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More Information Price $1,334.00 Weight 20 oz. Warranty 1 year

Some telescope types do not have enough back focus to accommodate the longer light path of a binoviewer. The fully multicoated 2" Optical Corrector System (OCS) optics act as a transfer lens to project a telescope’s images back through the extra light path of the binoviewer to the correct focus. This allows binoviewer use with all telescopes – whether you have a refractor, Newtonian reflector, classical Cassegrain, Mewlon, Schmidt-Cassegrain, Maksutov-Cassegrain, or Maksutov-Newtonian. The OCS optics are housed in precision-machined black anodized aluminum tubes that use stealth black baffling and special grooving on the interiors to eliminate reflection throughout the visible spectrum.

The Denk II Super System binoviewer’s 26mm clear aperture prisms are larger than the 20mm to 24mm prisms used in bargain-priced imported binoviewers. Unlike those smaller prisms, the 26mm prisms won’t vignette long focal length eyepieces.

The high quality 26mm BaK4 prisms of the Denk II Super System are polished to 1/8th wave accuracy, an upgrade from the 1/4th wave prisms in the Standard Super System. According to many observers, the 1/8th wave prism surfaces of the Denk II provide a discernable edge in sharpness on planetary images compared to the 1/4th wave prisms in the Standard Super System. But be aware that the Standard Super System Binoviewer certainly deserves to be ranked with the very best 2-3 binoviewers in the world. Unless you are looking to squeeze the very last photon of performance out of your binoviewer, with cost no object, we believe that the Standard Super System Binoviewer is the best bang for the buck among all binoviewers.

In addition, the prisms are anti-reflection coated with multilayer dielectric antireflection coatings for high light transmission, compared to the magnesium fluoride coatings used on the Standard Super System Binoviewer. Most observers concur that the Denk II dielectric coatings do provide a discernable boost in contrast and sharpness when compared to the Standard Super System. Is it easy to see? Many observers who have done careful side by side comparisons have called the difference "readily noticeable." The coatings on the Denk II provide a 9% higher overall transmission compared to the Standard Super System coatings. This difference is very analogous to the contrast gain produced by that of a 96% "enhanced" reflectivity mirror compared with a standard 89% reflectivity mirror. Is this easy to see? For some it very clearly is.

The SCD (self-centering diopter) eyepiece holders are CNC machined of anodized aluminum. They are self-centering for proper merging of the images. A twist on the holder collar collapses an internal split ring evenly around the 360° circumference of the eyepiece barrel. This centers each eyepiece in the light path and holds it in place without scratching, and without the use of an easily-lost thumbscrew. Individual focusing of each eyepiece is accomplished by rotating a second collar on each eyepiece. This raises and lowers the eyepieces to change the focus in either or both eyepieces, the same way the diopter adjustment on a binocular corrects for differences in your vision. The interpupillary distance extends from 50mm to 75mm, a wide enough spread to accommodate virtually any eye spacing, even that of children.

Machined engraved metal plugs and cap are provided to keep the Denk II optics dust-free when the binoviewer is not in use, compared to the plastic (but also effective) dust seals provided with the Standard Super System.

The Denk II Super System binoviewer combines the OCS optics with a unique dual arm Power x Switch lens system that you can move in and out of the light path at the touch of a finger. Used in various combinations, the arms allow three different magnifications with a single pair of eyepieces, no matter whether you’re using a refractor, Newtonian reflector, or Schmidt-Cassegrain.

With reflectors, the supplied 2" Newtonian spacer tube, 2" nosepiece, and 2" multipurpose OCS cell are used as a single connected unit and threaded into the combined binoviewer/Power x Switch assembly. The stacked unit then slides into your Newtonian’s 2" focuser. Using the dual Power Switch arms in various combinations allows magnifications of 1.3x, 2.3x, and 3x with a single pair of eyepieces.

With refractors, the Newtonian spacer tube is not used. The 2" nosepiece is threaded into the Power x Switch assembly and the OCS cell is threaded into the standard 48mm filter threads on the telescope side of your 2" star diagonal. The binoviewer is then loaded into the eyepiece side of the star diagonal and the star diagonal inserted into your 2" refractor focuser. Using the dual Power x Switch arms in various combinations allows magnifications of 1.3x, 2.3x, and 3x with a single pair of eyepieces. This combination also works with Mewlons, classical Cassegrains, and any reflector telescope using a 2" star diagonal.

With Schmidt-Cassegrains, the Denk II Super System binoviewer/Power x Switch is used without the OCS cell or Newtonian spacer tube. The 2" nosepiece is threaded into the Power Switch/binoviewer combination and the complete assembly is inserted into your 2" SCT star diagonal. Using the dual Power Switch arms in various combinations allows magnifications of 0.66x, 1.15x, and 2x with a single pair of eyepieces.

Each made-in-the-USA Denkmeier Denk II Super System Binoviewer is carefully hand collimated and undergoes a meticulous 100% quality control process before shipping so you know it works right, right out of the box. It can provide detailed, unvignetted, and comfortable two-eyed multiple magnification views of the Moon, planets, the Sun, and countless deep sky objects – all at an affordable price.