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Dropped binoculars, how to confirm they are OK? (1 Viewer)

etc

Well-known member
I did something stupid, put a bag with binoculars inside on the roof of the car and drove off, then heard this loud noise accelerating and instantly realized what it was.

It's Swarovski EL and they were inside their soft case, which was inside a backpack which had a few other things, it was thrown from the car roof into the pavement at 15 mph I would guess.

Visual examination revealed nothing, no dents, no scratches so I suppose the soft case + backpack helped. The view appears to be just as sharp. Shined a flashlight inside - nothing unusual. Nothing is loose inside when I shake it. I tested them for collimation by loosening the diopter wheel one way, then another by looking at stars and they were fine (one circle within another circle).

Everything looks normal but I am still concerned I dented or damaged something inside.
Anything else I forgot to check?

I looked at the moon and I thought I saw more glare in the glass than before, a few small glare "stars" running back and forth as I moved binoculars left to right. But I don't see how a fall could have caused this and I don't remember if it was there before as I don't do that much astronomy.
 
It will be mostly a use test. If it gives eye strain or there is some obvious change in the field, then get it fixed or checked out.
 
Hello Etc.,

Find a flat roofed building, outlined by the sky, preferably overcast sky. Focus on a corner of the building. The slowly move the binocular away from you, keeping it aligned with both eyes. Repeat for the other corner of the building. If you see a shadow image of the building's corner appearing, it certainly needs collimation.

Does not Swarovski Opitcs of North America provide service?

Happy bird watching,
Arthur Pinewood
 
:eek!:Wow. No good for stress and blood pressure, whatever about the binoculars. I hope they´re okay, let us know after you do Pinewood´s Collimation Test. Best of Luck with them!
 
Hello Etc.,

Find a flat roofed building, outlined by the sky, preferably overcast sky. Focus on a corner of the building. The slowly move the binocular away from you, keeping it aligned with both eyes. Repeat for the other corner of the building. If you see a shadow image of the building's corner appearing, it certainly needs collimation.

Does not Swarovski Opitcs of North America provide service?

Yeah, they do, and I suppose I could send them in to Swaro for them to check it out but I was unable to find anything "wrong" at all. It was more scary than anything else.

One thing that did change was the IPD setting... It increased greatly. I had to change it back.

I did perform one collimination test I saw on that "cloudy nights" forum -- increase the diopter setting to the max and look at a star, it should be sharp in one barrel and a cloudy cirlce in the other - and these circles should be aligned, the sharp star within the big cloudy circle. Not sure how accurate it is but it seems it hasn't changed.

I will perform your test and report back...
 
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Etc.,
Considering the cushioning in the backpack, I would be surprised if anything at all had been damaged. I would expect it to survive such a fall with no cushioning. It might crack an eyecup if it landed right on an eyepiece, that's about it. The large IPD motion on impact is also encouraging, showing it hit in such a direction that that served as a shock absorber. Your test of collimation is as good as any that can be done by the user. If you don't experience any eyestrain, and still feel that your eyes snap to the target without taking a second to adjust to a misalignment, that is the bottom line. Make sure the focus action still feels smooth, and that diopter adjust still works right.

Looking at the moon in any binocular, it is always easy to find angles that let some glare in. You wonder, was this bit of glare like it used to be, or has it changed? I think only an obvious change inside the barrel, a shifting of a light baffle, or something like that, could cause a change in glare resistance. And, such a change would almost certainly be accompanied by a misalignment.

It seems contradictory that something as precious as the EL would be tough as nails, but that's actually a large part of the expense. A noted optics designer and bino tech over on CN, Bill Cook, opined that the EL is tougher even than the Fujinon FMT-SX! Stories of ELs surviving much worse are out there. Hunters, who are widely recognized for hating both wild animals and their own expensive binoculars (just kidding, but they ARE rough on stuff) are our stress-test lab. Binos get dropped, alphas make it.

All that said, if you don't feel certain about something, send it in for a going-over.
Ron
 
Etc.,
Considering the cushioning in the backpack, I would be surprised if anything at all had been damaged. I would expect it to survive such a fall with no cushioning. It might crack an eyecup if it landed right on an eyepiece, that's about it. The large IPD motion on impact is also encouraging, showing it hit in such a direction that that served as a shock absorber. Your test of collimation is as good as any that can be done by the user. If you don't experience any eyestrain, and still feel that your eyes snap to the target without taking a second to adjust to a misalignment, that is the bottom line. Make sure the focus action still feels smooth, and that diopter adjust still works right.


Ron,

Thanks for the analysis. I've gone over it and I cannot find any anomalies, the view is the same as it was earlier, the diopter works fine, the focus action is fine.

One thing I did discover is that looking at one of the barrels from the objective end and illuminating inside of it with a bright torch, there is a tiny 1mm chip on the inside (Not on the surface). I am not sure if it was there before.

Question, is it even possible for the inner coating to chip in such a way in case of an impact? Remember, the bino was cased and in a bag so it wasn't directly hit by anything. The chip is tiny, maybe 1mmx0.3mm and barely visible, you have to align the angle at which the flashlight beam strikes the inside glass to see it. If it was there before, it's not surprising I haven't seen it.

Maybe a defect from the factory in the way they applied the coating?

To reiterate, the optical view does not seem to be affected.
 
Etc,
Every now and then there's a thread that gets everybody looking inside their binoculars with flashlights and agonizing over coating flecks, specks of dust, and such. $2000 buys optical and mechanical excellence, and ruggedness, but not useless perfection. What you describe doesn't sound like an injury incurred in the bump. Good for Swarovski for not discarding a cosmetically imperfect but optically excellent lens, and trying to hold prices "down".

As a longtime astronomical telescope user, I am still amazed that an objective can look absolutely horrifying and still perform superbly. I love to show people the sky through my 10-inch reflector, which has an excellent mirror by Carl Zambuto. Afterwards, I shine a flashlight on the mirror, showing the coating which is cracked, pitted, and peeling. It's hard to believe that it just provided the stunning sights!

You just need a good day afield with the binocular to reestablish your confidence.
Ron
 
I thought so too, but thanks for the reassurance. You know, having your bino fall off your vehicle at 15mph with the bino still working perfectly without any damage is plenty reassuring. I have more confidence in it then before, although I won't repeat the experiment.

Looking at the night sky tonight, no anomalies... You are right, I will spend this weekend in the field.

While on the subject, do you know a good case for Swarovski EL? Not the junk soft case that comes with it but a hard case that fits it well.
 
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After time in the field, there are no optical or mechanics or cosmetic issues that I can detect. They are built tougher than I thought.
 
Swaros..............tanks..................built like.....................
Isn't that why we pay the premium?? Nice to know that it is worth it.

Perry
 
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