Vixen/Orion BT-80's

I have been using the 22X100 Oberwerk's for about a year now,and I love em. They really have gotten me away from my scopes and into Binocular's. I'm now thinking of getting the BT 80's. I've heard mixed reactions to these from narrow FOV to limited eyepiece selection to miscollimation. Any opinion's from owners of these would be great. I'm wondering if I should just save up for the Miyauchi's. Would Miyauchi quality be that much better? Thank's Brian

Hi Brian,

I had the BT80 last year and liked what I saw. Pinpoint stars and good contrast. The only drawback I could see is in the FOV ( but everything that I was viewing fit into the FOV)and of course there is some color but that is a given since its an achromat..both of these issues didn't bother me that much. I had it on the Vixen custom D and it was an excellent setup...In a way I wish I didn't sell it but I purchased the big brother Interchangeable eyepiece 125mm Vixens so I don't miss them to much...I had the Miyauchi 20x77mm and like those also but would choose the Vixens over them...It took me 3 pairs of Miyachi's before I got a pair the was collimated properly never had a problem with the Vixens .I would view the Vixens and the Oberwerks as 2 separate type of binoculars...The Vixens as more for object viewing given the ability to view at much higher powers. I love big binocular viewing....JIM

Is there any real advantage to binoscopes such as the BT-80 versus, say, a slightly larger refractor with a good binoviewer? Theoretically I can't see any and the refractor binoviewer combination is much easier to mount. The combination including the mount would be much less expensive and arguable better optically.

I'm a big fan of binoculars in general but don't undestand the niche for these large ones that are essentially 2 refractors.