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Eye relief and zoom (1 Viewer)

willemjacobusse

Well-known member
I have been reading quite a bit about optics by now and this leads to some very general questions:

What should be the minimum eye relief for eye glass wearers?

Why do zoom eye pieces tend to have short eye relief?

Which zoom eye pieces (either proprietary or generic astronomical) are suitable for eye glass wearers?
 
The minimum relief you need depends on what defects you suffer from and on the type of eyeglasses you wear (rimless ones let you get your eye much closer to the eyepiece, so less relief is needed).

Why zoom lenses have shorter eye relief? No idea!

Search this thread and you will find lots of information - probably too much! It really is best to get out and try as many scopes as you can. If you can't get to a dealer, then ask all the birders you meet if you can have a look through their scopes. Most are more than happy to oblige. Make sure you take notes at the time of exactly what you are using. It is very easy to forget the details.

Good luck.

Pete
 
Have a look through Leica lenses, the eye relief is superb for spectacle wearers. I get full field of view with 32x ww and glasses. Even the zoom is excellent. I switched from a Nikon scope for a Televid 77 as I spend a lot of time drawing birds theough the scope.
 
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