While looking at eclipse glasses, I’ve noticed that “eclipse” binoculars are also available, with built-in filters. I’m considering getting them, but I wonder how much use they would get after the April eclipse. Supposedly you can see solar transits of Venus and Mercury (unfortunately none will be soon, darn). BUT we’re coming up on a peak sunspot era, so they could be fun to watch.
So, has anyone used these binoculars? Yay or nay?
(I know this could go in the other eclipse thread, but I think it’s a different enough subject with its own discussion; feel free to move it anyway.)
I see that says " PERMANENTLY ATTACHED FILTERS: Use your solar binoculars with peace of mind, knowing the filter will not be knocked off or accidentally removed."
I think it would be better to get something where you could temporarily attach filters–so you could use it for other purposes later.
You may want to try this instead. For the 2017, for my DSLR camera I bought eclipse film, a small rectangular piece of the material they use for the glasses. I wrapped it onto my lens and that worked fine.
My setup looked a little hokey, but it was effective. And inexpensive. I have a pic of it somewhere.
So just use a good pair of regular binocs this way, and you’ll have them for general use. More cost effective, IMO.
Thanks for the replies. I like the idea of having them ready to grab-and-go, but beyond the eclipse, I’m trying to figure out how else they could be used. So, any sunspot observers here?
I like reading some of the reviews on Amazon, including the ones that say they should be a special color, like orange or yellow. You might imagine some doofus viewing the eclipse, upon seeing me using these special binoculars, running to his pickup truck and pulling out and using his hunting binoculars, blinding himself within seconds. I’d feel especially bad if some kid did the same thing later on.
Frankly I’d want to cut holes out of a larger piece of cardboard to stick the lenses through first - I’d be worried about direct exposure from side angles and such.
My solar telescope has a neat “sun finder” that lines up a crosshair’s shadow onto a target, but I still set up a little screen next to the eyepiece.
I made some holders for commercial solar filter that mounts on my regular binoculars for the 2017 eclipse. Handy for that, also used for last year’s annular eclipse. You can see sunspots. But otherwise not really very useful. With only 10x magnification the sun isn’t a big image, other than sunspots there is nothing to see.
Takes a much more expensive hydrogen alpha filter to see things like flares.
I wouldn’t bother with a dedicated solr filter set like you linked.
