( 3 reviews )
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Posted: Dec 10 2008
These binoculars offer a great combination of features for the price. The built-in compass is a very valuable on the water, and the backlighting works very nicely in the dark. Eyepiece adjustments worked very well for me and produced crisp viewing. The rangefinder scale is easy to use and may come in handy.
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Posted: Jan 5 2008
I have written a long review on the Steiner 7x50 Commander V Binoculars. Much of what I wrote in that review applies to these binocs, as they are still 7x50's...... so if you are trying to decide if 7x50 is right for you, then read that review on amazon. If you want general information on selecting the right binoculars, my Canon 10x42L binocular review is more detailed and explains many of the technical issues of binoculars in general. All visual optics are a function of their optical design, build quality, and mostly their visual experience.....then, you compare all this to the selling price. Clearly, these binocs are simply spectacular for their modest price. I could nit pick a few items, but the price / quality is so exceptional, it would be unfair to Celestron. They packed a lot of quality in these binocs for an amazingly low price, thanks to a good optical design, well executed build quality, good QA and an amazing warranty. Are there better 7x50's? Sure..... but they are often much more expensive, $300 + and the differences in quality will not justify the price differentials to the avg person... as very small gains in image quality / features, often will increase the selling price 2x - 5x. BTW, these binocs demonstrate to me, just how good Chinese optical manufacturing is becoming through the years. 15 years ago, these binocs could have NEVER come out of china with this much quality. Of course, some of the credit must go to Celestron for the design and the QA. Of course, my comments are directed to the non compass version of these binocs also.
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Posted: Nov 27 2007
A close crossing with an inbound ship on the outbound side of the shipping lanes (and a mile outside of the wrong lane to boot) reminded me that it isn't enough to know where you are, and assume ships will stay in their designated lanes. Not only do you need to see them clearly from a distance, you need an accurate bearing to detect potential collision course. It was this incident that drove my decision to buy this piece of safety equipment without delay. I was very impressed when I took these glasses out of the box, they have a solid, high-quality look and feel -- from the optics (clarity is awesome) and adjustments, all the way down to the case they come with (padded, solid closure, orange trim for visibility at night.) Perhaps the feature that lets the Celestron Oceana stand toe-to-toe with much more expensive models, is the quality of its built-in bearing compass. Liquid dampening is a must, out on the ocean, without this a compass is nearly useless. More, I checked its accuracy against the fluxgate compass built into my GPS, it's exactly on. And its backlight is ideal, the compass is easy to read down to the degree, day or night. I did have a tiny bit of difficulty seeing the compass at first glance, but quickly realized that the rubber eye cups and my nose were keeping the lenses a little higher than desirable. Very slight downward pressure corrects their position. Over all I'm very pleased with the purchase, and given the Celestron no-fault lifetime warranty, I'm sure I'll be using them for years to come.
