Customer Reviews

Celestron SkyMaster 20x80 Binoculars

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Great binoculars, perfect for multiple uses.

Good Points:
- Great value for the money.
- good quality, great alignment
- easy to use, much more portable than a telescope (and you get to use both eyes too).
- 20x power really brings things in close.
- work great for daytime observing as well as astronomical use.

Watch out for:
- as with any high powered binocular, these really magnify your motions making things appear jittery. You need to be steady or lean against something to get a clear view.
- you will want a tripod for most critical uses
- they are heavy, so if you hand-hold them, your arms will get tired fast.

I wanted to correct some bad information said in another review. the exit pupil needed by a person is a different size based upon age. An exit pupil of 7 is more for younger people. When you age and are about 50 or older an exit pupil of 4 is exactly what you want.

I got these at a local optics store. They are fantastic, just a little heavy. When the moon is dark, and it is clear, I can get a really great view of the Beehive Cluster and a whole bunch of other Messier objects that are difficult to see in a telescope. I lie down and look straight up at the sky with them. Some star colors really jump out, yellows and reds.

When I received it the collimation was off. Rather than send it back and risk getting another pair that was off, I called Celestron. The "Life Time No Fault Warranty" only applies if you get it from an "authorized" dealer even though my pair was new. Which means you need to pay like $200+ for these to actually have a warranty. However I asked if I could collimate it myself even though the manual says it should only be done by a professional with specialized tools. They could not or would not tell me anything about how to collimate it. Luckily I did find some general instructions on the web and found the prism tilt screws to turn and got it perfect. You need to gently pry back the edge of the rubber hand grips to access the screws. It whole process wasn't even that difficult! I don't know why it has to be such a state secret with Celestron. Since then the binos have been wonderful and well worth the discount of buying from an "unauthorized dealer".

These are great binos for astronomical use! On a clear night, I was able to see three of the four Jupiter moons! I am only begining to star-gaze, but my 20x80 skymasters make everything clearer than I ever imagined possible! A tripod is a must, as they are a little heavy. I also purchased the book, (Binocular Highlights) from Amazon. This informative guide goes hand in hand my binos! Overall, I am extremely happy!

I am an amateur skygazer. I was bouncing between a telescope and binoculars for quite a while. Finally binoculars made more sense to me because of its portability. Except for Saturn, I never saw any sky objects up close (closer ;)). I was stunned by the number of objects I could see with this binoculars. The sky from my backyard is not very dark. Still I was able to track down Andromeda Galaxy without any problem. You can see it like a blur of light (don't expect hubble quality image). Jupiter and its moons are a treat. If you squint a little, you can even make out the strip on Jupiter. I didn't try Saturn yet since it is too close to Sun now. I was able to see Orion Nebula very clearly. Open/globular clusters are clear too. Overall its a very good investment especially for an amateur.

I purchased the Celestron Skymaster 20x80 binoculars for (tri-pod mounted) wildlife viewing and amateur star gazing. These binoculars fit our needs perfectly by providing higher powered wildlife viewing than our hand held binos, and portability for stargazing.

We had purchased a Celestron product in the past, and were very pleased with it. We are equally pleased with the quality of these binoculars, for our particular needs. They are easy to focus and adjust. The optics are clear and vivid. They seem to be of sturdy construction, and are backed by Celestron's no-fault warranty.

I think these binoculars are an excellent value for the casual observer, such as ourselves.

I bought these binoculars on the recommendation of a well-respected book. Wow!

I had originally made the mistake of looking at the half-moon through a screen: Lots of distortion, flare, etc. It finally occurred to me that the screens were likely the problem, so I went outside, and...BAM! Amazing. All problems resolved. Super-clarity, no distortion, etc.

I'm impressed with the performance, especially considering the low cost. These two 80mm objectives have very nearly the light-gathering capacity of a 114mm telescope (I did the math).

They are heavy, of course, and so a tripod is a necessity. But all in all, a very good deal for the money.

I'm a collector of binoculars, mainly military, and I'm very familiar with the capabilities and limitations of various types of binoculars. I bought the Celestron SkyMaster 20x80 binoculars over a year ago and have used them many times. I prefer the 3-D effect that binoculars provide vs. spotting scopes or telescopes and I also wanted to use these for viewing objects on land and for astronomy.

The SkyMaster is great for many types of viewing. They are very good for long distance viewing. The main thing to be aware of with the SkyMaster is that they are heavy and large binoculars--not unlike some WWII navy or antiaircraft binoculars. Holding them steady to view things on land is fine for short periods of time. Once your arms start to fatigue, holding them steady is difficult resulting in unsharp images. Holding them steady for astronomy, other than the moon, is next to impossible, even for short periods of time. So, to get the best quality images from these binoculars you'll need to put them on a tripod using the tripod adapter that comes with the SkyMaster. I use sturdy tripods (Manfrotto) I have for my DSLR cameras. Once on the tripod, the SkyMaster is a joy to use. At home, I have them set on a tripod overlooking the ocean about 1/4 mile away. I can easily see whales spouting, people on boats, seals, and otters. I can clearly focus on birds that are as close as 30 yards away.

Occasionally, I take them on hikes. They fit well in a daypack along with a sturdy traveler-type tripod. I have no problems using the SkyMaster with or without glasses. They are easy to focus given that they are 20x magnification. The images are clear and bright.

The SkyMaster is well built and will hold up to minor abuse. The included fabric case will not protect the binoculars during travel. They're only good for storing the binoculars while indoors. The magnification and light gathering ability of these binoculars, along with good quality lenses, make the SkyMaster 20x80 excellent binoculars, especially for the price and if you use them knowing their limitations--use them on a tripod. You won't get the awesome views you'd get from Swarovski binoculars, but you'll be saving yourself close to $2,000.

I am very pleased with these binocs. We live on a hill and can see for 25 miles off our back deck. I first ordered the highest power (reasonably priced) spotting scope I could find. When it arrived I wasn't overwhelmed, we struggled to look through it for a bit but it was a small viewing area and the images weren't as magnified as we had hoped, it was something like 30-90 power. I was bummed and returned it. I ordered these not expecting much since they were only 20x (and I hadn't been satisfied with the 30-90x). When the came the first thing that struck me was the size, they are huge, in fact everyone that sees them laughs because they are so big. But I don't think they are that heavy, they wouldn't be a good choice for hiking but for looking off our back deck they are great. We use them on a tripod or mono pod which works great. When I first looked through them I was shocked at how big the viewing area was and how clear the image was. I think they are way better for what we were looking for than the spotting scope which was more than 2x as much. We use them all the time, they work great for looking at things as close as 50 yards away and as far as 20 miles away. I think they are easy and quick to adjust and they work well in all types of light. The build quality seems very solid. Packaging was great. I have also used them to look at a full moon and it was very impressive, it was so bright it was almost hard to look at. The details were awesome. I would highly recommend these bincos, especially if you live somewhere with a view and just want to use it off a tripod. The first thing everyone says when they look through it is, "WOW".