With two solar eclipses coming up in North America everyone’s specializing in getting the most effective view, but do you would like the form of magnification offered by the Celestron EclipSmart 12x50mm Porro solar binoculars? The scramble for solar eclipse safety glasses all the time mushrooms before every solar eclipse, but on condition that the sun and moon occupy barely half a level within the 180-degrees sky, it’s tough to get anything apart from a general view of how the eclipse is progressing. Cue 12x magnification on these solar eclipse binoculars, whose 50mm objective lenses have solar filters permanently built into them.
With the sun looking 12x greater than with the unaided eye, the Celestron EclipSmart 12x50mm may appear a no brainer, but there are just a few things it’s essential find out about them before making a purchase order. Depending on your personal preferences — and even your physical size — they might either delight or repel you. Are they certainly one of the Best binoculars? Here’s what it’s essential know.
Celestron EclipSmart 12x50mm porro solar binoculars review
Celestron EclipSmart 12x50mm porro solar binoculars: Design
- Solar filters meet ISO rating
- Bulky Porro optical design
- Average quality accessories
Specifications
Design: Porro prism
Exit pupil: 0.13-in / 3.3mm
Eye relief: 0.47-in / 12mm
Weight: 31.5 oz / 892g
Dimensions: 7.8×2.6×7.3-in / 199x65x186mm
Magnification: 12x
Objective lenses: 50mm
Durability: Water-proof
Except during totality, it isn’t secure to look directly on the sun through binoculars unless they’re fitted with solar filters. That is exactly what the Celestron EclipSmart 12x50mm has, with polymer glass solar filters on the target lenses that meet the ISO 12312-2:2015(E) international safety standard. On the underside of the barrels are thumb pads, which indicate where to carry them.
Using the Porro prism optical design — known for good contrast, clarity and fewer light loss in comparison with roof prisms — the Celestron EclipSmart 12x50mm has a spotlight wheel on the highest and eyecups with loads of eye relief. Sadly, the lens caps — for each the target lenses and for the eyecups — are separate and straightforward to lose, while the neck strap is on the slender side. Ditto the shoulder bag within the box, which is best described as rudimentary.
Celestron EclipSmart 12x50mm porro solar binoculars: Performance
- Blueish-white image of sun
- Detailed views of sunspots
- Some color fringing
With loads of magnification, the Celestron EclipSmart 12×50 is able to unbelievable detailed close-ups of sunspots peppering the sun’s surface. It does so against a cool bluish-white backdrop, though we did notice a trace of color fringing across the sun’s disk. This issue appears as visible blue and yellow bands on opposite limbs of the solar disk, but it surely’s neither distracting nor particularly unusual on solar eclipse binoculars.
What the Celestron EclipSmart 12x50mm is nice at is each identifying sunspots and truly separating areas of activity inside them. During my test I could see two large sunspots, Energetic Region 3403 and 3407, front and center, and make out detail inside them. I could also see the smaller 3405 also visible on the eastern limb, something not nearly as visible while using the Celestron EclipSmart 10×42 solar binoculars I had readily available (which provide a bit less magnification).
Celestron EclipSmart 12x50mm porro solar binoculars: Functionality
- Difficult to carry stable
- Tripod adaptor jack included
- Requires practice and patience
A standard challenge arises when hand-holding binoculars with a magnification beyond 10x. The cause is the added weight of their construction that makes it tough to maintain them still. The tip result’s a picture that is just too wobbly — and, thus, blurry — to really impress. That is the scenario here, though there are methods around it. The primary is to take a seat down while you employ them.
Plenty of folks take a lawn chair to look at a solar eclipse, principally because they take about three hours. That is a sensible alternative made doubly so if you have got the Celestron EclipSmart 12×50 in tow just because sitting down more easily allows your head to take more of the burden of the binoculars.
Nonetheless, the Celestron EclipSmart 12×50 also hides a nifty tripod adaptor jack right between its barrels. Pair this with an L-shaped adaptor and a camera tripod, and voila — you’ve got got yourself a mini-telescope. That is, in practice, the most effective method to treat the Celestron EclipSmart 12×50 if you happen to want a gentle view.
Nonetheless, the additional magnification on the Celestron EclipSmart 12×50 brings one other problem — finding the sun. It would sound like a simple thing to do. In any case, it’s an enormous great fiery ball within the sky, however the sun is definitely tiny in our sky (and even smaller as an eclipse progresses) covering just 0.5-degrees of a visual 180-degrees. Besides, the solar filters on the target lenses mean it’s actually the one thing you may see.
Without context and in a sea of black, finding the sun while hand-holding the Celestron EclipSmart 12×50 is difficult and requires a bit practice and patience. The easiest way is to wear a wide-brimmed hat (a sun hat or a baseball cap) to dam the sun out of your eyes, roughly face the sun while holding binoculars, and convey them as much as your eyes before lifting them slowly towards the sky. It gets easier with practice.
Making adjustments to the space between the barrels and fidgeting with the diopter ring on the right-hand eyecup (to customize the optics to your personal vision) is not particularly easy to do, either, because it’s essential have the sun in the sphere of view to make alterations. The diopter tweaks, no less than, needs to be done upfront of the eclipse, though it does mean that sharing the Celestron EclipSmart 12×50 becomes tougher.
Do you have to buy the Celestron EclipSmart 12x50mm porro solar binoculars?
The Celestron EclipSmart 12x50mm is best considered by eclipse-chasers that may preferably prefer to be using a telescope to follow the eclipse, but really don’t need to be transporting all that gear. Nearly capable of be used hand-held, but more impressive when attached to a tripod, it’s option for those which might be flying into their eclipse-observing destination. It is going to even be of great use before and after solar eclipses merely for studying sunspots.
If the Celestron EclipSmart 12x50mm porro solar binocular is not for you
In case you’re advantageous with mounting the Celestron EclipSmart 12x50mm on a tripod and also you’re after as much magnification as possible then consider upgrading to the Celestron EclipSmart 20x50mm, that are otherwise an identical. Nonetheless, if you happen to want something way more portable and pocket-sized, the more cost-effective Celestron EclipSmart 10x25mm will higher suit you.
In case you’re actually not that bothered about getting any magnification of the partial eclipse and as an alternative desire a mind-blowing close-up of totality (warning: you could be inside the path of totality!) then it’s difficult to beat any of the most effective binoculars, but particularly image-stabilized products just like the Canon 10×32 IS and Canon 10x42L IS WP.