Author Archives: Kevin Busarow

The binocular aficionados at Binomania.it have published the most comprehensive review to date for our flagship BT-127XL-SD binocular telescope. You can read the written review here. It’s in Italian, but most browsers will translate to English. There is also a 15-minute YouTube review. It’s also in Italian, but has English subtitles. As always, the video quality is excellent, and the scenery is breath-taking. This review very clearly shows the remarkable absence of CA (Chromatic Aberration) due to the BT-127XL-SD’s apochromatic triplet objectives. If you’re considering a larger-than-100mm binocular telescope, this video review is well-worth your time.

Oberwerk has experienced tremendous growth over the last two years. During this time, we’ve been able to to manage our supply chain and overseas shipping to keep our warehouse well-stocked most of the time. The cost of sending cargo by air has increased greatly, but we’ve been able to absorb that for now because 1) shipping cost for our larger/heavier binoculars is still a small percentage of their cost and 2) less-expensive models are relatively-lightweight, so shipping cost is still a manageable percentage of their cost. So even though many of our most popular binocular models keep running out of stock, we’re bringing in air shipments as often as possible to prevent long back-orders. Customers that placed out-of-stock binocular orders in November should receive those orders before Christmas. For orders placed in December for out-of-stock products- we’ll do our best, but we can’t guarantee delivery by Christmas.

The situation is different with our popular Model 5000 aluminum tripods. The cost of air freight is prohibitive because these items are rather heavy, yet sell for a relatively-low price. In fact the current cost of air freight, plus the cost of the tripod, exceeds the selling price of the tripod! So we’ve had to put our most recent order of 5000 tripods on a sea shipment. We’re hoping to have these sometime in late-Feb./early-March. We know the 5000 is a popular choice for several of our binoculars, so what to do if you can’t wait until then? For binoculars up to 10 lbs., our Model 4000 (which uses the 5000 head), will work almost as well as the 5000- and is $70 less. If you were considering the 5000 for one of our XL Binocular Telescopes, we highly recommend the TR3 hardwood tripod instead. While the cost is over $300 higher, the TR3 is much steadier and is the best choice for binoculars that are capable of such high magnifications.

Please contact us by phone or email if you have any questions about availability, as well as best mounting choices for our various binocular models.

The StarScope Monocular is yet another product scam that apparently lots of people are falling for. This one isn’t quite as egregious as the “10-300x40mm Super Telephoto Telescope” we warned you about previously, but it’s still full of deception. Despite the ridiculous claims of military-grade magnification, better than $3000 Telescopes! and …will give you the power of a $4000 DSLR in your pocket, it’s just an ordinary low-end Chinese-made monocular. Note that it’s claimed to be 12x50mm, but the exterior diameter is 53mm, and with the thickness of the objective cell, body, and rubber covering, the objective lens itself could be no more than 42mm. The exit pupil diameter is listed at 3mm, which if correct means it’s actually 12x36mm.
They’ve even created a number of fake review websites, such as “Best Honest Reviews“, which asks the question StarScope: The REAL DEAL Or Just Another SCAM?, but sadly, concludes with the wrong answer.
Here’s another website called “Top Reviews Daily“, with a fake reviewer named Douglas Jones. Douglas is a gadget lover. He has two sons aged 7 and 16. Douglas loves good wine and stand-up comedy.

While Douglas doesn’t appear to be a real person, the claims for the StarScope could be a stand-up comedy routine. Here’s a sample (I’ll be the heckler)-
Douglas: The team behind this amazing product was tired of carrying around heavy, expensive monoculars and binoculars with their huge bulk. And because they have the skills, they created a brand new monocular that is both easy to carry around and affordable.
Me: Ah, they have the skills! “Girls like guys who have skills” (Napoleon Dynamite voice).
Douglas: Because technology was advancing so fast, the team behind StarScope Monocular used modern CNC equipment, optical programs on the fastest computers, and high-tech designs to create a reasonably-priced telescope that was as good as those from the most expensive brands.
Me: Fast technology, fast computers- and the skills!
Douglas: StarScope Monocular is a success beyond its creators wildest dreams. It is now being offered to perfectionists who appreciate quality…
Me: I’m a perfectionist that appreciates quality. I don’t appreciate this.
Douglas: Perhaps the finest monocular ever built, it can be handheld or mounted to a tripod for more stability. It comes with a built-in tripod socket, perfect for mounting to a camera or for long term observation!
Me: The finest ever built- yet it doesn’t even use expensive ED (Extra-low Dispersion) glass. It’s a miracle!
Douglas: The StarScope Monocular team wants to get its awesome telescope out to people who will tell others about it, and that’s why they are offering such an AMAZING DEAL!
Me: When buyers tell others about it, this scam will be over.
Douglas: The magnified viewing of StarScope Monocular has been tested, and found to equal or exceed the zoom and photo quality produced by some of the most expensive brands on the market.
Me: But StarScope doesn’t zoom or take photos- your phone does that!

Gotta admit, Douglas is pretty funny! I bet you’re LOL right now too- unless you already ordered one of these? If you did, once you receive it and realize that you’ve been scammed, you’ll want to return it for a refund. Then you’ll discover that they’re not based in the USA- you have to return it to China- and the least-expensive shipping method will cost more than the Starscope! If you try to contest this with Paypal, as well as most credit card companies, they’ll side with the seller- and say that you must return it in order to get a refund. So unfortunately, you’re stuck with it.

Conclusion: The price for the StarScope “special offer if you buy now” is around $50. While this is pretty high for the low-end Chinese 12×36 monocular that it is, it’s not a complete rip-off. While the claims for the StarScope are ridiculous, it should function as well as, but no better than, the sub-$50 monoculars on Amazon. If you’d like to have an ultra-portable monocular, the Oberwerk Sport HD II Monocular is a much higher-quality product than the Starscope- but it still doesn’t do anything like what is shown in the faked Starscope ad. If you want something that can provide a high level of magnification, with excellent optical quality, the only way to get that is with a large tripod-mounted binocular telescope.