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.

I just got these a few days ago I am new to this and was told go with a good pair of binocs before you go off and buy a telescope. I am unfamiliar with astronomy in general, but I must say I am disapointed in these. I read that you could see Saturn's rings and I suppose I may have got over excited about these binocs. I am not having double vision or focusing problems though. Anyone care to give a new guy a few pointers?

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.