REVIEW: Fujinon 16x70mm FMT-SX Binoculars

Fujinon FMT-SX Polaris 16 x 70mm Binoculars (retail cost, $620)

I've had the opportunity, despite the rather sorry North Texas weather as of late, to do some observing with these bad boys. Here are a few quick thoughts.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Nice case, binos securely snapped in with eyecaps and objective covers. These are huge, at least compared to my venerable 7x35s. Pulled them out of the case; very elegant looking. Rubber grips with yellow specifications listed against all black, "Fujinon 16x70" and "4 degrees." Removable cap for standard 1/4-20 tripod screw. The manual states that these puppies are 4.75 lbs., and I believe it. 70mm objectives are impressive, fully coated. Can't see my reflection very well in the glass, which is good. Comes with a nice strap, very comfortable looking. No focus knob, as focus is automatic beyond 20 ft. Eyepieces diopter knobs provide the tailor fit.

FIRST VIEWS

First object, Comet Ikeya-Zhang. This is my first sighting of the comet, viewed at 1930 just below Aries. It took me about 5 seconds to find this comet. Very bright core (did I see some green tint?) with twin tails about 2.5 degrees long. Seeing is average but nice transparency. I could make out the core naked eye after knowing where to look. Since my parent's live next door to me, I even showed them the comet. They know very little about this hobby so I had to tell them where to point. My 56 year old mom noticed the comet in about a minute just by pointing the binos where my finger indicated. My 59 year old Dad took a bit longer, but he too saw it. They remembered seeing Hale-Bopp so bright, so they kinda knew what to look for. They were impressed, clearing seeing the tail. Even though we all had a hard time keeping the binos steady, the comet was very cool.

Second object, Orion Nebula, very, very bright on a very dark background, even with the quarter moon near! Never have I seen the nebula so bright at my house. The Pleiades were next, followed by the moon. Impressive views, but I couldn't keep the binos steady to last very long. If these were 7x mag, I'd have no trouble holding 5 lbs. steady, but 16x mag made the images jump all over the place. A mount is imperative for binoculars of this size and power, though I feel with practice that hand holding them can be accomplished for short durations.

From what I could see of the Pleiades, stars were perfect all the way to the edge of the FOV. Very flat. Turned the Pleiades into what appeared to be hundreds of stars. I estimate that I was seeing magnitude 12-13 stars very easily and my eyes weren't even dark adapted. I can't wait to see what views I get with a bino mount and in nice dark skies.

FINAL THOUGHTS

My friends, these binos aren't cheap, but as Stellarknight at Astronomy.com forums told me before I bought them that I should be prepared to enjoy perfectly matched, small apertured apos. I definitely got that feeling, though I couldn't crank the magnification like I can on my 78mm Tak...too bad! But still, I fear that I'll use my Tak a little less knowing I have these babies at my disposal. The views are equally pleasing and I can see much fainter objects with the binos. I just need a bino mount. And no, before anybody asks...I'm not giving away my Tak!!!

[Update: May 2002, Texas Star Party]

Holy cow! What beautiful views these binoculars give. In extremely dark skies these binoculars give jaw dropping views. I borrowed a neighbor's mount and lounged back for some wonderful observing in between shooting exposures with the LX200. Omega Centauri was an explosion of stars and looked great even compared to my own 10" LX200. Nebulae stood out clearly, even showing subtle hues of color. NGC 7000 (North America), M8, M16, M17, and M20 turned out to be some of the sky's gems. Pretty, pretty, pretty!

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