Binocular optics doublers ,how good are they ? (1 Viewer)

Hi,I have seen some ads for optics doublers,One I saw was for a Bushnell elite optics 2.5 doubler. I am interested in knowing how well these work and how do they effect the FOV,brightness,detail etc.ARE they capable of working on any binocular ? I would really appreciate information from people who have used them. Thanks,Craig

bcraig said:

Hi,I have seen some ads for optics doublers,One I saw was for a Bushnell elite optics 2.5 doubler. I am interested in knowing how well these work and how do they effect the FOV,brightness,detail etc.ARE they capable of working on any binocular ? I would really appreciate information from people who have used them. Thanks,Craig

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Sure, they can work on any binocular the piece fits on. Whether you will like the results is another question. I suspect that you will find the image will be less bright, field will be narrower and the detail will seem less crisp. Don't forget that a small 10x handheld binocular will also magnify any handshake if the magnification is increased to 25x. Whether those changes are acceptable tradeoffs for a bigger image can be best answered by trying the doubled in the field. I would suggest that you buy from Amazon, Adrorama or B&H and give it a try. Those companies have decent return policies.

Hi Craig

I was fairly unimpressed when I tried the Swarovski Doubler on my EL 10x42. The poor view put me off the idea of buying one.

The fit over the ocular can often be a problem. You want it to be solid and tight and often there can be some annoying "wiggle" room which I discovered with one I had. Anyway, I wouldn't use one on a binocular over 7x. 20x and 25x is too hard to hand hold without really bracing yourself.

Bob

Craig - 2x, 2.5x, and 3x extenders ( have tried them all) have very limited practical use. All the above comments pretty much describe the issues. The Elite 2.5 extender is a very good piece of optics. Have one and use is - when I'm playing around. Have a Bushnell 2.5x called the booster whch fits over the objective lenss. The Swarovski 2x is probably the best choice but only fits certain Swarovski binoculars. The Zeiss 3x has multiple uses, but for a binocular 3x is too much. If you are using the system with a dead rest or have the steadiness of an Olympic marksman, you may find the doublers useful. John

Is there a 1.5X booster? Seems more useful, and if you have two: voilà - your 8X42 or 10X42 becomes a poor mans duovid!

I had the Bushnell Elite 2.5x doubler for awhile. I had it coupled with my 10x43 Elite binocular and I found it very useful indeed. I almost always mounted the binocular to a small tripod when I used the doubler and, while the image was both narrower and dimmer than when the binocular was used by itself, I considered the image to be superior to any of the sub-$300 spotting scopes I was able to compare it to. It was especially useful when backpacking and needing to keep weight and bulk down to an absolute minimum.

The Bushnell doubler is obviously "optimized" to work with their Elite binoculars but they will indeed work with many, though not all, binoculars. For example, the 8x42 and 10x42 Leupold Golden Ring binoculars have an eyepiece that is too wide to accept Bushnell's doubler.

I don't have the doubler any more as I have moved to using the 10/17x42 Leupold Golden Ring SwitchPower binoculars. I do give up a little bit of magnification with these but, I get to use both eyes while viewing at either magnification which, I believe, more than makes up for that sacrifice. If I didn't have the SwitchPowers, I would definitely want to have the doubler back - as long as it would fit the eyepiece of my chosen binocular.

Thanks for the info guys

I had a Swarovski double for my 10x41 SLC - the view was rather sharp, but the hand shake at 20x made then unusuable . . .

Heads up - Cley Spy UK have a 2nd-hand Swaro doubler for sale on their website. No good to me if it doesn´t fit the SV, but EL owners might be interested.

Sancho said:

Heads up - Cley Spy UK have a 2nd-hand Swaro doubler for sale on their website. No good to me if it doesn´t fit the SV, but EL owners might be interested.

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Cant see it Sancho...