Any contrail spotters here?

[PinkJackal 86]

I have a question, I want to buy binoculars for plane spotting at high altitude. What binoculars do you think is better suited for this purpose, or maybe you have something better to suggest?

I want to see the livery on the planes, no need for photography, just watching planes passing by my house at 30000ft.

I was thinking about Celestron SkyMaster 25X70

 

Thank you!

[ubersu 78]

Unless you are steady as a rock, you'd be better off with 10X50...

 

DJ

[777 340]

I've tried spotting scopes and binos, not had the clarity at high zoom. I think telescopes are better but not tried one yet due to the price...

[out 769]

If you want to see as much detail as possible, buy the strongest lens you can.

 

Stability might be a problem, especially in the beginning, but I never spot without a support.

And by support I mean anything you see around you - it may be a window frame, a post, a tree, a roadsign, a fence, etc.

You can even learn to use your own elbows as support (leaning them on your front ribs.

 

So, I'd definitely vote for the 25x70.

The amount of detail you'll see will be worth some extra effort to stabilize the image.

[Dazzlercee23 68]

I have a question, I want to buy binoculars for plane spotting at high altitude. What binoculars do you think is better suited for this purpose, or maybe you have something better to suggest?

I want to see the livery on the planes, no need for photography, just watching planes passing by my house at 30000ft.

I was thinking about Celestron SkyMaster 25X70

 

Thank you!

 

Not a contrail spotter but occasionally use an Olivon T90 spotter scope on a tripod to observe passing aircraft. It has a zoom eyepiece to x68, but I use it at x25 - x35. Anything more and I find it difficult to use.

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Olivon-T90-23-68x90-Spotting-Scope/dp/B0035WKHLW

[mebull 27]

 

 

I was thinking about Celestron SkyMaster 25X70

 

It really is a trade off. You will find the 25x70 may get a bit heavy and hard to keep stable as has already been mentioned. As Rafal mentioned, some sort of support would help a great deal. My own personal preference would be a camera stick (a mono pod). They are relatively inexpensive and give you the benefit of height adjustment and the ability to pivot around the foot axis rather smoothly. Make sure the 25x70 has a mounting plate for that before you get one! A stern warning / caution - always be aware of what is near, but just outside your field of view. Never ever allow the sun to come into your view. I'm confident that is just common sense, but . . . . . .

 

On a mostly unrelated note; Being an amateur astronomer,  about thirty five years ago I built a 10" F6 Newton telescope. I had everything assembled in my garage and the final stage was to calibrate and align the mirrors. I pointed it out the garage door and put in a 30mm eyepiece. The short story is there was something I could see but couldn't quite figure out. After adjusting the mirrors repeatedly and running the focus in and out the object came into focus. It was the manufacturers label on a television antennae about fiver hundred yards away.

 

On a more related note; I was observing the full moon and a passenger jet crossed the field of view, in focus. I could see the cabin lights and passengers heads through some of the windows.

 

Finally, a bit of friendly advice. You may wish to think about whether or not you have any really really paranoid neighbors and what you may have to say or do to keep the peace. Been there, done that.

 

Have fun Albert.

 

Regards,

[HoratioWondersocks 4]

Hello

I used to do a bit stargazing using binoculars.

One method I found for keeping them nice and steady was to mount them on camera tripod.

I would not extend the tripod to its full extend ,but keep it at its shortest (about a 1foot)and simply hold it with both hands to my chest.. It was very stable and very comfortable like this.

Holding a pair of binoculars the 'normal way' can be somewhat knackering/fatiguing.

 

Cheers

Andy

[PinkJackal 86]

Thank you for advice guys, much appreciated!

 

I'll just use my DSLR tripod, I'm sure it will do a great job for stability, the 25x70 binos comes with tripod mount included.

If you guys can recommend something better than what I have in mind, please do so, not only binoculars. 

I've seen some good refractor telescopes, I also like the Olivon T90 that Dazzlercee23 shared.

 

[THibben 16]

Many years ago I bought a Canon 15X45 Image Stabilized 4.5 binocular.  Can't live without them especially as I get older and shakier....grin  I don't know what is out there now but an image stabilized one now has got to be even better.

 

Tom

[HoratioWondersocks 4]

Thank you for advice guys, much appreciated!

 

I'll just use my DSLR tripod, I'm sure it will do a great job for stability, the 25x70 binos comes with tripod mount included.

If you guys can recommend something better than what I have in mind, please do so, not only binoculars.

I've seen some good refractor telescopes, I also like the Olivon T90 that Dazzlercee23 shared.

 

 

 

Hello

I would definitely recommend bins over a telescope for your plane spotting.

Telescopes may have a greater magnifying power ,but will have a smaller field of view,

making it harder to locate your target (also with a telescope the issue of stability will be even greater than with bins)

Binoculars will have a greater field of view, but perhaps less raw magnifying power.

IMO bins are the way to go for your purposes.

There are of course some huge bins used for astronomy ,whether these would be a good choice for you I don't really know, there would also be the cost to consider.

My tech knowledge concerning optics is probably a little out of date these days ,so other posters may have more up to date info concerning bins verses telescopes.

 

Cheers

Socks?