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Eyeglasses and Binoculars (NVD's) Not As Simple As I Thought (1 Viewer)

dwever

Well-known member
After seventeen years in disposable contacts, now that I've started occasionally wearing glasses with binoculars, using them together seems surprisingly unnatural and difficult, which is probably normal at first with something one is unaccustomed to, and I should adjust over time.

Tips?

Also, surprisingly I expected with glasses to use the eyecups fully collapsed, but I actually have to use the third click out (pictured) with glasses because with the eye cups fully collapsed, my eyes are too close on my Noctivids with 19mm of eye relief. That also makes me wonder if my old pair of UVHD+ 7x42's with 17mm of eye relief would of been more convenient for me (but Chil6x6 and Anthon both praised the Noctivid eye relief on another thread, and I should heed their experience I am sure).

http://www.birdwatching.com/optics/education/eye_relief.html
 

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Everybody is different.

One cannot expect that all faces, features, eyes and glasses will be the same.

This also applies to hands, arms etc.

Titanium frames?
 
The style of the glasses makes a huge difference. My aviators need an honest 20mm to se the full view. Same with my work safey glasses.
 
With my rimless glasses I'm usually quite comfortable with 12mm available ER which usually means a listed 15mm or more is usually OK. Any more and I need to extend the eycups and sometimes use o-rings or the like. However there are combinations of bridge widths and eyecup diameters that I find almost incompatible at my IPD, causing a seesaw action across the bridge of my nose. My last Silhouette specs didn't work at all well with my Vanguards for instance, but were fine with 90% of other models I tried. My current frames seem to cause fewer problems.

David
 
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After seventeen years in disposable contacts, now that I've started occasionally wearing glasses with binoculars, using them together seems surprisingly unnatural and difficult, which is probably normal at first with something one is unaccustomed to, and I should adjust over time.

Tips?

Also, surprisingly I expected with glasses to use the eyecups fully collapsed, but I actually have to use the third click out (pictured) with glasses because with the eye cups fully collapsed, my eyes are too close on my Noctivids with 19mm of eye relief. That also makes me wonder if my old pair of UVHD+ 7x42's with 17mm of eye relief would of been more convenient for me (but Chil6x6 and Anthon both praised the Noctivid eye relief on another thread, and I should heed their experience I am sure).

http://www.birdwatching.com/optics/education/eye_relief.html

Hey Doug..
Glasses and binoculars ARE a headache! BUT...you can make it work...

When I first starting wearing glasses, I'd take my glasses OFF every time I wanted to use binoculars. That got to be a PITA. So I MADE myself learn how to use then together. You have about the best binoculars available to make that happen.

The Noctivids have so much eye-relief, I bet MOST folks with eye-glasses don't use them with the eyecups all the way down. I'm pretty sure you have yours set about where I do. But some folks have thicker lenses, more deeply set eyes, a nose thats longer at the bridge, etc, etc, etc. Don't worry about WHERE the eye-cups are set....just set them to where you are able to see the complete FOV without blackouts, and USE them.

The more you use eyeglasses and binoculars together, the more second nature it will be.
 
I would gladly incinerate a village of small children to be able to wear contacts again (or otherwise obtain 20/20 vision w/o glasses.)

I've wrestled with the same problem dwever, on my 8.5x42 ELs I experimented to find the best separation distance of the eyecups from the body for maximizing FOV, then used o-rings to fill the gap.

Even with this fix, side-lighting really inhibits good viewing.

I take off my glasses when using a scope. The image quality improvement is amazing.

Being middle-aged and very nearsighted the combo progressive - high index lenses may have a more deleterious effect than less corrective ones.
 
My two binoculars have eye relief enough to work fine with my glasses, my Pentax SP 8x43 has plenty of it.

Without glasses and eyecups extended I feel the eyecups when I use the binocular and it’s easy to adjust IPD and to hold the binocular correctly centered to each eye and with the correct distance to my eyes.

With the glasses on the eyecups rest against the glasses and I don’t get that tactile feedback of how I hold the binocular. Sometimes I notice that the image isn’t as good as it should be and that is because I have let the right tube that is in front of my non dominant eye slid a bit down or I have let it get a couple of mm in front of the glass and I actually only have a nice image from my dominant left eye and the right is out of centering and/or correct distance from the eye.

So with glasses, even if the eye relief is good, it takes a little more concentration to keep the binocular in correct position.

I don’t use progressive glasses yet but with them correct positioning and dioptre adjustment will be even more important I’ll guess.
 
Here’s an off the wall idea I’m considering:

Have an independent opticians make up a pair of your prescription lenses in a size/shape that can be inserted into each bino eyecup with an interference fit. If the proscription is able to factor the close proximity to the ocular lenses and it works, you simply lift your glasses and use binos as per those without macular degeneration.

I’m sure someone will shoot this down in flames but I’d still like to try it.

LGM
 
Here’s an off the wall idea I’m considering:

Have an independent opticians make up a pair of your prescription lenses in a size/shape that can be inserted into each bino eyecup with an interference fit. If the proscription is able to factor the close proximity to the ocular lenses and it works, you simply lift your glasses and use binos as per those without macular degeneration.

I’m sure someone will shoot this down in flames but I’d still like to try it.

LGM

I've heard of opticians making lenses that fit over telescope eyepieces, so it could probably be done. The issue then is, how good are your eyes with no glasses? Can you spot birds or look at an ID book? I wear bifocals, so both distance and closeup are pretty bad for me without glasses.

In re-reading your post, I see that you're figuring on lifting your glasses to view. I guess you would get the benefit of the eyecups for a more tactile alignment, and to reduce stray light. It just might work.

I agree completely that it is a nuisance to wear glasses when viewing through binoculars, but one can certainly adapt, and thank goodness for better eye relief specs that allow accommodation. Otherwise there'd be a lot of sad birders shut out of the pleasures of this hobby.

-Bill
 
Well if it works the top 3 manufacturers are perhaps missing a trick which surprises me given Zeiss produce proscription lenses.

How about bino ocular eyepieces with a facility for inserting interchangeable proscription lenses? This way they could be positioned optimally with no chance of losing them.

The only downside I see is the cost of proscription lenses.

LGM
 
How about bino ocular eyepieces with a facility for inserting interchangeable proscription lenses? This way they could be positioned optimally with no chance of losing them.

LGM

Thanks to everyone. Ordered six months worth of 'bino eyepieces' (disposable contacts) today. ;).

While it became clear over the last week that fully adjusting to eyeglasses and the minor compromises that come with it is indeed possible and ultimately easy, my doctor said I would likely be able to wear contacts for as many years as I want. So I'll use both.
 

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WDC,

"Otherwise there'd be a lot of sad birders shut out of the pleasures of this hobby."

I was for many years!

One advantage that spectacles have for me is that I press the cup to the glass and can move the exit pupil around in that plane.
 
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Perhaps other glasses wearers could use contacts and use EWA binoculars also.

Televue make Dioptrx lenses for eyepieces that correct for astigmatism.
 
Question: I had cataract surgery on both eyes about 6 months ago. I was going blind and the artificial lens implants made a tremendous difference. My everyday distance vision is good enough for hiking, driving, going down the pub, etc. However, it is not completely sharp enough for birding. I have to wear glasses when I bird or my distance vision is not so great. I hate wearing glasses and here is the question - does anyone know whether it is possible to wear contacts ON TOP OF The artificial lenses, or would this be a no-no. I don't need very powerful assistance just enough to touch it up.
 
Question:- does anyone know whether it is possible to wear contacts ON TOP OF The artificial lenses, or would this be a no-no. I don't need very powerful assistance just enough to touch it up.


That seems utterly reasonable. Just ask your doctor. I can't imagine why that won't work. There may be close/distant focus limitations with the new implants, but you should surely be able to sharpen the view with contacts.

Bill
 
The eye doctor should be asked, not only regarding contacts, but also whether there are other points to note, such as transmission characteristics. UV transmission?

Also any precautions.

Have the eye's now settled or are small changes still likely?

Generally, after eye surgery, viewing the Sun with eclipse shades may also be an unnecessary activity.

Personally, if I had such a procedure, I would give up solar viewing, which I have done with strict safety precautions for well over fifty years.

P.S.
Maybe a higher magnification binocular would help, or maybe a Canon IS binocular, to increase the viewing of fine detail.
 
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On my Swarovski 8x25 which have a huge 20mm eye relief I use carefully chosen rings on the inner cylinder of the eye pieces so all the way down (as now controlled by the o-rings) is perfect for me. Never have to worry about setting it again or the eyepieces getting out of adjustment, even if they were to twist one, only a simple twist to close them back; no fiddling. This might not work as well on those that don't have an even edge at the base of the eyepiece.
 
I met with my optometrist today and he advocated wearing soft contacts on top of the post-operation fake lenses. He fitted me up with a pair of soft lenses and my vision at distance is now better than 20.20 - terrific! Now all I need do is master the techniques for putting the lenses in and out!
 
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