Ease of setting Dioptre - better as you spend more? (1 Viewer)

[sammyboy]

Not sure if I'm just very sensitive to poor dioptre settings but I often find that getting a pair of binoculars just right for me is very hard. There are some that take me what feels like hours of twiddling, fine tuning and trying at various distances to get it right, others I never seem to, and some where the dioptre setting is different for pretty much any distance I look at.

I've found some binoculars though that are very easy to get the setting right with minimal fuss - and this seems to be linked with what you pay for. When I had my Leica BNs that took about a minute, my old '60s Zeiss Dialyts about the same. A pair of Pyser Hobby binoculars I've been fiddling with the dioptre for days and it still doesn't feel/'see' right!

Are cheaper bins harder to set for your eyes? Seems odd considering it's the same principle regardless of price - adjusting the focus on one side to compensate for differences in people's vision - but some seem much easier than others?

Hope this isn't a stupid question, I seem to have asked a few of those lately, and if I have I apologise.

 

[typo]

Do you wear glasses? My frameless specs have a slightly raised bridge which means at my IPD some binoculars with certain occular diameters won't easily sit square and rock my glasses one way or the other. Otherwise I have no problems with my $25 car binos or any of my other pairs.

David

 

[sammyboy]

Yes, I wear glasses, they have frames but often find bins with the eyecups rolled or twisted down give me blackouts, often have to have them twisted down halfway. Could the IPD setting cause more problems with my dioptre settings?

Perhaps it's just me then, maybe I'm especially sensitive to dioptre adjustments?

 

[brocknroller]

I have the same problem, and no, it isn't just with cheap bins. Some bins I've had to "set and reset" at different distances - 8x32 HGL, 10x42 HGL, 8x30 SLC, 8.5x42 EL, 6x30 FMTR-SX - and others -- 8x32 SE, 8x30 EII, 10x42 SE, Nikon 7x35 WF, 804 Audubon, ZR 7x36 ED2 -- I only had to set at close distance and far, not in between.

You'll notice that most of the bins on the "set and forget" list are porros and that most on the "set and reset" list are roofs. I don't think that's just a coincidence.

The roofs have internal diopters, the porros, external. The Fuji has IF EPs, so that's complicates matters.

Also, I've found that fast focusers play havoc on my focus accommodation (i.e., those focusers that take 1 turn or less to go from close focus to infinity).

Generally, as you age, your focus accommodation deteriorates. So while once an IF EP bin might have presented no problem and you could set it at 30 ft. and not have to turn the diopters to focus after that, you might find that's no longer the case, as I found with my second sample 6x30 FMT, purchased 10 years after my first one.

In addition, Holger Merlitz recently mentioned that the diopter on his 8x32 FL (not a cheap bin) did not stay put when he focused, and he would have to go back and reset it.

So there could also be internal focus issues rather than your eyes, but focus accommodation plays a part in this problem as you age.

Brock

 

[Troubador]

I have the same problem, and no, it isn't just with cheap bins. Some bins I've had to "set and reset" at different distances - 8x32 HGL, 10x42 HGL, 8x30 SLC, 8.5x42 EL, 6x30 FMTR-SX - and others -- 8x32 SE, 8x30 EII, 10x42 SE, Nikon 7x35 WF, 804 Audubon, ZR 7x36 ED2 -- I only had to set at close distance and far, not in between.

You'll notice that most of the bins on the "set and forget" list are porros and that most on the "set and reset" list are roofs. I don't think that's just a coincidence.

The roofs have internal diopters, the porros, external. The Fuji has IF EPs, so that's complicates matters.

Also, I've found that fast focusers play havoc on my focus accommodation (i.e., those focusers that take 1 turn or less to go from close focus to infinity).

Generally, as you age, your focus accommodation deteriorates. So while once an IF EP bin might have presented no problem and you could set it at 30 ft. and not have to turn the diopters to focus after that, you might find that's no longer the case, as I found with my second sample 6x30 FMT, purchased 10 years after my first one.

In addition, Holger Merlitz recently mentioned that the diopter on his 8x32 FL (not a cheap bin) did not stay put when he focused, and he would have to go back and reset it.

So there could also be internal focus issues rather than your eyes, but focus accommodation plays a part in this problem as you age.

Brock

Dear Brock

It was a Conquest HD not an FL that Holger had problems with ..............

Lee

 

[Roadbike]

Not sure if I'm just very sensitive to poor dioptre settings but I often find that getting a pair of binoculars just right for me is very hard. There are some that take me what feels like hours of twiddling, fine tuning and trying at various distances to get it right, others I never seem to, and some where the dioptre setting is different for pretty much any distance I look at.

I've found some binoculars though that are very easy to get the setting right with minimal fuss - and this seems to be linked with what you pay for. When I had my Leica BNs that took about a minute, my old '60s Zeiss Dialyts about the same. A pair of Pyser Hobby binoculars I've been fiddling with the dioptre for days and it still doesn't feel/'see' right!

Are cheaper bins harder to set for your eyes? Seems odd considering it's the same principle regardless of price - adjusting the focus on one side to compensate for differences in people's vision - but some seem much easier than others?

Hope this isn't a stupid question, I seem to have asked a few of those lately, and if I have I apologise.

The image should really pop right into and out of focus. The only reasons I can think of for the diopter (and main focus) to seem sloppy in focusing would be an alignment problem or if the maker uses fine threads in the focusing mechanisms. As long as you are not looking at bottom end bins price is not really determinant of diopter focusing precision. For example on a pair of Unitron (Vixen Ultima rebrand) 8x32 both adjustments bring the image quickly into and out of focus. However a pair of Nikon 7x26 bins takes much more effort to reach focus with either the diopter or the main focus controls. The difference is due to steeper threads used in the Unitron focusing components.

One trick that can make diopter setting a bit easier is to keep both eyes open but cover the left objective with a lens cap. That prevents you from squinting and altering your focus.

And familiarity with a pair of bins can make them seem much easier to use than a brand new pair.

 

[sammyboy]

I've just received a secondhand pair of Leica 8x20BCA Trinovids, managed to get the dioptre sorted almost within seconds on it!

I suspect the bins I've had problems with have had a slight issue themselves, or were simply cheap/junk optics. My Hawke Endurance 10x32s are fairly good though I had to fiddle with the dioptre settings a bit, still doesn't seem 100% though.

The problem I get is even when using the method Roadbike suggests - both barrels appear to focus but when viewing through some binoculars I get this feeling that one barrel is still out of focus. This doesn't feel like a collimation issue - another way of describing it is as if one barrel is of differing optical quality than the other.

It could be that I've either had bad luck with some optics and other times simply bought cheap rubbish with bad dioptre adjusters or cruddy optics!