Miyauchi 20x100 Binoculars

by Bill Dellinges

Miyauchi 20x100 Binoculars Texas Nautical Repair Co. 3110 S. Shepherd Houston, TX 77096 713-529-3551 Price: $3200

In May of this year I purchased a pair of 20x100mm Miyauchi binoculars from Texas Nautical Repair Co. I found Epoch Instruments of San leandro, Ca. to offer the most generous discount as a dealer for T.N.R. I paid $3200 (list $3995) plus another $200 for the optional interchangable 37x eyepieces . This unit has a five-element objective lens including a fluorite element (the non-fluorite model sells for about $1000 less), Bak-4 prisms, and Kellner eyepieces giving a generous eye relief of 27mm (I can just about see the entire field with the eyecups folded down wearing my glasses. The field is 2.5° (1.8° at 37x). They are fully multi-coated. Weight is 13 pounds.

I love these binoculars! Stars seem to be quite sharp near center with a slight bit of coma about halfway to the edge, not bad for f/5 binoculars. It's wonderful to pan the star fields with them and see the "big picture" after years of high power/narrow field views in telescopes. I have seen the roundness of M57 and resolved doubles down to about 13.7" (Beta Scorpii) at 20x. I also barely split Gamma Arietis at 7.6". At 37x I can see the hole in M57, belts on Jupiter, clearly resolve Saturn's rings and two moons, resolve M22 and split doubles down to 6.4" (45 Herculis). I recommend some type of viewfinder, even with the unit's 2.5° field. I have a Celestron Starpointer mounted on the binocular's handle, which works great. I can't imagine using them without it. If you were to see M24 or M7 in these babies on a dark night, I think you would be sold on them too. I'm very happy with my Miyauchis and plan to be buried with them.