Barska Gladiator Zoom Binoculars with Tripod Adaptor for Astronomy, Birding, Sports, Long Range Viewing, etc

With the fact I only just received these I haven't been able to give them a thorough try. They arrived ahead of the tripod I ordered to use them with but with a quick hand held look around the sky the moon was very sharp and detailed and at minimum magnification was even with my 20x70s and the zoom feature is nice but can make it very difficult to hold steady by hand but was able to catch a glimpse of one of Jupiter's moons but to unsteady for any detail but from what I've seen so far they are awesome and at a good price would definitely recommend to anyone looking for Astronomy binoculars if they are willing to use a tripod because they are large and hefty would get tiresome quickly using by hand pool pic is of them side by side with my 20x70s which are not small binoculars themselves

My unit was high quality and very well built. The eyepieces were somewhat stiff and uncomfortable on the eyes compared to my other barska 10-30x zoom binoculars. Could get used to it after a while but may be tough for extended use.The main reason I am returning these is because at max zoom the image is no larger than my that of my 48x spotting scope. I've attached a comparison. As such I have no use for these otherwise nice binoculars.4 stars if you don't mind the max zoom being about a third of that advertised.

I bought them wanting 125 magnification, but it is just not there. I closely compared them with my 20x75 spotting scope, because i did not believe they were 125 mag. I think they are 70 maybe 75 mag. at best. I knew about them being hard to focus with a narrow field of view at high magnification based on reviews. Due to them not having the advertized magnification I gave them 3 stars. However as a pair of 25x80 with some good zoom to about 40 to 45 I would rate them as 5 star quality. I looked online for 25x80 binoculars. I found only one and they were 400 + $. I would highly recommendtheses binoculars as 25x80+ only. Good ViewingI have other long distance binoculars. I have had these for over a year now, and they have become my favorite. I use them 3 or more times a week. I live in the mountains of southeastern San Diego County. Long distance viewing is a hobby of mine.I have changed my rating from 3 to 5 stars. I stated that they were not 125 magnification, that is not so! These are excellent Bino's for there price. You must get used to them. There is a learning curve, and a little practice is necessary. As the magnification gets higher the exit pupal's ( points of light in the center of the eye piece ) get smaller, even tinny. Double image is caused by the misalignment of your pupal and the exit pupal of the bino's, but practice makes perfect. If you receive a pair that at base magnification of 25x have a double image that you can't get rid of, return them they are out of collimation. I so enjoy the variable magnification. I made a magnification chart using a factor of 7.150.Once you get used them you will enjoy the also. Have a good view. I have had these 5 years now, and I still enjoy them. I have learned an important fact about high magnification Viewing. 2 factors work against you, distance and air temperature. You will get a more clearer image in cooler temps. Temps above 70-75 degrees will have an effect on you image quality, depending on distance.

Stay away from these. I've been an Amazon customer for over 10 years, and these binoculars are my very first returned item.The images are just completely and unacceptably hazy. I spent 2 hours with a tripod in my living room looking out across a field, and eventually determined that I could see no more detail at any magnification than my pair of 10x30 binoculars. And by the way, the magnification at anywhere near the 20x and 140x extremes was a farce. I'm guessing that the usable zoom range is maybe something like 30x to 60x, although there are no numbers on it to tell me what the zoom level actually is.And gosh, again, I just can't emphasize enough how hazy the images are, no matter the amount of tinkering you do. It's not a focusing problem nor an alignment problem; it's a lens quality problem. Like they used some cheap old plastic lenses in there somewhere from 1902. And for that 21 mm eye relief spec... I really don't know where they got that, and it is a complete joke. It seems much, much shorter, at any zoom level. The 14 mm of eye relief on my other binoculars works much better.I kid you not. If you have the money to spend on these, get something else for the same money, even if the quoted specs on that something else are much less.I suppose that it could be possible that a mediocre pair of binoculars cannot be made with these listed specs at this price. But if that is true, then they shouldn't try to sell something like this at all.I'm really not picky. I buy cheap when I can, and accept the usual corresponding drop in quality. And I'm usually happy doing that. But trust me, the drop is just too large with these. Again, spend your money on another pair with lesser specs and better glass, or accept that you need to pay a lot more money for better binoculars. For example, I would bet that a pair of Barska Gladiator 12-60x70, for about 1/3 the price, simply can't be any worse than these (although after this experience, I wouldn't give Barska another chance on those 12-60x70's).I was torn between giving 2 stars and 1, because they do seem to be made well. But giving 2 stars would imply that they are reasonably functional, and they are not. These are really worse than whatever pair of plain-Jane binoculars that you already own.