Celestron UpClose G2 10x50

10x50 is the specification most people should own if they are only going to own one pair. It sits exactly at the limit of what a person can hold steady, it uses a 50mm objective that is still light enough to carry, and it works in daylight as well as at night. This particular pair does one thing that makes it more interesting than the category average, and it is hidden in the field-of-view line.

Celestron publishes a 6.8-degree field of view for this pair, quoted as 354 ft at 1,000 yards. That deserves a second look, because the 7x50 Cometron on this site publishes 6.6 degrees at a lower magnification.

That is genuinely unusual and it is the practical argument for this model. You get 10x of detail and you do not pay for it in framing: clusters still fit, sweeping still works, and finding a target is no harder than with a 7x pair.

That last point is worth stating plainly, because it is routinely misunderstood: these do not see fainter stars than the 7x50. Both have 50mm objectives, so both collect the same light and Celestron publishes the same limiting magnitudes for both. What the extra magnification buys is scale — the same faint smudge, larger — and a darker sky background, which can make a faint object easier to pick out even though no more light is arriving.

The 5mm exit pupil is the other half of the trade. It is dimmer than the 7x50's 7.1mm for a young eye that opens fully, and it is a better match for an older eye that does not. Exit pupil and the age question is covered in the roundup.

Hand shake scales with magnification, and the usual limit for a comfortable handheld view is about 10x. This pair is at that limit, not beyond it, which means a standing observer will see a slightly livelier field than through a 7x pair and a seated observer with elbows on a table will see a steady one.

Celestron publishes 27 oz, which is very slightly lighter than the 7x50. Neither is heavy. If you find any handheld wobble tiring, both are tripod adaptable, and the difference between leaning against a wall and not is larger than most people expect.

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Ranked by aperture-per-dollar first. Prices are live and never typed into this page; where the live layer has nothing, the button reads "Check price". Tap a row to jump to its write-up.

#	Telescope	Best for	Aperture	Price
1	Celestron UpClose G2 10x50 BinocularsTop pickThe classic 10x50 format: about the most magnification most people can hand-hold, in a pair that is just as useful for birds as for stars.	One pair for the sky and for daylight	50mm objective lenses (1.96 in)100x useful	$64.53 - Amazon#ad

Top pick · One pair for the sky and for daylight

Celestron UpClose G2 10x50 Binoculars

The classic 10x50 format: about the most magnification most people can hand-hold, in a pair that is just as useful for birds as for stars.

What the aperture allows

Maximum useful magnification

100x

2 × 50mm of aperture

Resolving limit (Dawes)

2.32 arcseconds

116 ÷ 50mm

Cassini division (0.7″)

Out of reach

this aperture cannot resolve it

10x50 is the format astronomy guides have recommended for decades, and the reason is arithmetic rather than tradition. 10x is close to the most magnification most people can hold steady for any length of time, and 50mm objectives give a 5mm exit pupil that suits most adult eyes without wasting light.

Celestron publishes the same limiting magnitudes for this pair as for the 7x50, 10.99 under ideal skies. The extra magnification does not collect more light; it spreads the same light over a larger image, which makes small clusters and double stars easier while making the widest targets harder to frame.

It is also the most genuinely dual-use instrument here. At 27 oz it is light enough to carry on a walk, which is the difference between binoculars that live by the back door and binoculars that live in a drawer.

What it does well

• +10x is close to the limit most people can hand-hold for sustained looking
• +A 5mm exit pupil suits most adult eyes without wasting light
• +Equally useful in daylight, so it gets used far more often
• +A published 27 oz, among the lightest here

What it costs you

• −The same 50mm light grasp as the cheaper 7x50, so no gain in faint objects
• −BK7 prisms rather than BaK-4
• −Celestron's own store listed this pair as out of stock when checked; the live price layer on this page tracks the retailer it links to
• −A published 12mm eye relief is short for glasses wearers

Skip this one if: Skip them if you wear glasses while observing. A published 12mm of eye relief is short, and you will not see the whole field.

Published specifications, compiled from the manufacturer’s own documents. A blank row means the maker does not publish that figure where we could read it, and we do not fill those in.

Optical design	Porro-prism binoculars, multi-coated opticsSource: Celestron — UpClose G2 10x50mm Porro binoculars, published specifications — manufacturer specifications (retrieved September 17, 2026)
Aperture	50mm objective lenses (1.96 in)Source: Celestron — UpClose G2 10x50mm Porro binoculars, published specifications — manufacturer specifications (retrieved September 17, 2026)
Mount	Handheld, tripod adaptableSource: Celestron — UpClose G2 10x50mm Porro binoculars, published specifications — manufacturer specifications (retrieved September 17, 2026)
Weight	27 oz (765 g)Source: Celestron — UpClose G2 10x50mm Porro binoculars, published specifications — manufacturer specifications (retrieved September 17, 2026)
Fixed magnification	10xSource: Celestron — UpClose G2 10x50mm Porro binoculars, published specifications — manufacturer specifications (retrieved September 17, 2026)
Field of view	6.8 degrees (354 ft at 1,000 yds)Source: Celestron — UpClose G2 10x50mm Porro binoculars, published specifications — manufacturer specifications (retrieved September 17, 2026)
Exit pupil	5mmAgrees with aperture divided by magnification: 50 / 10 = 5.00mm.Source: Celestron — UpClose G2 10x50mm Porro binoculars, published specifications — manufacturer specifications (retrieved September 17, 2026)
Eye relief	12mmSource: Celestron — UpClose G2 10x50mm Porro binoculars, published specifications — manufacturer specifications (retrieved September 17, 2026)
Prisms	Porro, BK7 glassSource: Celestron — UpClose G2 10x50mm Porro binoculars, published specifications — manufacturer specifications (retrieved September 17, 2026)
Weather	Water resistantSource: Celestron — UpClose G2 10x50mm Porro binoculars, published specifications — manufacturer specifications (retrieved September 17, 2026)
Limiting stellar magnitude	10.99 under ideal skies, 9.99 moderate, 8.99 poorCelestron publishes a figure for each of three sky qualities.Source: Celestron — UpClose G2 10x50mm Porro binoculars, published specifications — manufacturer specifications (retrieved September 17, 2026)

$64.53 - Check price on Amazon

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• 12mm of eye relief, the tightest of the four pairs on this site. If you observe with glasses on, this is the specification that will bother you, since around 15mm is the comfortable threshold for seeing the full field through spectacles.
• BK7 prisms. Lower refractive index than BaK-4, so the exit pupil can look slightly squared-off with a little dimming at the outer field.
• Wide fields on budget glass soften at the edge. A 68-degree apparent field is ambitious at this price, and stars toward the edge will not be as tight as those in the middle.
• Water resistant only, not nitrogen purged against internal fogging.
• 10x still shows no planetary detail. Saturn stays a dot with no rings, and Jupiter shows its moons but not its belts.

Read the bottom row first. Two of these four can be picked up and used; two cannot be used at all without buying a tripod as well. That single distinction matters more than any optical figure in the table, because it decides how often the pair leaves the house.

Budget Porro binoculars are assembled to a price, and the one fault worth testing for is collimation: whether both barrels point at exactly the same place. It is common, it is easy to miss, and it causes eye strain and headaches rather than an obvious double image, because your eyes will work to merge two slightly offset views without telling you they are doing it.

The test takes a minute. Point them at a bright star, get it centered, then slowly move the binoculars away from your eyes while still looking through them. As the exit pupils separate from your pupils you will see two images of the star drift apart. If they drift apart along a line and stay level with each other, that is normal. If one sits noticeably higher than the other, the barrels are misaligned and the pair should go back.

The second check is simpler: look at a distant straight edge, a roofline or a window frame, and confirm it stays straight across the field rather than bowing. Some curvature at the very edge is normal in this price class and is not a fault. A pronounced bend through the middle is.

Neither check needs darkness or expertise, and doing both inside the return window is the difference between a pair you enjoy for a decade and a pair that quietly gives you a headache every time you use it.

Buy them if you want one pair that does both jobs. 10x50 is the specification that works for birds, landscapes and a football match as well as for the Moon and star clusters, and this particular pair gives up less field than most 10x50s in doing it.

Buy the 7x50 instead if the pair is mainly for the night sky, if a child will use it, or if your eyes dark-adapt well. The Cometron 7x50 review covers that case.

Do not buy these if you wear glasses at the eyepiece, because 12mm of eye relief is the weakest number here and the 20x80's 18mm is the one to look at instead. And do not buy them expecting to see planets, at any magnification these offer.