I recently purchased a pair of the Oberwerk 20x90 mm binoculars as one of the door prizes for next year's Deep South Regional Stargaze.
I had felt for months that the specifications of these binoculars did look good, better, at least to me, than what I saw for the 22x100 binoculars. In addition, while the 22x100's initially looked good,
reports of a smaller than labeled field, plus my own impression of the view thru these did not endear me to them. In short, the 22x100's true field is about 2.7 to 2.8 degrees, not 3.5 degrees as originally labeled. They are now relabeled and sold as having 2.8 degree fields. I have looked thru 3 pair and never felt that I had sharp, pinpoint stars at field center much less at the edge. The fields were not flat and the stars broke down rapidly toward the edge. This was not isolated, as I looked thru 3 different pair. Nix the 22x100's, at least for me, or should I say for me thru the 3 pair that I evaluated.
So, at least with a certain degree of hesitation I orderd the 20x90's. I did like the all black rubber bodies and I did like the focuser placement. They arrived on November 30th, at which time we promptly had a combination of almost 10 days of poor weather and a busy schedule. I finally had the chance to really evaluate them last night under a dark suburban sky and I liked what I saw.
They were set up on a Bogen 3011N tripod with a Bogen 3063 fluid pan head. My heavier Bogen 3036 tripod with geared head would have been better, but the 3011N is adequate, and the center pole does raise sufficiently high enough for virtually any observer to get under the eyepieces when the binocular is pointed high in the sky. I also brought out my Pentax PCF V 16x60's as a comparator.
At 11:30 last night the Orion area including M 42 and Orion's Belt were well placed for observation. I was really interested in determining just how large of a field I would have with these binoculars. I am happy to report that I could take in Orion's Belt (approx 2.7 to 2.75 degree separation)with a little room to spare. Later careful evaluation here determined that I could shift from Zeta Orionis over to Sigma Orionis and still pull in the far belt star. Checking this separation with "DeskTop Universe" showed that the field was a full 3.0 degrees. Not quite 3.2, but close, certainly better than what is reality with many binoculars vs how they are labeled. (A check with the Pentax 16x60's showed that their measured field and advertised field are one and the same at 2.8 degrees.)
When observing Orion was relatively high. Accordingly the eye cups on the Pentax (pop out hard rubber with a flat surface) proved to be somewhat uncomfortable as there was no give. I like the Pentax eyecups fine when viewing horizontally or nearly so, but not almost vertically. On the other hand the 20x90 Oberwerks have soft pliable eyecups so these worked very well when getting under the binoculars when pointed high in the sky.
I was also very pleased with the fidelity of the stellar image of stars evaluated near the field edge. Much better that typical wide field 10x50 binoculars (including Nikon Action Extreme and Orion UltraView). In fact the stellar image quality was quite similar to the image quality near the edge that I see in the Pentax 16x60 and the Fujinon FMT-SX 16x70 and the Pentax PCF V 10x50. I also am fairly confident in saying that the edge image quality is much better than I remember in my Celestron 20x80 Deluxe purchased back in 1987. I no longer have those binoculars. They were labeled and advertised as having 3.7 degree fields. I cannot say that I ever measured them, but later editions were downsized to 3.4 degree fields and they were probably less than that. I do remember the star quality at the edge to be not nearly as good as what is seen in the Oberwerk 20x90's. Nor were the Celestron 20x80 eyecups comfortable at all.
Another important point has to do with price. Back in 1987 those Celestron's cost me something like $450.00. Plugging this price into an inflation table, the equivalent price today would be approximately $725.00. So the 20x90 Oberwerk's at $299.00 with more aperture and better performance is quite a deal.
They arrived well packed in a nice case, completely enclosed and protected in a two piece styrofoam box within the case. Very well protected and in collimation. They will make some lucky person at the Deep South Regional Stargaze very happy!
Barry Simon
I had felt for months that the specifications of these binoculars did look good, better, at least to me, than what I saw for the 22x100 binoculars. In addition, while the 22x100's initially looked good,
reports of a smaller than labeled field, plus my own impression of the view thru these did not endear me to them. In short, the 22x100's true field is about 2.7 to 2.8 degrees, not 3.5 degrees as originally labeled. They are now relabeled and sold as having 2.8 degree fields. I have looked thru 3 pair and never felt that I had sharp, pinpoint stars at field center much less at the edge. The fields were not flat and the stars broke down rapidly toward the edge. This was not isolated, as I looked thru 3 different pair. Nix the 22x100's, at least for me, or should I say for me thru the 3 pair that I evaluated.
So, at least with a certain degree of hesitation I orderd the 20x90's. I did like the all black rubber bodies and I did like the focuser placement. They arrived on November 30th, at which time we promptly had a combination of almost 10 days of poor weather and a busy schedule. I finally had the chance to really evaluate them last night under a dark suburban sky and I liked what I saw.
They were set up on a Bogen 3011N tripod with a Bogen 3063 fluid pan head. My heavier Bogen 3036 tripod with geared head would have been better, but the 3011N is adequate, and the center pole does raise sufficiently high enough for virtually any observer to get under the eyepieces when the binocular is pointed high in the sky. I also brought out my Pentax PCF V 16x60's as a comparator.
At 11:30 last night the Orion area including M 42 and Orion's Belt were well placed for observation. I was really interested in determining just how large of a field I would have with these binoculars. I am happy to report that I could take in Orion's Belt (approx 2.7 to 2.75 degree separation)with a little room to spare. Later careful evaluation here determined that I could shift from Zeta Orionis over to Sigma Orionis and still pull in the far belt star. Checking this separation with "DeskTop Universe" showed that the field was a full 3.0 degrees. Not quite 3.2, but close, certainly better than what is reality with many binoculars vs how they are labeled. (A check with the Pentax 16x60's showed that their measured field and advertised field are one and the same at 2.8 degrees.)
When observing Orion was relatively high. Accordingly the eye cups on the Pentax (pop out hard rubber with a flat surface) proved to be somewhat uncomfortable as there was no give. I like the Pentax eyecups fine when viewing horizontally or nearly so, but not almost vertically. On the other hand the 20x90 Oberwerks have soft pliable eyecups so these worked very well when getting under the binoculars when pointed high in the sky.
I was also very pleased with the fidelity of the stellar image of stars evaluated near the field edge. Much better that typical wide field 10x50 binoculars (including Nikon Action Extreme and Orion UltraView). In fact the stellar image quality was quite similar to the image quality near the edge that I see in the Pentax 16x60 and the Fujinon FMT-SX 16x70 and the Pentax PCF V 10x50. I also am fairly confident in saying that the edge image quality is much better than I remember in my Celestron 20x80 Deluxe purchased back in 1987. I no longer have those binoculars. They were labeled and advertised as having 3.7 degree fields. I cannot say that I ever measured them, but later editions were downsized to 3.4 degree fields and they were probably less than that. I do remember the star quality at the edge to be not nearly as good as what is seen in the Oberwerk 20x90's. Nor were the Celestron 20x80 eyecups comfortable at all.
Another important point has to do with price. Back in 1987 those Celestron's cost me something like $450.00. Plugging this price into an inflation table, the equivalent price today would be approximately $725.00. So the 20x90 Oberwerk's at $299.00 with more aperture and better performance is quite a deal.
They arrived well packed in a nice case, completely enclosed and protected in a two piece styrofoam box within the case. Very well protected and in collimation. They will make some lucky person at the Deep South Regional Stargaze very happy!
Barry Simon
Attached Image:
