoint you. Also, the construction is good, but it feels light, and I would hate to drop it. Still, I was able to see very clear detail of my shots on papere at 100 yards, so this scope does everything I need it to. Also, it shipped with a nylon soft case, a small tripod, and a hard aluminum case. Overall, I am very happy with this scope. If you're looking for a nice servicable scope at an attractive price point, give the Larsak Blackhawk a look.

This scope is pretty good for the price. The one thing that's a bit hard is the eye relief - you have to get pretty close to the eye piece. If you wear glasses, this makes it a bit harder to use. I did find that if you remove your glasses, the eye relief is not a problem and the clarity is still excellent. I have used this scope for multiple purposes. Hiking as well as at the range and it has worked very well in both cases. The tripod is a bit light, but I have another sturdier unit that I use with it. I like the hard case as the quality is very good and can hold other items as well. Overall, I like the scope and would recommend it.

I bought this scope to zero in my AR-15 at about 100-yards. It worked well, and I can see my bullet holes up to about 150-yards. Beyond that, I can focus on my target, but struggled to count the number of bullet holes. This scope is great for the $109 price, especially with the extras you don't get with the more expensive brands. And it held up well against my friend's expensive $450 Leupold (that he got without a tripod or hard case). Unfortunately I needed something strong (good up to 300-yards), and returned this scope for the Barska Benchmark 25-125X88 for $15 more. My advice, pick the magnification power that fits your needs and expectations. Then compare prices before comparing brands.

Reviews

Ditto last review. Small, cheap, blue legs, gray/green body. No bright green, no orange. My 4yo son picked this one out I'm sure because of the colors in the photo. He will have fun putting stickers on it. Luckily, Daddy is getting a spotting scope to play with together. I'm sure he'll have fun with it, but $10 is over priced for this thing.

My 4-year-old daughter asked Santa for a telescope this year. I have had a lot of trouble finding a telescope that is appropriate for her age. When I found this, I thought I might be in luck. The shipping was fast and the telescope was cheap. However, what isn't evident from the pictures and descriptions on Amazon or the store's website is that this is a tiny, tiny,(maybe 6" tall, with the 'stand'), very cheaply made, all-grey-plastic telescope. I'm suspicious that the photograph of the product is altered to make it look like it is colorful. It is really just a party favor, and when viewed that way, it is not a good deal at all. Don't buy this!

Reviews

I purchased this product to use with the Celestron binoculars. Assembly was straight forward and it does the job. However, with heavy binoculars the stand will vibrate if touched and takes a minute or two to stabilize. I plan to rebuild it with much sturdier legs and bracing. For the price it isn't bad, but it is far from being a stable platform for easy viewing.

This tripod lasted two days after Christmas. This tripod should not be used to support the Celestron Skymaster 15x70 no matter what Amazon or Celestron may think. The Celestron Skymaster Binoculars are very happy to shear plastic quick release clean off. This tripod features mostly plastic construction and comes with sparse instructions in many languages. Just go ahead and buy the next tripod up from Celestron unless you are a fan of all plastic construction. People get what they pay for so go ahead and say, "I'll be careful with it" and bust it clean off some night under the stars. I'm glad I'm out only 33 dollars. This tripod is not covered by the no fault binocular warranty for good reason.

I had purchased the VistaPix IS70 digital spotting scope w/ digital camera thinking I could use it like a regular camera. As it turns out, not a good idea. I now needed the tripod that is recommended for taking pictures. Great, another expense I had not counted on. Amazon to the rescue. I purchased the tripod used at less than half the cost of a new one. WOW, is all I can say. I'll swear it was brand new and an incredible bargain. I purchase used whenever I can and you can't tell me it's not new. Thanks again Amazon.

the design of the connection between the tripod adapter and tripod is poor, the plastic cannot hold the weight of my 15x70 binoculars and caused damage to both binoculars and tripod after using only one week. although it's cheap, it still dont worth the price.

I ordered this tripod, and it arrived broken. The assembly to which a camera is attached is made out of plastic. I asked for an RMA order via E-Mail, and they only gave me an address to mail it back to with a 'copy of the invoice.' Being lazy about mailing things back, and since it was cheap to begin with I tried repair it myself. Where it broke (the three plastic rings on the camera mount), it was impossible to re-glue, because of the torsion placed on those rings with any sort of pressure. Even if your tripod arrives un-broken, it will likely break the first time you drop it on the camera mount from any height at all.

Reviews

I recently received this scope from [...] and immediately took it out to test it. Upon choosing a target and a magnification I attempted to focus the zoom and ended up breaking the nob off of the scope. Upon investigation it looked like the zoom focus was glued against the adjustment axle, instead of bolted, or made a single piece. To say the least I was amazed of how quickly this product broke, I hope this was a manufacturing defect and not the norm. Either way I will not be purchasing items from this manufacturer again, opticsale has offered to replace it... we will see how that goes.

I purchased this product online at Amazon on October 8th as a Christmas gift for my husband. It is the above Barska Spotting scope. It arrived in reasonable time and showed no signs of damage. It was given to my husband on Christmas Day where we were disappointed to see that the eye piece was completely broken off. Not the glass part, but the plastic that surrounded it, making it unusable. We wrote to Amazon immediately, wanting to exchange the broken one for a new one. The only response I got was that I was past the date of returns and therefore would have to pay for shipping back, half the original cost of the scope or buy a brand new one and they would reimburse me for whatever amount they thought apporpriate. This was quite a surprise considering the $1000.00's of dollars I have spent with Amazon over the years. It was a Christmas gift and I had no reason to think I should open it, knowing full well that many items (C.D.'c, DVD's, Books etc.) are not returnable if opened. Is there any other result we can expect that replaces an unusuable scope with one that works? I spent many hours researching scopes and this was the one I had chosen. Any help would be appreciated. Sincerely, Karen Glenn

We have a lot of Deer around my town and Eagles.While I have a pair of Glasses 10X50 they still are a bit away from us.So I purchased these hoping to bring them in closer,it sure does,I can not say enough about the extra light at dusk they bring in, the Deer look very nice at this range....This Scope is very heavy,you will need a good tripod to rest it on.The dinky one it comes with just will not handle it.

I guess I'll start with the nice things. - It seems to pretty sharp throughout its zoom range (caveats below). - The construction seems reasonably solid. It doesn't feel flimsy. The body is rigid and nothing rattles if you shake it. - Unlike other reviews I've seen, I like the built-in lens shade. I've had a number of camera lenses with shades and this one is pretty hefty/solid by comparison. - With a 100mm front element, this thing is BRIGHT! When you turn the zoom to max, this scope is as bright or brighter than an average scope is at its minimum zoom. I'll go ahead and say the one really bad thing I have to say about the scope: the tripod that comes with it is utter, absolute, inconceivable JUNK! I saw similar comments in other reviews and I can only say that I don't think any of them went far enough when it came to bashing that tripod! When you open the box, grab the tripod and throw it into the nearest trash can and never waste another thought on it. If they paid more than $1 for it, I'd be amazed! Mine was broken when I got it and even if it hadn't been, it would never hold up this scope. This next bit isn't necessarily bad, but it is critical: this scope is HUGE!! The pictures do NOT properly convey its size. Without the lens hood extended, it is 19 and 3/4 inches long and the outside diameter of the front is just shy of 5 inches. The product page says 9 pounds and you should believe it. The problem with this is the weight distribution. This scope is VERY front-heavy and they did not put the tripod mount under the center of gravity so you constantly have to deal with the consequences of that design decision. Have you ever taken a ruler and clamped one end of it to a desk so that you could pluck the other end and make it vibrate? That's what this scope is like on a tripod. It is so front-heavy that it puts a lot of twisting force (torque) on the head of the tripod and therefore puts the whole tripod under tension. Consequently, it vibrates and jiggles at the slightest touch. It will even vibrate when someone walks past the tripod (depending on the surface you're on). If you need a scope for something that requires constant resetting of the scope, you may want to go for some other scope. I bought mine to use primarily as a spotting scope at the rifle range so this isn't a big issue for me. I also have a fairly heavy duty Bogen professional photography tripod from my days as a photographer and while it has no problem with the weight, even it vibrates a lot with this scope. It all comes back to their (crazy) decision to not put the tripod mount under the center of gravity. If they had done that right, then at least the tuning-fork-like vibration problem would be eliminated. This finally brings me back to sharpness. It doesn't matter whether this lens is sharp or not if it's vibrating. You can't see much of anything while that is going on. When it does settle, though, it seems be as sharp as I can ask for. I live in Atlanta so there is always enough humidity and/or haze to wash out colors and details even at two hundred yards. And at that distance, wind and heat shimmer also interfere with resolving detail so at this point the best I can say is it looks sharp to me. If you focus on something close enough to eliminate those factors (say 100 feet or less), it is very sharp and seems to have good color saturation and contrast. Now that I'm thinking about it, I should probably say more about brightness. For those that may not know, any zoom lens of any type will always look darker as you go from minimum zoom to maximum zoom. At max zoom (75x), this scope is still as bright as the naked eye. It is great at twilight. You can look at birds or animals in brush after the sun has gone down and have no problem at all seeing every detail. The flip side of that coin is that it is very bright at min zoom (25x) in bright sunlight. If you use this in bright sunlight with a scene that is mostly light colors (i.e. white sand), then your eyes will probably start hurting in short order. For anything less extreme, you can probably tolerate it. Misc. - It has very short eye relief (I think that's the right term). In other words, you have to have your eye very close to the eye piece to see the full image. If you wear glasses and for some reason can't use a scope without them, you will not be able to use this scope. And considering the brightness of this scope, that also goes for sun glasses. - It is supposed to be "waterproof" but I will not ever willingly test that claim. :) For what it's worth, I did see one reviewer who said he left it on his deck over-night and the dew didn't seem to effect it. In summary, I'm pretty happy with the scope but it may not be for everyone.

I was a little worried when I purchased the Barska Gladiator. I just couldn't imagine a 100mm objective at such a low price with good performance. So upon receipt, I did a quick comparision with my favorite astronomical scope, the Televue Ranger. The Barska compared quite favorably in a 70 yard fine target resolution comparision. In fact, I could not discern too much difference between the 70mm Ranger and 100mm Barska resolution in daylight. One might say this is expected of a 70 vs 100mm comparision. However, the Televue optics quality and performance is quite legendary with ability to achieve 180x and still perform. With both scopes I was able to read 0.2 inch high text and track 0.1 inch reticle artifacts at 70 yards (Barska at 75x). So, I expect this Barska to perform quite adequately at the shooting range for most calibers and ranges. I was not disappointed in performance of Barska and scope quality looks and feels superior. Oh, of course I used a stable scope mount in both cases. One really needs a stable, fine az and el adjustment tripod to be able to use this scope at 75x. I recommend this scope.