Let me put it this way: I have semi-dark suburban skies (Milky Way _just_ visible on the best nights), but under those conditions, these show a definite non-stellar object just where the Ring (M57) ought to be. Not bad for 16x! Difficult to hand-hold, like all giants (I recline on a lawn lounge, which helps). Someday, I ought to invest in one of those parallelogram mounts.

I purchased these 16x70 FMTs primarily for astronomy, but also for terrestrial & birding uses. I spent a fair amount of time weighing the cost, the quality, the size/weight, the magnification, objective, exit pupil, etc. From the specs and reviews, I figured these Fujinons were about perfect - and I was right! At just under 5lbs they are about my limit for hand hold-ability. Mil-spec: all metal barrels, waterproof & nitrogen-filled - so the build quality I wanted is there. At 16x70, the 4+mm exit pupil was important too. As expected, the optics dont disappoint, the views are great! Eye relief is OK as I wouldnt want less, and luckily I dont need more either. Some points: when stargazing it is often hard to tell exactly what I am seeing - because there are SO many more stars visible through the binoculars - it will take getting used to. Also, here is where any bit of arm support helps. They have a large depth of field when focused far away, so although the individual focus at times can be a little slow for wildlife, plenty of waaay distant subjects appear - and will appear just fine. The markings on the eyepice come in real handy for quicker focusing with a little thought and a bit of practice. While more mag/aperature would have been nice for stars, at 16x70 & still less then 5#s, I think any more power would be a tough trade against the convenience (added size & weight) and overall usefulness. Because they were a bit more money then similiar binoculars I started looking at, buying them took some effort. Now I know the money spent was WELL worth it - to get just what I had in mind & the quality I KNOW I wanted, these Fujis definitely fit the bill. A GREAT purchase. I ordered the tripod adapter too - will get used on my monopod and tripod eventually.

I purchased these 16x70 FMTs primarily for astronomy, but also for terrestrial & birding uses. I spent a fair amount of time weighing the cost, the quality, the size/weight, the magnification, objective, exit pupil, etc. From the specs and reviews, I figured these Fujinons were about perfect - and I was right! At just under 5lbs they are about my limit for hand hold-ability. Mil-spec: all metal barrels, waterproof & nitrogen-filled - so the build quality I wanted is there. At 16x70, the 4+mm exit pupil was important too. As expected, the optics dont disappoint, the views are great! Eye relief is OK as I wouldnt want less, and luckily I dont need more either. Some points: when stargazing it is often hard to tell exactly what I am seeing - because there are SO many more stars visible through the binoculars - it will take getting used to. Also, here is where any bit of arm support helps. They have a large depth of field when focused far away, so although the individual focus at times can be a little slow for wildlife, plenty of waaay distant subjects appear - and will appear just fine. The markings on the eyepice come in real handy for quicker focusing with a little thought and a bit of practice. While more mag/aperature would have been nice for stars, at 16x70 & still less then 5#s, I think any more power would be a tough trade against the convenience (added size & weight) and overall usefulness. Because they were a bit more money then similiar binoculars I started looking at, buying them took some effort. Now I know the money spent was WELL worth it - to get just what I had in mind & the quality I KNOW I wanted, these Fujis definitely fit the bill. A GREAT purchase. I ordered the tripod adapter too - will get used on my monopod and tripod eventually.

I prefer the better eye relief and lower magnification of the 10 X 70s. These binocs do have the incredible 60 degree plus AFOV but eye relief is a little limited. My pair showed a bit more CA than my 10x pair. A wonderful binocular nonetheless. Mechanically very well made.