The Optical Vision Binoviewer looks sleek and smart and is supplied with an aluminium case and 2x Barlow adaptor.The latter is a must when using the Binoviewer with a Newtonian reflector as you can’t reach focus without it.
Eyepieces are held in a self-centring, screw-tight unit with a compression ring that provides uniform and firm clamping around the eyepiece barrel.
We would have liked a safety undercut on the Binoviewer’s nosepiece, though, to prevent slippage if our focuser’s retaining screw failed. Attaching the Binoviewer to our 80mm apo refractor, we found that our large diagonal extended the optical train beyond the focus point.
Swapping in a smaller star diagonal and the 2x adaptor we could achieve focus and got good views.
We also found this system worked well with our 127mm achromatic refractor, while the 200mm SCT didn’t need any adaptors, just the star diagonal to put the view at a more comfortable angle.The 2x adaptor worked a treat with our 10-inch Newtonian reflector and gave a more magnified view.
Using the binoviewer in all of the telescopes gave enjoyable views of star clusters such as M35 and M67, which had an almost 3D quality.
Meanwhile, the Orion Nebula held plenty of detail, regardless of the telescope used, while Saturn and Jupiter looked good, showing lots of detail in the Newtonian reflector.
On the downside, we occasionally noticed a slight flaring of bright stars just towards the edge of the field of view. But overall this is a well priced, good binoviewer.
Vital stats
- Price: £149.00
- Aperture: 20mm
- Weight: 605g
- Supplier: Optical Vision Ltd
- Telephone: 01359 244200
- Website:www.opticalvision.co.uk
