One model, judged by its numbers
Celestron UpClose G2 10×50
Two small refractors you can hold. The most-recommended and least-bought first instrument in astronomy, and the one most likely to still be in use in ten years.
Family · 10×50 binoculars
What it shows, really
These circles are simulations, computed from the aperture, the magnification and the sky — indicative, not exact. A real night also depends on the turbulence, your eyes and your experience. Closer to the truth than the photo on the box; still not a promise.
Through the binoculars as they are — a fixed 10×, under a suburban sky. Every circle is the true field.
The numbers
| Aperture | 50 mm |
|---|---|
| Focal ratio | 200 mm · f/4.0 |
| Mount | — |
| Typical weight | 0.87 kg |
| Useful magnification | 8× to 100× at 50 mm |
| Resolution (Dawes) | 2.3″ — the tightest double star this aperture can split |
| Faintest star, suburban sky | around magnitude 9.8 |
| Observed price | €62 seen 2026-08-23 |
Made for
Learn my way around the sky · 5 out of 5
Nothing else teaches the sky this fast. Wide field, right way up, and the view matches what a star chart shows.
Taking it with me · 5 out of 5
Fits in a coat pocket's worth of bag.
Sharing it with children · 4 out of 5
A child can hold them, and there is nothing to break or misalign.
Not made for
The Moon and the planets · 1 out of 5
The Moon is genuinely lovely at 10×. The planets are points of light.
The family it belongs to: 10×50 binoculars
What it does well
- Ready in the time it takes to open the case
- Both eyes, which makes faint things easier to see than the same aperture through one
- Five to seven degrees of sky at once — no telescope shows the Pleiades whole
- Useful for birds, and therefore used in daylight too
What it costs you
- The planets stay dots. Jupiter's moons show; its belts do not
- Hand shake costs about a magnitude of faint detail — a tripod adapter fixes it
- No magnification to grow into
Worth knowing about this model
Porro prisms, a real 6.5° field, and nothing to apologise for at the price. The binoculars to buy when 'I am not sure yet' is the honest answer.
Prices are observed on the date shown, never live. Links marked paid link earn us a commission and cost you nothing extra.
Where to buy
- Astroshoppaid link€62 seen 2026-08-23ships DE, FR, EU
- Amazon.frships FR
- First Light Opticsships GB
- Optique Unterlindenships FR
- Pierro Astroships FR
- Teleskop-Expressships DE, EU
1 of these 6 links earn us a commission, marked above. Sorted by price, never by what pays. How this site is funded.