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Endurance 8/10x25 Focus Fix (1 Viewer)

CliveP

Well-known member
I've had 4 of the 10x25 model and in each instance the focus left something to be desired to put it mildly.

Anyhow last night I decided to have a look at and think about it.

Well my brain must have been feeling obliging as I soon discovered something I could try to see if it would help as nothing worse than a wandering focus.

I'll basically describe the fix if you wish to try it or Hawke wish to take notice. I estimate it improved my focus from about 60% performance (and that was one of the best of the 4 samples I've had) to about 90% or better.

In fact if I had done this earlier then I probably would not have needed to return the binocular 3 times, so Hawke should take notice. I don't guarantee this will fix all focus problems though I'm sure it will help many.

So the steps:

1:Remove the plastic cover with the Endurance badge. Each side of the focus wheel you can jam a finger nail or whatever under the cover and lift it to release the latches underneath. It's a bit awkward but I leave you to work it out. I just do it with my thumbnail.

2: At the opposite end to the focus wheel remove the two small screws and take out the plastic insert. You will now see a focus rail and if you turn the focus wheel you will see this move back and forth.

3. Now here is the fix. Get a small piece of card about 1cm x 3cm and slot this in above the rail between it and the roof of the metal center casing. Experiment and cut it to fit nicely.

4. Now take the binocular and test it for focusing. No need to reassemble yet. You should see an improvement in focus accuracy as the piece of card simply acts to stop this rail wobbling about as you change focus direction. You may need to try thicker or thinner card.

5. If the focus has improved then you can look about for a flat piece of plastic to replace the card and you can use the card as a template to cut out the plastic. I used the clear case of a camera memory card that I had lying about.

You need to look for some plastic with the right thickness approximately, that will both hold the focus rail from wobbling but still allow it to move smoothly. I also added a bit of lubricant to mine.

6: More fine tuning. You will notice that the plastic component removed in step two has two long plastic protrudances and these are intended for the purpose of keeping the focus rail steady but they don't work as well as the plastic insert that I have described and I filed a bit off the top of these protruding arms to stop them pressing up onto the focus rail but you may not need to do this. I think the plastic I used on top was a bit thick so rather than finding something thinner I just filed a bit off the protruding arms of the bottom plastic insert.

The result is I now have a very smooth and accurate focus and all it cost me was a piece of plastic and a few minutes fiddling but the result is really very good so well worth doing if you feel competent to try. It really transformed my binocular so much it seems as though I upgraded to a new better bin :t:;)

Suppose I should also say, remember to put it all back together again lol.

Honestly this works so well and these are very good little binoculars when they focus properly. I'll often take them along instead of my Nikon 10x30 M7 just purely for their lightness and convenience even over the already small and fantastic M7 but the focusing has bugged me for a long time. Now that really seems to be finally resolved so I'm definitely going to enjoy this little Endurance a lot more now.

I hope there will be some who try it and report the result here. You may well be very pleased as am I.
 
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Excellent!
A very helpful post. Thank you!


Yes, thank you. I hope it will be helpful to people who have these bins as I'm sure there are a lot of them out there that would benefit from this fairly simple procedure and then they can experience how otherwise very good the bins are.

Currently I am trying again to adjust the prisms of My Pentax 8x20 DCF ED to get rid of some right eye strain that can occur but it's quite tricky with these small bins. I did the same with the Endurance and that worked well with no eyestrain at all and an improved view. I get a good view with these Pentax from indoor looking outdoors but something seems to affect them when outdoors and my right eye starts to strain and will lead to a headache but then they were always like that even before I messed with them and I did improve them but the eyestrain seems to have returned. Perhaps just how they are? Out for a test later. Could be really good if I can get it sorted or perhaps they need some specialised alignment? Interesting to mess about with and experiment and learn something but a bit frustrating also and the optics are great but no use really if they don't work together well. Same with focusers if they don't work well but these Pentax are spot on in that regard. It's not critical as I have an 8x20 RSPB HD and they seem pretty perfect in both regards so I'm using those as a guide in trying to sort out these Pentax.
 
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