Celestron71008 SkyMaster 25 x 70 Binocular & Amazon Basics 127cm (50") Lightweight Tripod with Bag

We've now bought both the 25x70 and 15x70 SkyMasters, and here are some thougths (Under a Bortle-4 level sky):For long-term stargazing the 15x70 SkyMaster is by far the better one because of stability of the view. The 25x zoom shakes so much that it needs a tripod, which often is a bit more hassle to set up.With the 15x70 you can still see Uranus and Neptune, the moons of Jupiter clearly, the shape of Saturn vaguely, the shape of Andromeda clearly, and gazing into the Pleiades or Milky Way in deep fascination and wonder. It's a good step up from standard 10x50 for more detail and discovery in the night sky, while still having enough field of view to see the "bigger picture".Though;For stunning views the 25x is the better one - the mountain ranges on the moon, the little gap between Saturn and the Rings, or the bands and moons of Jupiter (not the red spot), are all breath-taking.

They are a little heavy but with a good trypod not a problem. I got the trypod that was recommended when purchasing it it's ok but not that good lucky I had a bigger one That is a lot better. For the money they ear pretty good 👍

It must be said from the start that these are specialist binoculars and are aimed at astronomical and long range terrestrial use. Using them mounted in some way is a must or it is pointless owning them. I will assume the user is familiar with setting up the right-hand dioptre eyepiece.Optical Quality:For £75 these are excellent optical quality. Obviously because of the high power and price paid you cannot expect pin-sharp images and with most binoculars in this price range there is some chromatic aberration (coloured edges around bright images) and a little distortion at the edges of the field of view. However, this in no way detracts from the pleasure of using them. Full correction of this would take us into professional prices i.e. thousands. The 15x70 specification is ideal for stars. Remember image brightness is (exit pupil diameter)^2 . That is (70/15)^2. The exit pupil diameter of these is large and also permits the use of prescription glasses if you fold down the rubber eye cups. That is the reason I chose 15x70 and not the 20x80 model.Mechanical Quality:The focus is smooth and the mechanical design allows plenty of thumb wheel movement throughout the focus. A great help.I would have liked to have seen a ridged stabilising bridge across the ends of the objective barrels. The collimation of my pair was slightly out causing me to see two slightly over lapping images of the Moon for example. This is the risk of long focal length binoculars with long barrels. Any slight knock will de-collimate them particularly during manual handling and mounting. Lucky for me I found I could correct for this by folding a clean kitchen sponge and squeezing it between the ends of the object barrels. That just shows how sensitive the collimation is. But once corrected the Moon and its craters leaped out at me as almost 3D!The binoculars do come with a soft carrying case but I would recommend purchasing an aluminium instrument carrying case with foam inserts. This can also be used for safe storage. Personally I would not risk walking about with them in the softcase.Using:I would recommend experience with small and lower powered binoculars before deciding to purchase these. Although they are actually quite light for their size they are bulky. Using them hand-held is a sad waste of their potential. Hand-holding also raises the risk of knocks. The binoculars do come with a tripod adapter. However, I found a standard camera tripod hopeless. The binoculars are too heavy and because their centre of gravity is beyond the tripod pivot point and towards the objectives they will crash downwards at the slightest loosing of the tripod pan head. There is also a risk of the whole tripod falling over. I suggest you use a heavy-duty telescope type tripod and NOT one for digital cameras. Or I found I could get away with a heavy-duty mono pod though not ideal.Remember if using a tripod think how you are going to view the sky overhead. Standard heavy-duty tripod mounting is great for terrestrial use but breaks your neck looking upwards.The tripod adapter itself will not clamp the binoculars securely enough. The screw of the adapter is the standard tripod 1/4" UNC and is not of sufficient diameter to clamp securely enough to prevent the weight of the binoculars twisting and yawing while in use. Also, the height of the adapter causes the binoculars to vibrate. Personally I have decided to make my own cantilever mount via a heavy-duty telescope tripod. There are many designs out there on the internet. However, deciding to purchase one will set you back about 3x the cost the binoculars.Remember the more comfortable you are the more you will see. Standing, while viewing, is not comfortable long term so a lounger or deck chair is a good idea. Also, that way the tripod does not have to be fully extended and so is more stable.SummaryThe views of the Milky Way with these binoculars are breathtaking. In this they exceed the views from my large expensive telescope which cannot be used with low magnifications. Such a telescope will no where will match the field of view of these binoculars or the feeling of actually being out there amongst the stars that these binoculars give you. Overall I am very pleased with my purchase. I will update tis with a photo of my DIY mount when complete.

All in all a very good pair of binoculars, they were a bit on the heavy side though, a tripod stand is a must

UPDATE: Had a proper chance to use these as there was a clear enough night from my back garden and quite a few stars could be spotted, had a look at Jupiter. You can clearly see its 4 galilean moons. I had a budget tripod so it was hard to get everything focused up and Jupiter in the centre of the field of view, but when I did, absolutely amazing. That alone is worth the price, it was also a waxing gibbous moon so it was very bright looking through the binoculars but the detail was amazing, easily spot tycho and the detail in the different shades of colour. I also just glanced around the night sky with them and you can see so many more stars, I looked into what seemed like blank space with the naked eye and through the binoculars it was full of stars, I will probably get a lower magnification pair of bins to suit more of a wide field of view to spot constellations as these wouldn't be suitable for that, but great for looking at stars when you find them. Overall extremely good value for moneyBought this for stargazing, a new hobby of mine, these bins were perfect out of the box, I have seen reviews of people having problems with these but thankfully mine were okay.The image quality is crystal clear for budget binoculars like these, and with such a high magnification also. I don't think they are heavy, but I have no frame of reference, you can easily hold them up and view things in mid range distance, but I would imagine keeping them held up would be a task, and for full length magnification, you will need a tripod, I purchased the Neewer portable 56 inch camera tripod along with my order, also great value for money they're more than capable for handling the binoculars, there is a weak point however, the included tripod mount that comes with the binoculars is plastic crap, buy a better metal mount and you'll be glad you did, I bought a metal mount for 7 or 8 euro I think. The plastic mount will have a slight sway all the time when mounted, the metal is much more stable and if you want to get the most out of these on a tripod, id use a metal mount.All in all I would recommend, to my knowledge both the 15x70 and 20x80 skywatchers are better quality but these do just fine.If you wouldn't like to buy a tripod, the 15x70 would be a more viable option, if you want even more clarity, better overall quality, buy the 20x80 as I believe there are better quality materials,glass lens in those