• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Problems with NEW Yosemite 6x30's?? (1 Viewer)

rjwims

rjwims

Certified newbie
I bought these for my wife as an alternative to Action 7x35's, in that they are both smaller, lighter and seem to be often recommended on this forum.

I'm not sure if the problem is blackout , but both she and I have a hard time seeing through them without some sort of image loss.

In my case, I have to push them up against the underside of my eyebrows and away from my eyes , in order to see clearly.

My wife has best success by pushing them down and away from her eyes.

This particular bin seems more trouble than it is worth. (for us)

Could they be defective, or is it just us?

Neither of us have problems with either the action 7x35 (non extremes) or the Zen Ray ED 8x43's.

Mind you, with the actions, we need to push our eyes up against the eyecups (kind of firmly), but we got used to that.

With the Leopold's , it's almost very hard to see through them without some form of blackout (if that is what this is called)

Neither of us uses glasses.

Any thoughts are appreciated

Thanks

Richard
 
Last edited:
Hmm, I don't have an easy answer for you. I have a pair of the 6x30s in my hands right now. Eye relief is generous on them but I wouldn't call it "excessive" as some other bins I have used. Typically a binocular with very long eye relief causes annoying blackout problems. The 7x35 Action has exceptionally short eye relief especially in comparison to the Action EX version of it. Maybe because of you facial dimensions (and possibly your wife's) you are better suited for shorter eye relief binoculars.

...if it was a collimation issue you would start feeling excessive eye strain and eventually headaches.
 
FrankD said:
Hmm, I don't have an easy answer for you. I have a pair of the 6x30s in my hands right now. Eye relief is generous on them but I wouldn't call it "excessive" as some other bins I have used. Typically a binocular with very long eye relief causes annoying blackout problems. The 7x35 Action has exceptionally short eye relief especially in comparison to the Action EX version of it. Maybe because of you facial dimensions (and possibly your wife's) you are better suited for shorter eye relief binoculars.

...if it was a collimation issue you would start feeling excessive eye strain and eventually headaches.
Click to expand...

2 things

1) It's hard to look thru for more than a little bit, in that I see a lot of black

2) Neither my wife nor I have any problems with the ZEN ED 8x43's, so I am not sure that either of our faces are all that abnormal...:-O
 
This might seem pretty basic, but is the interpupilary distance (IPD) set correctly. They have a very broad range from about 56mm to 72mm.

The two 6x30 pair that I have work perfectly with and without glasses.

This is strange, so be sure to keep us posted on this problem.

SM
 
Richard,

The eye cups are not long enough to accommodate the long eye relief of the Yosemites.

If your eye is closer than the specified eye relief you'll get some kind of blackout.

This will happen to any binocular. Turn the eye cups down on any pair you have and move your eye close to the eyepiece... blackout.

Or... if you're looking around with your eyes pressed into the eyecups you'll get blackouts as well. You need to pan the glass

The Yosemites are great bins. Rest them on your eyebrow and enjoy.

Cheers
 
Last edited:
I agree with Oleaf. Make some very small adjustments, forward and backward, up and down, as to where you situate the eye cups when you use them.
Bob
 
Gentlemen, thank you for all the input.

After fiddling with these for a few more days, the only possible problem that I can find is that the left eyecup is quite a bit looser than the right one.

On occasion, when my wife would complain about blackout, I found that the left cup had moved in slightly and this seems to be contributing to the problem.

I realize that they are not expensive bins, but is this normal?

Or should I have them replaced?

We are both fairly new to all this, but we aren't having this type of problem with either the Actions or ZR's.

Another thought: In that we seem to have to move them a bit away from our eyes, this allows much more stray light in when viewing with the sun at certain angles.

Thanks again for all the input.
 
I had Leupold replace an 8x Yosemite for me when the strap attachment broke. They are really top notch with service and will probably fix replace yours without much fuss.

I had a similar problem with what you describe on my 6x Yosemite. I rigged a bit of an eyecup extension which I think is explained clearly enough by the attached picture. This is just a couple of bands cut from a bicycle inner tube. That thickness of the inner tube extension was all I needed to fix the problem for me. The rain guards will still fit OK.

You can also go to a hardware of farm supply store that has o-rings. Get a couple of these that will fit around the eyepiece and slide them up right under the eyecup. The o-ring will keep the eyecup up. A rubber band will work for experimental purposes as well. If that fixes the problem, then you can send it in with some confidence that the loose eye cup is the problem.
 

Attachments

  • DSC00287_0118.jpg
    DSC00287_0118.jpg
    115.2 KB · Views: 230
I've found the eyecups on the Yosemites to be rather good i.e. they woudl stay in place at whatever height I placed them (a nice feature) and wouldn't drift off for me.

BTW, I'm a eyeglass wearing myope with about -3D correction in one eye that does get very mild blackouts with the Yosemite 6x30. I found just adding a bit (a couple of mm) of eyecup extension fixed this problem for me. And it stays in place.

So I'd say (along with only one eyecup drifting) that you may have a defect.

The good news is Leupold has a very good customer service reputation. Or you could return them to the original dealer.

BTW, if you use them do they behave the same way? You wife is not pressing them into her face?
 
Thanks again everyone for the tips and tricks

I have been able to get a good image out of these in the past, but I really bought them to try and get the significant other interested.

I really only had problems before I discovered how to position them a bit away from my eyes, etc.

I probably need to do the O ring trick and see if she grows into them.

I do have some time in case I need to return or exhange them.

Thanks again

Richard
 
Richard, if you use bicycle tube sections you can cut them in such a way as to give you side guards ("wings") to limit light coming in from the sides. The wings, however, will probably prevent the rain guard from covering the eyepieces. Hmmmm....
 
"On occasion, when my wife would complain about blackout, I found that the left cup had moved in slightly and this seems to be contributing to the problem."

Hi Richard, I don't have problem with eyecups moving in, but I just tried a temporary fix with a rubber band beneath one of the eyecups and it would work for you I think. I agree about eyecups not being long enough. I just hold the top of the cup against my brow and slightly tilt the bottom of the cup away from my face a little.
Regards,Steve
 
Thanks for the suggestions guys...:t:

If these were more expensive, I guess some might complain about them....I mean rubber bands, bicycle tubes and O rings???

They are light and they seem pretty good for the price, if I can just get over some minor humps.

We are geting used to the minor quiks, so it's all good.

Richard
 
rjwims said:
If these were more expensive, I guess some might complain about them....I mean rubber bands, bicycle tubes and O rings???
Click to expand...

They might even return them for repair or a new pair ;)

If they're new avoid the hacks and get them fixed ... the eyecup shouldn't slip.
 
I'm at the point where my wife will decide whether she can live with the minor problems and then decide what to do.

Thanks again everyone.

Richard
 
I personally wouldn't want to do all this messing about and might return them and try a different brand.
I am considering these for kayaking and they are on my list because I need eye relief. Hope they work for me.
 
Warning! This thread is more than 15 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Similar threads

M
new (to me) Nikon 7x35 binoculars
Replies
8
Views
880
jan van daalen
J
J
Is a good view predictable?
2 3
Replies
48
Views
3K
Swedpat
S
Steve222
GPO 10x32 ED & 10x42HD quick look and comment.
Replies
8
Views
1K
Steve222
Steve222
R
Analysing Binoculars
Replies
6
Views
655
beacon hill
beacon hill
J
My First Experience Purchasing Birding Binoculars. Part 2 first anniversary
Replies
2
Views
612
Scott98
S

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)
Back
Top