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Leica 8x20 BR - Rattle Noise ? (1 Viewer)

A

abacab1975

New member
Hi,

I've recently purchased a pair of the excellent Leica 8x20 BR binoculars and have just noticed a rattling noise from inside the binocular, have searched the internet and there seems to be some people that say this was normal for Leica 8x20 BCA/ BC.

Can anyone confirm who have owned/ tried the BR's this is also the case for them. Leica said it was the focusing tubes on the BCA/ BC and there was nothing to worry about.

Cheers
Andrew
 
I don't think that anything heard rattling "inside" a binocular is normal. I have no idea what could be causing the noise. I have a Leica 8 x 20 Trinovid and it is a very solidly built binocular. No rattleing.

Here is a 6 year old discussion on Bird Forum about "rattling" in an 8 x 20 BCA

http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=11447

Bob
 
Last edited:
Depending on what you mean, some kind of rattling is normal for many binoculars, or at least for roof-prism models with internal focus. The lenses that move front to back while focusing usually have a minute amount of side to side play in them. It can be heard or felt most easily when the bins are pointed straight down and then shaken back and forth parallel to the ground. Of the bins I use regularly, I notice it especially in my Leica 8x20 Ultravid BL and my Swarovski 8.5x42 EL.

--AP
 
Hi Alexis,

Its a hard noise to describe, its definitely not something loose like a screw rattling around the lens tube freely, and it happens in both lens tubes.

If you hold the binocular horizontal and also vertically and gently rock from side to side its a light shaking noise coming from inside both tubes, also you can feel this too.

Sounds very similar to what you describe, and the BL's are the same at the BR's other than yours with leather and mine in rubber. There is no problem with the binoculars focusing and I am very happy with them other than wanting to check out the sound and put my mind at rest.

I had a pair or Viking compact bins before and had no noise at all, the Leica 8x20 BR's are a little present for myself and are a massive step up in image quality, I just really wanted to put my mind at rest with regards to the noise.

I know there was a thread before about the Ultravid BCA's and someone emailed Leica and got a reply saying it was the "focusing tubes and not to worry". I have never seen any reviews relating to noise. The Ultravids I got were the last the shop had in stock so have nothing to compare against, although I think they may have the 10x25 in stock so might check against them next time I'm in.

Regards
Andrew
 
The rattle is perfectly normal. It is caused by moving focussing optics within the binocular.

If it stops rattling then you may have a problem !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
garymh said:
The rattle is perfectly normal. It is caused by moving focussing optics within the binocular.

If it stops rattling then you may have a problem !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Click to expand...

Gary:

Nice try, a rattle in any binocular is not good. It would not be normal operating
procedure in a Leica.

Service may say so, but they don't want to open it up.
 
dalat said:
Gary knows a lot more about the inside of Leica bins than the rest of us ;)
Click to expand...

I had a 8x20 Trinovid, no rattle. For your information, the Swaro. 8.5x42
has had some tell of a rattle, me included. Swaro. service made sure there
was no rattle upon return.

In my opinion, binoculars as good as this should not rattle. So this means Leica service, can get them to fit a bit tighter. It just requires a bit of work! ;)

Gary may know a bit about the inside, but some that are tired of hearing about troubles, offer a contrary opinion. :-C

Jerry
 
When a guy who used to repair Leica bins for years says this is "normal", then I personally believe it. If anything, not the service but the design should be blamed then for that rattle (which seems not that easy to produce, reading from the description above).
 
Agreed, if it is a design problem, with enough effort the company, designers, would enable service the means to fix it. The squeaky wheel gets the grease.
 
FYI, although different bins, my newly aquired 10x25BR does not make any noise.

I guess there is nothing to worry with or without it, as long as it functions well.
 
FYI, although different bins, my newly aquired 10x25BR does not make any noise.

I guess there is nothing to worry with or without it, as long as it functions well.
 
Just got around to checking my 8x20 UV BR's: They rattle. Given the 6 year old thread referenced above, it may be nothing to worry about. Given the most recent post by GooGoo Leica maybe decided to put a spot of glue on something during production.

The "rattle" occurs along the optical axis, not perpendicular to it. I have no idea where, but I seriously doubt it's the eyecups, which are quite tight fitting. The "focussing optics" mentioned by garymh above may be so, but good lord how do you make a decent bin with optics that rattle around!!

Either way, it's clearly not a huge concern. A bit odd, maybe. The view through mine is good as gold and has been for 18 months.

This may, however, explain a question I posed a while back in this thread:

http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=155861

The focus shift occurs, not surprisingly, when the bin is raised and lowered, on the vertical axis. Try it: focus on something reasonably close, then shake the bins and check it again. Has the focus shifted? Loose "focussing optics" would surely explain the "soft and disconnected" feel I mentioned. In which case I'd say a fix from Leica should be expected.

Mark
 
Warning! This thread is more than 14 years ago old.
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