Against recommendations and reviews I've read on the Zhumell 20 x 80 binoculars, I must confess that I've ordered a pair from Telescopes.com. For a couple of years I have been looking at purchasing some 20 x 80's, and even though Garrett's are what I had my heart set on, I just couldn't pass up the 1/2 price sale on the Zhumell's. I know there have been issues with collimation, double vision, and a few other problems others have mentioned, but the customer service response to those issues, in my opinion, has been  top notch. Besides, even if the pair I get aren't perfect, they still have to be better than the 7 x 35 Tascos that I own now. Of course, I won't settle for less than what I should expect from the Zhumells, and any issues found; I expect Telescopes.com to rectify accordingly.

With that said, I would love to hear the thoughts of you that own a pair of these, or have had some experience with these particular binos. Thanks in advance for your replies, and keep looking up.

Clear skies! 

I received the Zhumell 20 x 80's today, and the binoculars really look great. They're larger than I expected them to be, but for the price, I'm satisfied with them so far. I took them out and tested them by zeroing in on a jet that was flying over. The view was sharp and crisp, as I expected it to be. I saw no hint of double-vision that others have complained about,  so it seems the collimation is good on this set. The real test will be when I can get them under the night skies and get first light through them of one of the globular clusters, or any of the other great binocular targets. Of course, I'll have to wait on the cloudy skies to clear before I can conduct any further tests. I've got the binoculars, a standard tripod to mount them on (until I'm able to get a parallelogram-style mount, which I prefer), and now I just need the patience to wait out the clouds, and the return of clear skies.

Good lord Kevin, that was quick. I have to figure an average of 2 weeks before anything ever gets to me out here. I was just about to order a pair of 10.5X70 Orion Resolux glasses, but since we seem to be really stuck in a long term weather system sweeping clouds in over the mountains I'm going to finally spring for a PST. At least we get some clear sky during the day.

johnm:

since we seem to be really stuck in a long term weather system sweeping clouds in over the mountains I'm going to finally spring for a PST. At least we get some clear sky during the day.

Thats one of the reasons I purchased a PST. We had experienced so many nights of cloudy skies at that time (and the days had been clear) that I bought the PST just to be able to observe during the day, when the skies were forecast to be cloudy at night.

 Yeah, I'd been wanting one for a long time. Actually I was saving up for a little bigger one, but I think the PSTs are easy to sell used and I can get another maybe next year, maybe a 60mm ooh that would be nice!

The 60mm Solarmax is nice, I got the opportunity to use one of those at a solar event in Savannah, GA. One of the guys at Deerlick Astronomy Village has a 90mm Solarmax, and now we're really talking about some awesome views. For $3000 more than what the 60 costs you can enjoy those same views.

That's always been the problem of Solar viewing, in other than WL, the high cost. 20 years ago I only knew a few people who could observe in Ha, I looked at a Lumicon back then, but Whew!

I think I could swing a Solarmax 60 filter if I found one used and I could make the adapters I needed. Most likely the standard Ha PST will be it, my pension check only goes so far   I could see some modifications to it though.

The key to getting the most out of large binoculars is in keeping them stable while viewing.  A good camera tripod will work, but it will be hard to view objects near the zenith.  A better choice is a parallelogram mount like the one found here: http://www.telescope.com/control/category/~category_id=mounts_and_tripods/~pcategory=accessories/~VIEW_INDEX=2/~VIEW_SIZE=9

There are other options.  I use this,

Binoculars excell at widefield views and are the very best way to view many large, open clusters, but they will not give you detailed views of small objects like planets. 

hey kevin my name is mike im thinking about a pair of 20x 80s also  that was an instesting mount you had would be intrested in more details .

Hi Mike   to the forums. The mount in the picture isn't a good mount for observing with binoculars. Especially when viewing near Zenith. A preferred mount would be the parallelogram-style mount such as the one from Orion Telescopes, or a pipe mount like the one found at Peterson Engineering. That would be my recommendations for binocular mounts.

I guess I'll throw in my two cents worth and hopefully save somebody some pain. I recently ordered the Zhumell 20x80 Astronomical Binoculars from binoculars.com. I know you get what you pay for, but I just wanted a decent pair for spotting and scanning. The binoculars arrived on time, but I quickly discovered that the bracket that connects the left eyepiece to the focuser was completey broken off. This literally rendered the binoculars USELESS! There was only one small packing air bag in the small box and I'm reasonably certain that it was damaged during shipment.

I immediately called binoculars.com and informed them about the damaged merchandise and the poor packaging. I was told that they were currently out-of-stock and MIGHT get some more this month. I just had them cancel the order. I was told by the rep that binoculars.com would send me a FedEx shipping label for return of the merchandise via email which I never received. I called binoculars.com customer service today and informed them that I had not received the label yet.

The customer rep told me that the label would be sent by FedEx and that I never got it because my spam filter was blocking it. Wait a minute, I'm a computer consultant, I get all my email, spam and all, and I don't have spam filters set up in my email client and informed her that had NOT received the label yet! Her response? "Well, since you think I'm lying to you, I'll just call FedEx and have them come over and pick it up tomorrow," she then hung up on me!

I will NEVER buy anything from binoculars.com again! As far as the Zhumell 20x80s are concerned, the quality was disappointing. I have since read that if you use the binocs just a few times the collimation goes out. I've also read several reviews complaining of double-vision and alignment problems. I would not recommend them, even at $99. I bought a pair of Celstron 20x80s instead. Folks seem to be pretty happy with the Celestrons and the Oberwerk astronomical binoculars. I'll keep you posted!

Thanks for the input Aristarchus, I guess you fell into that group who got a bad deal all the way around. So far, my 20x80's are doing fine, but I've only used them a few times. Maybe I'm still in for some problems out of them, but as of their last use, they performed flawlessly. Good luck with the Celestrons. I hope they work out better for you.

Thanks, Kevin! The Zhumell 20x80s might have been great binocs for me had they not arrived damaged. I'm more disgusted with the attitude I got from the binoculars.com customer rep than I am the quality of the Zhumells.

Anyway, my Celestron 20x80s should be here on Friday. We're supposed to have a front move through here, so hopefully there will be some good seeing this weekend!

Here is my 2 cents worth. I orignally bought the Zumell 25x100's. They worked great for about 15 minutes. Then the locking nut on top got stuck. Could not get it loose and had to pry it off with pliers. Called binoculars.com and they said the same thing. "dont have anymore,  but should get them in a month or so" DO they only stock 1 pair? I asked if they could just give me the 20x80's instead for an even swap. That was fine with them. Got the 20x80 in a week or so and the first night the freakin eyepieces(both) fell out of the scoket. Needless to say I was not happy. After a couple days worth of arguing I was able to get them to give me a full refund on the original binos and got myself a Meade ETX80 with solar filter instead. Much happier now. SOnt be surprised if something happens and keep all your packing just in case.

Steve

 Wow, sorry to hear that pinkflyd34! The problem, I believe, with the Zhumell's is the bracket that connects the eyepieces to the focuser is manufactured from a very weak alloy similar to pot-metal. The connection is so thin that even if the bracket doesn't break at some point it can easily bend back and forth when adjusting the focusing knob sending the binos way out of collimation -- a common complaint.

 I recently received my Celestron SkyMaster 20x80 astronomical binoculars from telescopes.com and I couldn't be happier. Exactly what I wanted: a good pair of astronomical binoculars for wide-field observing at a reasonable price ($199). The eyepiece brackets are very sturdy (~1/4" thick.) The binos are a bit heavy at 94 ounces (almost six pounds!) so a bino-mount of some kind is recommended. Observing the moon and star clusters is amazing. I made excellent observations this month (Oct.) of Jupiter and the Galilean moons.

I converted an inexpensive digital camera tripod to a bino-mount for the Celestron 20x80 Skymaster binoculars. A wood platform cut from 3/4" cabinet-grade plywood incorporates a knob with a 1/4" stud to mount the binos and a 2 1/2 x 5/16-18 T-Slot bolt with female knob to mount the wood platform to the tripod. A hinged platform made from 3/4" stock was added to provide a stable platform for a Rigel QuikFinder.

Note: www.rockler.com sells a variety of handles and knobs for various uses.

Rear-view of a custom binocular tripod mount.

Front-view of the Celestron 20x80 SkyMaster binoculars on custom mount. The mount features a hinged platform for a Rigel QuikFinder. (below)

I plan on writing a short how-to article on making the mount in the next few weeks. So check my web site for updates and keep looking up!

Brent Allen Parrish

http://www.woven-media.com/

It is possible to colimate the binoculars as u colimate the telescope?

Thanks guys!!!

Zani,

No.

At best, all you can accomplish is what is commonly known as "conditional alignment", which is only good for your eyes and your IPD.

To properly collimate a binocular, at all InterpupillaryDistances, you need the right equipment, as well as the experience and training to be able to use it.

http://www.cloudynights.com/item.php?item_id=416