cold weather focusing

[matt green]

just wanted to post this enquiry concerning cold weather focusing on high end binoculars.i know leica bins dont have any lubricant inside the focusing mechanisms to aid use in cold climates but how do swarovski,nikon,opticron etc cope with these cold winter days and nights.any comments on the above would be very helpfull,matt. [still not a proper birder]

[salty]

i use leicas, and have noticed no change in my focussing, even though the temprature is -0c and below on some mornings.

[Bill A]

My Swaro 8.5x42 EL's get a little sticky when it gets below about 20 degrees F.

Bill

[iporali]

At -20°C the silky smooth (heavily lubricated) focusing of my Nikon 10x32HGs gets stiff but still remains useful - unlike that of the 8x32SE. The central hinge of the HGs was very stiff, but I usually keep it fixed anyway.

Ilkka

[mattpau]

My Swift Audubons (porros) are virtually useless in very cold weather - the focussing and central hinge become rock stiff. We had some pretty frigid temperatures in January and it was pretty frustrating and annoying trying to use my bins. I'm not sure at what temperature the focussing becomes very difficult - certainly by -10C, which is hardly uncommon in winter here.

I think the Swifts are particularly bad but the other bins I have are not at all immune to this phenomenon either. Meanwhile my two scopes seem to continue focussing with little change in smoothness no matter what the temperature is. And a photographer I spoke to said his camera focus was working fine while I was cursing my frozen bins. Why does the focussing on scopes and cameras seem to cope so much better with cold weather than the focussing on bins? Anyone know?

[Richard W]

my Swifts are also very bad in v cold conditions, had real trouble with them at the weekend.

[SteveT]

Birding in Ontario in the winter means using your binos at -20 C and colder. I've had cheap binoculars that just plain "froze up". A few years ago I had a pair of Nikon 8 x 30 E that became stiff in the cold. The Pentax DCF WP 10 x 42 and Zeiss 8 x 20 Victories that I now use work well in the coldest temperatures. I assume the lubricants have improved.

[marcus]

[QUOTE=mattpau]My Swift Audubons (porros) are virtually useless in very cold weather - the focussing and central hinge become rock stiff.
I know that so, so much. Those Audbons just are not for cold weather.

[matt green]

those lubricants dont do cold weather birding any favours at all.today i had the chance to compare high end leica,swarovski etc.the leica ultravids are my current ''money no object'' choice,i'll have to save until september but i know the wait will be worth it.

[Joe H]

Matt,

I use a set of Swaro 8x32 ELs here in Alaska in temps down into the negative teens fairly often in winter. I usually keep the bins inside a coat when engaged in active sports such as cross country skiing. I've noticed that this prevents fog from forming on the outside surface of the eyepiece due to the heat from my face. Under these circumstances, I don't notice that the focus knob is any stiffer than during warmer conditions. When I leave the bins in my car for an extended period (several hours) and the temps are below zero, the focus knob does become a bit stiffer, but not enough to impair its use in any way. The lubricant used by Swarovski seems to stiffen much less than whatever was used on my old Bushnells.

Of course, other things suffer under very cold conditions. The rubber objective lens covers tend to get hard and fall off more easily than when the temps are above freezing. Also, one of the plastic bits on the neck strap snapped during an extended trip outdoors this winter. I replaced it with a Minolta camera strap part and all is well again.

Take care,

Joe H