Has anyone noticed their NL Pure binoculars misting up? (1 Viewer)

[GrampaTom]

Point here is the solution to this often reported issue may be more subtle, more personal that what we read here. There is a saying, "Its the poor athlete who blames his/her equipment." Just sayin.

 

[PeterPS]

Hen Run,
Most recently, (note weeks into it), I discovered if I abandon my habit of mounting the binos to my eyebrow, but rather slide the eyecup rubber ring down 1/4" - 3/8" or so onto the eyeglass lens, the glare disappears.

Point here is the solution to this often reported issue may be more subtle, more personal that what we read here. There is a saying, "Its the poor athlete who blames his/her equipment." Just sayin.

Don't rush to get a patent for your "new trick" because it's old and well known, see for example:
Poll: does NL glare depend on eyeglasses?
Usually the main cause of glare are reflections at the bottom of the EP. To avoid them the most obvious way is to move the binos a bit down so that the reflections don't reach your eye pupils (resting the binos under you eyebrows is the worst you can do in such a case!). Moving the binos down is relatively easy if you wear glasses and if the EP is large enough. But people who don't wear glasses, depending on their facial features, might not be able to do that especially if the diameter of the eyecups is large. There is also the problem that when you get closer to the EP (to try avoid seeing the reflections at its bottom) you start to get blackout problems.

 

[HenRun]

Hermann: thank you for the support.
I find the discussion climate generally friendly here on Birdforum and the snide remarks that pop up now and then are tiresome.

PeterPS:
Yes, this is my experience too.

The friendly advice so far has been nothing new to me either. It simply does not work in my case.

With some binos you trade reducing glare for some other detrimental viewing experience - leaving the sum of all parts to not fit all. Some people are marinated in the ”fact” that everyone should be seeing the things the way _they_do if only they could follow their advice. Simply ignoring that any one given solution to a perceived and or real problem isn’t necessarily remedied by the same procedure for all, in some cases it is simply not completely remedied.

I was a working photographer for almost 20 years and I have looked through a plethora of optics and through so many different camera systems that I can’t remember them all. As with binos the eye placement and viewing comfort varied wildly.

As for binoculars I have only been in the game for exactly 34 years in April, I got my first ”good pair” when I turned 17. Other than that I have quite a few years behind rifle scopes - shooting targets, not animals.
I should find the idea that I have no clue on how to operate a binocular amusing rather than irksome.

It might be that the EL series would have suited me better, I don’t know and I am not going down that rabbit hole again. The 12x42 NL for the most part is a fantastic viewing experience. Winter time is the Kryptonite for it unfortunately and maybe I should have kept the Meopta 12x50HD for winter use but the Swaro is so easy to hand hold I keep forgetting it is a 12x bino.

I have very dry hands and have not noticed any issues with the rubber armor as some report - yet - and I hope it stays in good condition.

 

[Canip]

I should find the idea that I have no clue on how to operate a binocular amusing rather than irksome.

I am glad you take my suggestions with humour, they were not intended to offend (btw: I never said you had "no clue", these are your words, not mine ).

 

[Maljunulo]

Perhaps the comparisons between photography and “binoculary” are not valid.

Both involve an image projected onto a light-sensitive medium, but only one uses a brain, with poorly-understood but magical, signal processing capabilities.

I suppose you could claim that software-based processing post exposure makes them equivalent, but I am not convinced at all that they are.

 

[murmeltier]

Don't rush to get a patent for your "new trick" because it's old and well known, see for example:
Poll: does NL glare depend on eyeglasses?
Usually the main cause of glare are reflections at the bottom of the EP. To avoid them the most obvious way is to move the binos a bit down so that the reflections don't reach your eye pupils (resting the binos under you eyebrows is the worst you can do in such a case!). Moving the binos down is relatively easy if you wear glasses and if the EP is large enough. But people who don't wear glasses, depending on their facial features, might not be able to do that especially if the diameter of the eyecups is large. There is also the problem that when you get closer to the EP (to try avoid seeing the reflections at its bottom) you start to get blackout problems.

I find the headrest very useful for moving the binoculars down and to the right/left while maintaining contact with the forehead and the right distance between the eyes and the eyepieces.

 

[tenex]

Swaroclean is not antifog, nor is Nikon's flurine coating, nor is Zeiss Lotutec. These are hydrophobic and pro-fog, but easy clean like a teflon pan. They are probably all based on something similar to PTFE PFOA flurine hydrocarbon.

Antifog is the opposite, hydrophilic, and "difficult" to clean because water doesn't wipe off, it clings as a thin film, thus avoiding the fog but can leave smears.

I must have overlooked this post, which does makes sense: the goal of antifog would be to disperse tiny amounts of moisture instead of bead them. But in that case, why are there so many complaints about fogging NL eyepieces?

Also, my wife and I were hiking last week in a cool humid environment (mostly iced-over mountain lakeshore) and while enjoying some birds (Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Pine Grosbeak) found that BN 32 fogged easily and took some time to clear, while SLC 42, which has Swaroclean, did not. (Eye relief is 13.5mm vs 16, could that make such a difference?)

 

[BayAreaBirder]

It’s fascinating to hear about your experience, Mike. While the NL Pure binoculars seem to excel in optics with their remarkable field of view, brightness, and image clarity, it's concerning to hear about the misting issues, especially for someone like me who’s heading to the humid environment of the Sumatra rainforest. I’m wondering if Swarovski might address this issue in future models or if a change in lens coatings, as you mentioned, could be a contributing factor. It’s definitely crucial to have reliable gear in challenging conditions, and I hope my NLs will hold up. Thank you for sharing your insights!

 

[BayAreaBirder]

Hello, starting from 2020, Swarovski has changed the coating of the eyepieces for environmental protection. I also have a NL1042. The problem you mentioned has also troubled me for a long time. So much so that I had to go back to using my old EL1042. Or you can try Swarovski or Zeiss anti-fog cleaner.
View attachment 1486286

Where can you get this?

 

[ORKen]

Where can you get this?

I would also like to know this, and/or are there other anti-fog treatments that are safe and even marginally effective?

 

[hongyan]

Where can you get this?

You can buy it here.

Swarovski CSO Cleaning Set

Swarovski CSO Cleaning Set

www.optics-trade.eu

Or you can contact your local Swarovski optics distributor.

 

[etc]

I used to suffer a LOT of fogging with my glasses in the tropics and it was one of the major reasons I decided to have laser eye surgery. It was never (or almost never) my bins - just my glasses. I spend a lot of time birding in the tropics and no amount of "just clean them" used to keep my glasses fog free. It was a non stop hassle and I missed birds and cursed at my glasses and never found a solution in terms of coatings on the lenses, products to use on them, magic cloths to clean them, etc.

There is a relatively cheap solution, it's called contact lenses. I used them with binos, because I have severe myopia and my first Alpha binos did not have enough over drive past infinity to be usable without eyewear.
one additional benefit of contacts is no fogging.

An alternative solution is to use binos with a huge focus past infinity factor like Zeiss HT, or Swaro EL 12x50, or SF 8x42. I get that you have to take the eyewear off to use them.

 

[pbjosh]

There is a relatively cheap solution, it's called contact lenses. I used them with binos, because I have severe myopia and my first Alpha binos did not have enough over drive past infinity to be usable without eyewear.
one additional benefit of contacts is no fogging.

An alternative solution is to use binos with a huge focus past infinity factor like Zeiss HT, or Swaro EL 12x50, or SF 8x42. I get that you have to take the eyewear off to use them.

I am aware of the existence of contact lenses I gave them honest tries several times over the years, never got on with them unfortunately…

 

[UTGrad]

However, I found a phenomenon I've never experienced in Swarovski binoculars before, and it was a big shock to find that the external glass of the eye lenses misted up easily in certain situations. It typically happened in tough conditions, often when I was walking uphill, in lowland humid forest, where my body heat caused the eye lenses to mist up. Basically if you're 'running hot' then heat transfers to the glass and mists up the eye lens. A birder I was travelling with found the problem so annoying and serious that he's thinking of shifting to Zeiss. Other birders on one of the ships were also reporting concerns.

There is no coating that will eliminate condensation created by body heat transferred to a cool or cold glass lens surface. A good hydrophobic coating will make condensation removal easier or once the lens surface returns to ambient temperature, the condensation beads up and slides off.