meta_gabbro
Lil-Rokslider
- Joined
- Jun 22, 2020
- Messages
- 252
Bringing this back again, this time with an alternative to the Celestron Hummingbird. The SVBony 410 is a near-clone of the Hummingbird for $180. SVBony is more widely known for producing cheap optics that fall firmly in the get-what-you-pay-for realm, with a few notable exceptions. I picked this up to see if it was one of the exceptions, seeing as it's one of their only scopes to use ED glass (or at least claim it), and since I like the scope it's a clone of.
Weight comes in at 20.8oz (identical to the Hummingbird), slightly above the advertised 19.4oz. Dimensions are almost identical to the Celestron, excepting the eyepiece being slightly shorter resulting in a marginally smaller length and overall height. The eyepiece is different in that it does not have the secondary focus ring that the Celestron does; I personally never really used this, as it was only marginally finer than the main focus ring but I know many birders prefer to use it since the Hummingbird can be entirely handheld. Since I use a tripod 99% of the time, the second ring doesn't see much use.
Set up side-by-side I'm seeing almost the same amounts of chromatic aberration between the two, so it's very likely that it's got ED glass as claimed. While it is advertised as being waterproof, I do not know if it is nitrogen purged so I suppose I'll have to see if it fogs up on me. The eye relief is very very short, which again I'll attribute to having a different eyepiece than the Celestron.
Build wise, it feels decent. The zoom ring rotates very easily, the focus ring is a little stiff, no separation of the rubberized coating, no cosmetic markings or misaligned writing, no burrs or flaps from moulded plastic components.
I'll be using it exclusively this season in place of the Hummingbird, so we'll see how it goes. I'm expecting that it'll either crap out 3 trips out, or it'll surprise me and go the distance
Weight comes in at 20.8oz (identical to the Hummingbird), slightly above the advertised 19.4oz. Dimensions are almost identical to the Celestron, excepting the eyepiece being slightly shorter resulting in a marginally smaller length and overall height. The eyepiece is different in that it does not have the secondary focus ring that the Celestron does; I personally never really used this, as it was only marginally finer than the main focus ring but I know many birders prefer to use it since the Hummingbird can be entirely handheld. Since I use a tripod 99% of the time, the second ring doesn't see much use.
Set up side-by-side I'm seeing almost the same amounts of chromatic aberration between the two, so it's very likely that it's got ED glass as claimed. While it is advertised as being waterproof, I do not know if it is nitrogen purged so I suppose I'll have to see if it fogs up on me. The eye relief is very very short, which again I'll attribute to having a different eyepiece than the Celestron.
Build wise, it feels decent. The zoom ring rotates very easily, the focus ring is a little stiff, no separation of the rubberized coating, no cosmetic markings or misaligned writing, no burrs or flaps from moulded plastic components.
I'll be using it exclusively this season in place of the Hummingbird, so we'll see how it goes. I'm expecting that it'll either crap out 3 trips out, or it'll surprise me and go the distance
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