Affiliate links for binoculars and telescopes https://www.firstlightoptics.com/binoculars/ref/astrolavista/

I got into this hobby a few months ago and decided to start with just a pair of binoculars.  I saw that exact pair on a list of recommended binoculars on an astronomy web site and bought them for their long eye relief and because they were on sale for $150.  I love them!  I can second your recommendation; the image quality is great.

I don't gaze with my binoculars, 7x50 to use for finding my objective in Bortle 5-6 sky and I'm 70+ years old. I look for targets like M13 that is not visible at Bortle 6, but I can see it with the binos then it makes aiming my 8x finder scope easier.

People older than 25 or so may not have pupils that dilate enough to take advantage of 7mm exit pupils. Something to bear in mind. 7x50 binoculars may effectively be very heavy 7x35s for older folks!

One of the best & simply explained vid's I have seen to date on (hand held) binoculars. I was looking (window shopping)  into buying a pair of (not hand held :) Pentax SP 20x60 WP Binoculars well before I saw this vid, so was not surprised to see the choice you made in buying from this brand . In the end, it's  all about the quality of the glass. For a beginner into Astro binoculars , as you say, Fully Multi Coated & BAK 4 Prism's are a must from a starting point, which should be the standard to go from. The less glass, the better the image quality, don't buy zoom! :)  More glass!. :)

Superb overview. Good information, no waffle.

This is my 100th video for the channel so that's something :D

I'm 70 years old and the information in this video could certainly help me avoid some mistakes. I hadn't considered how the changes in the eye could affect binocular usage, even though I've been wearing glasses all my life and reading glasses for a few years now.
BTW the biggest binoculars I've ever seen (I never actually got to use them) were Russian border guard binoculars at 150 x 15!

I ordered a cheap pair of 10/50 binoculars on line. Upon looking at a tower that carries electric wires across a very high hill about 8/10 miles away the tower was doubled with two images looking to be about an inch or so apart. At night stars/planets were doubled also. I figured if I returned them for another pair at this price range the problem would persist. What did I do to fix this? I loosened the Left large barrel where it is screwed onto the binoculars where the prism is. I rotated it while looking at the tower and at about a half turn loose the towers became one perfect tower, I could even make out the wire connections to the insulators. Not wanting to leave it loose I turned it about 2 more turns. I put a medium size rubber band in the loose area forming a gasket. I tightened the barrel, the rubber band, forming a gasket held the barrel one half turn wide but very tight. The binoculars are perfect.

I had a 15x70 binoculars for a year and so far, my binoculars are really good for the night sky and nature etc 😀
I've seen a lot of cool things through my binoculars like deep space objects, Jupiter's moons and more! :)
Also great video 😁

Of all the binoculars I have used and tried, I have two absolute favourites: Zeiss Victory 10x56 and Kowa 6.5x32. Both have an excellent FoV.

Coatings are for light transmission not internal reflections.  I have a 101 yr old zeiss 6x30 with uncoated optics, and it does not suffer from internal reflections because it is nicely baffled and blackened inside.

It is a bit dimmer than my 1970s era japanese 7x35 with the same 5mm exit pupil, but the single coated lenses still let more light through than uncoated optics.  The ziess are way better during the day of course,  fully distortion free when panning, and sharp stars to the edge at night.  My 7x35 which is extra wide field, have lots of distortion while panning,  and the typical edge astigmatism.  The ziess are only 50deg apparent field.

I miss my 8x40 nikon action EX, and 8x56 unbranded japanese FMC waterproof bak4 manufacturer sample binoculars,  they  had the best contrast and no scatter or internal reflections when using at night and looking at a scene with brjght lights in it. For astronomy they were amazing.  I damaged them in an act of compromised state stupidity,  but I would have lost them anyway because they got stolen along with almost everything else I owned when my storage was broken into. The zeiss survived becuase the theives didnt notice them in the side pocket of the the bag that had my 20x80, 15x70 and 8x56.

I also have barska 15x70, which are also the same as the barska 15x70 that was my first astronomical purchase 20 years ago, though not the same pair as those got sold off long ago when I got the 20x80.

Of course I dont hand hold the giant binoculars,  and sometimes even put the 8x56 on a tripod. In dark skies the 7mm pupil 8x56 was amazing, and for night time terrestrial use, they were like night vision

The best presentation on binoculars hands down! Thank you for the details. Lots of beginners need help. 🙏🏻

You must also take into consideration the amount of inter pupillary distance adjustability of the binoculars as the distance between ones pupils is different in each person. Mine happen to be fairly close together so many binoculars I looked at wouldnt allow me to see easily through each eyepiece simultaneously 👍. This is where trying them out before purchase is definitely reccomended.

Great video.....very informative!

Great video, really informative 👍

I had Canon 10x30 Image Stabilizers and loved them, could make out that Jupiter had moons and Saturn was elongated. Nice field of view. Now I have cheap pair of Celestron 8x40s and they do ok but not real bright in high Bortle skies. Am 71.

image in /coated with not coated prisms 7X50 binoculars/ is twice brighter than in /cheap Multicoated 10X50/. Image in Fully Multicoated 10X50 is bright as is in cheap coated 7X50.

For the money I love my Orion Resolux 7x50
Should I feel guilty about my made in USA milspec Fujinon that I bought off of a doper tweaker for forty dollars 🤔

Good afternoon!  Thanks for the review!  Can you recommend buying Pentax binoculars?  I want to buy Pentax SP 8x40 WP and 10x50 as in your review.  Will the quality be on par with Nikon binoculars?  How do they behave in cloudy weather and at night?  Thank you)