[Martin Fagg]

Hi everyone,

Sometimes I wear glasses and sometimes contact lenses.

I have been looking for some bins with a wide field of view for watching flocks of birds in action. I recently tried Nikon EIIs but can't get on with their rubber eyecups and eye relief. I couldn't see anywhere near the whole of their 8.8 degree field of view with contact lenses in so no chance with glasses on.

Has anyone who wears glasses got any experience of the ED2 7x36s?
How do you find them? Can you see the whole field of view alright?

For that matter, how are you non-glasses wearers getting on with them? Do you think I will be able to see the whole field of view without my glasses on?

I relief is only around 16mm I think and I have quite small deep set eyes (hope I'm not making myself too suspicious looking )

Thanks for your help.
Martin.

[Fireform]

I wear glasses and they have more than enough eye relief for me. My glasses fit pretty close though.

[Steve C]

Well, my 7x36 ED2 has become my main binocular. While I do not wear glasses (other than reading glasses), I do sometimes use sunglasses. None are particularly close to my face and I have no problems seeing the whole field with sunglasses.

I happen to be a non glare affected person, so that does not even start to be a issue with me. Mine are not the new and improved glare reduced issue. I have yet to be let down with any of the ZEN ED I have had, 7x, 8x, or 10x. While I grant they are not completely on par with the upper end, they are close enough that I will gladly save the $2,000 difference, or even the $500 difference when a steal can be found.

I have a hard time thinking you will have an inability to see the whole fov. The fov is wide enough however, that you may have to force yourself to look to the edges. They are a bit soft at the edge, but the softness is far enough from center vision that I don't realize it is there.

[Pinewood]

Hello Martin,

The ED 7x36 Zen provides me with a full view when I wear specs, even fuller than without specs. However, I am so myopic, -7.5 dioptres, that my experience is probably not typical.

Happy bird watching,
Arthur Pinewood

[Kevin Purcell]

I'm myopic with about -4D correction (mix of spherical and cylindrical) and I don't see the whole field with the 7x36. Close to but not quite the whole field.

Of course what I see is wider than pretty much all other bins -- the Nikon ATB 7x35 porro is the only one comparable. What I see is wider than my 7x42FL.

Of course the usual comment is that the needed ER varies with facial configuration, eyeglass fitting and prescription. So you will only know if you try one.

Check out the review threads there have been a few user comments about this there.

[Martin Fagg]

Thanks everyone,

it sounds like there's a good chance they would fit me with and without glasses so I may have to go for it. I'll see what other wide field options I can find first though. It feels like a bit of gamble ordering stuff all the way from the states. Still I guess if they don't work out there will be someone over here willing to buy them from me.

Am I right in assuming that being 7x the ED2s have good depth of focus too? Another good quality for watching flocks.

I've never owned any 7x and really like the sound of the easy on the eye quality of large fov and depth of focus. Especially in what seems to be almost universally deemed near alpha bins.

Best wishes,
Martin.

[NWBirder]

Originally Posted by Martin Fagg

Am I right in assuming that being 7x the ED2s have good depth of focus too? Another good quality for watching flocks.

I've never owned any 7x and really like the sound of the easy on the eye quality of large fov and depth of focus. Especially in what seems to be almost universally deemed near alpha bins.

Best wishes,
Martin.

Martin, the 7x depth of focus is astonishing, literally. I took it out for a walk yesterday. At my normal birding distance, I do not need refocus at all to scan a bird from one branch to the adjacent one. The focusing speed is quite good too. I rarely need to dial more than 1/4 of turn.

[Steve C]

Originally Posted by NWBirder

Martin, the 7x depth of focus is astonishing, literally.

Ditto to the above. That and the wide fov make for a very enjoyable binocular. It really is a better "set it and forget it" than the so called "set it and forget it" IF glass, particularly the Minox 6.5x32 IF.

People have given the stiff focus some degree of complaint, but as far as I am concerned, it is dead perfect. When you have been walking for a while and need to grab the binocular, the focus will not have moved and you will not have to guess which way to run the wheel.

If I set my 7x and 8x ZEN ED side by side on tripods, I find I can personally see every bit as much detail with the 7x as the 8x. Tripod mounted and looking at a mile or so, the size of the 8x begins to appear (to me anyway) a little bigger, but shows no more detail. Handheld, I can see no difference in image size or detail.

[Martin Fagg]

You lot are getting pretty persuasive!

The only thing I need to consider is how much UK customs will sting me for when it crosses our border. I better check previous posts from UK BFers.

If they are as good as they sound with the current reduced price they are a true bargain. Depending on Mr Customs man of course.

Thanks folks.

[falcondude]

I do not wear glasses and I can see full FOV of 7x36. I am a wide angle person so a 7x with 65 afov is a real draw for me. I did let some of friends who have prescription glasses look through them. They were impressed with the sharpness and field of view too. I didn't ask whether they can see the whole field.

[mmx_4]

I wear glasses (myopia, -7 -8D correction , bi-aspheric lens - very flat outer surface),
and in Zen ed2 7x36 I see about 80-90% of FOV.

But image is very clear and contrast, and Zen still was good for me.

[MarTay6]

I just received my 7x36's yesterday, and find it has plenty of eye relief, even though I don't use my glasses with bino's- I still have to extend the eyecups all the way out to prevent kidneybeaning.

[mmx_4]

Once I took off his glasses and looked through the 7x36 binoculars without them.
Most binoculars dptr correction to my eyes (to infinity) is not enough, but in this case - enough.
I was pleasantly surprised - the depth of the correction was good and 7x36 has at least -6 -6.5 diopters !
Yes, I had a small shock of eyes accommodation, but this binocular really has a stock of glasses correction of -6-6.5 diopters or more.

[bkrownd]

I will chime in on this issue - my ZR 7x36 work better with my glasses than any of my other binoculars did. I can use them with the eyecups all the way down while wearing glasses, which maximizes FOV. My old Swifts are tunnel-vision in comparison, because my eyes end up being far away from the lenses so can't get near their maximum FOV with glasses on.