Opticron 8x32 SR.GA issue (1 Viewer)

I have recently purchased a 2nd hand 8x32 SR.GA and the image quality and 3d effect is really nice. However I find it difficult to get a sharp focus because if I turn the wheel a fraction too far I have to go back further than expected. I think that this is due to some free play on the focus wheel before the eyepiece assembly starts moving.

Has anyone got this glass and if so does it have the same issue? Does anyone know if I can tighten the focus wheel to lose the free play? If not I may send to Opticron or even buy a new pair to see if that solves the problem, although if someone confirms it's a known issue then there won't be much I can do.

Any advice would be much appreciated as when they are on focus they produce a very sweet image. Thanks

I suspect it's a relatively straight forward job on the SRGA with the right tools and I'm sure there are a couple of member who could tell you exactly. Failing that, I'd give Opticron's service team a call. I don't know it their warranty covers second hand purchases, but I'm sure they can advise you of the best way to get the problem sorted.

David

Mine can do this, although not enough to bother me. Looking at it carefully, as the knob rotates, it moves up and down the shaft it sits on a little before it hits the end stop and pushes it as it should. It looks as if a shim in the right place would fix it.

Fnagwaa

I have had my 8x32 SR.GA since new. It had a reasonable amount of use in its first year or two.

In answer to your questions, in the case of my 8x32 SR.GA:

1) The focussing mechanism had no free play new, and has no free play now.

2) As the focussing wheel turns, the binocular snaps into and out of focus most satisfactorily.

I read around about the time that I bought the 8x32 SR.GA that because the focussing is very fast, it is easy to overshoot. That is my experience too. It is easy to overshoot both ways -- and so find oneself 'rowing' back-and-forth in order to achieve focus. But you do not complain of that.


Stephen

Bought my 8x32 SRGA as new. My findings are pretty much identical to Stephen's.

Afterthought

Fnagwaa

In case the issue that you raised in your post dated 8 April is still a live issue, I tried out the Opticron 8x32 SR.GA the other day in comparison with the Opticron 8x42 HR.WP. Some people can't get on with the fast focus of the SR.GA, and others with the slow focus of the HR.WP. Some maybe can't get on with either!

It occurred to me that a behavioural rather than physical reason why some people can't get on with the fast focus of the Opticron 8x32 SR.GA could be that the Opticron focuses faster than their speed of accommodation* can keep up with.

It's a little like people not having the speed of reaction to cope with the fast response to the controls of a racing motorcycle. I recall the saga of the 1997 Suzuki TL1000S. One theory why riders crashed it was that it was a road bike with the throttle response of a race machine.

Binoculars do though, by contrast with the throttle response of motorcycles, allow you time to adapt.


Stephen


* I would be happy to accept correction if someone says that 'appreciation', rather than 'accommodation', is the correct term to use

Stephen Prower said:

Fnagwaa

I have had my 8x32 SR.GA since new. It had a reasonable amount of use in its first year or two.

In answer to your questions, in the case of my 8x32 SR.GA:

1) The focussing mechanism had no free play new, and has no free play now.

2) As the focussing wheel turns, the binocular snaps into and out of focus most satisfactorily.

I read around about the time that I bought the 8x32 SR.GA that because the focussing is very fast, it is easy to overshoot. That is my experience too. It is easy to overshoot both ways -- and so find oneself 'rowing' back-and-forth in order to achieve focus. But you do not complain of that.


Stephen

Click to expand...

My 8 x 32 SR GA functions identically to what Stephen ascribes to his binocular. For me, the focus on the 8 x 32 SR GA is one of its notable strengths (and it has many) - no slack, no free play and wonderfully direct.