Lunt or Celestron solar binoculars?

Use this section to discuss "standard" Baader/Coronado/ Lunt SolarView/ Daystar, etc… filters, cameras and scopes. No mods, just questions/ answers and reviews.
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LostInSpace
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Lunt or Celestron solar binoculars?

Post by LostInSpace »

Lunt SUNocular 8x32 or Celestron EclipSmart 10 x42 binoculars? Similar price. Build quality? Quality of view?
Anyone using a mono or tripod with the Lunt model?


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Re: Lunt or Celestron solar binoculars?

Post by marktownley »

I use the Lunt sunoculars and are very pleased with them.


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Re: Lunt or Celestron solar binoculars?

Post by Montana »

I have the Lunt sunoculars and love them too. I didn't realise Celestron did a pair :hamster:

Alexandra

PS quite a bit of talk on the Lunt here viewtopic.php?t=35406


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Re: Lunt or Celestron solar binoculars?

Post by Rob63 »

Interesting, I hadn't seen the Celestrons either, Half the price of the Lunts too
Celestron EclipSmart 10x42mm Solar Porro Binocular ISO 12312-2 certified (£89.99 in the UK)

Quite tempted but haven't seen any reviews.

Update: just spotted them at Harrison telescopes for £74, think I will give them a try


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Re: Lunt or Celestron solar binoculars?

Post by LostInSpace »

For what they are worth some of the reviews have been less than positive regarding the EclipSmart. So far, nothing really negative about the SunOcular.
Decided just to add the Baader solar filter to the ancient 60mm Nikon spotting scope. Mounted on an even older (80's vintage) medium duty Bogen/Manfrotto tripod. 15-45x spotting scope. 15x might make finding the Sun difficult. Don't remember the FOV at 15x. Worst case might add the TeleVue Sol Searcher to the scope. Really slick how simple and functional it is on the Lunt.


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Re: Lunt or Celestron solar binoculars?

Post by Rob63 »

LostInSpace wrote: Mon May 01, 2023 5:24 pm For what they are worth some of the reviews have been less than positive regarding the EclipSmart. So far, nothing really negative about the SunOcular.
The only bad reviews seem to be for the smaller 10x25 celestrons, the 10x42 fare much better.
I saw a post on cloudynights where some users did a side by side with the Lunt's and prefered the view in the Celestrons (due to aperture and magnification). I think the build of the Lunts is better but in the UK it's £178 vs £74 so I have ordered the Celestron's and will post here when I get some sunshine.


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Re: Lunt or Celestron solar binoculars?

Post by LostInSpace »

Missed a "closeout" sale for the Celestron. Old memory. I think they were down to $45US. Would have purchased the 10x42 Celestron. I paid that much for the BaaderAstroSolar filter. Will be interested in your opinion about the Celestrons.


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Re: Lunt or Celestron solar binoculars?

Post by Rob63 »

LostInSpace wrote: Tue May 02, 2023 10:04 pm Missed a "closeout" sale for the Celestron. Old memory. I think they were down to $45US. Would have purchased the 10x42 Celestron. I paid that much for the BaaderAstroSolar filter. Will be interested in your opinion about the Celestrons.
Quick review posted viewtopic.php?t=40570


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Sky-Watcher ED120 & ED80, StellaLyra 8" CC
Sky-Watcher EQ6R-Pro, ZWO AM5
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Re: Lunt or Celestron solar binoculars?

Post by Brroberts-23 »

I have a couple of the $19 6x30 Lunt’s. They are not great, but they are $19. I use them at outreach time. You can’t remove the filter, and I won’t cry if they get dropped.


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Re: Lunt or Celestron solar binoculars?

Post by marktownley »

Yes, I have a couple of pairs of the 6x30 too, within their limits they are good.


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