Unboxing Opticron’s New Flagship Binoculars: Aurora BGA VHD 8x42 (1 Viewer)

[Troubador]

Hi Lee,

interesting you say that you had kidney beans when looking through. Does this mean that the eye relief was slightly too long and you had black outs? That’s not a criticism - I prefer too long!

Hi Petrus, yes I got those weird shadows with eyecups all the way down. What this means is that my eyes were too close to the binos and this is largely caused by my current spectacles as I had to make similar adjustments to other binos that worked fine for years with my previous spectacles. Rather than say the eye relief was slightly too long I would rather say that the combination of the eyecup fully screwed down, and my spectacles, placed my eyes too close to the ocular lens. However, unscrewing the eyecups to first position above fully down placed my eyes in exactly the right place: no shadows and I could see the full field of view. Now, by doing this, the eye relief of the binos didn't change so what was at first 'slightly too long' didn't become shorter. The eye relief is an optical measurement and isn't changed as you move the eyecups up and down. What does change is where your eyes are in relation to that sweet spot where there are no shadows and you can see the full field of view. Sorry if this sounds like a lecture!

Lee

 

[Petrus82]

Hi Petrus, yes I got those weird shadows with eyecups all the way down. What this means is that my eyes were too close to the binos and this is largely caused by my current spectacles as I had to make similar adjustments to other binos that worked fine for years with my previous spectacles. Rather than say the eye relief was slightly too long I would rather say that the combination of the eyecup fully screwed down, and my spectacles, placed my eyes too close to the ocular lens. However, unscrewing the eyecups to first position above fully down placed my eyes in exactly the right place: no shadows and I could see the full field of view. Now, by doing this, the eye relief of the binos didn't change so what was at first 'slightly too long' didn't become shorter. The eye relief is an optical measurement and isn't changed as you move the eyecups up and down. What does change is where your eyes are in relation to that sweet spot where there are no shadows and you can see the full field of view. Sorry if this sounds like a lecture!

Lee

No, Lee, it makes sense completely.

I struggle a lot with eye positioning and dislike tight eye relief. 20mm in theory should be ideal, but I’ve found placement right on binoculars with more. For example, I think the old Imagic BGA SE 10x42 had 21mm of eye relief but I found them very tight. The DBA VHD has 22mm and it’s just about right. So, I’m slightly concerned the Aurora “only” has 20mm.

However, I do think a lot depends on the design of the eyepiece. Both yourself and Ratal have commented on the large amount of eye relief on the Aurora so hopefully it will be fine.

 

[Troubador]

No, Lee, it makes sense completely.

I struggle a lot with eye positioning and dislike tight eye relief. 20mm in theory should be ideal, but I’ve found placement right on binoculars with more. For example, I think the old Imagic BGA SE 10x42 had 21mm of eye relief but I found them very tight. The DBA VHD has 22mm and it’s just about right. So, I’m slightly concerned the Aurora “only” has 20mm.

However, I do think a lot depends on the design of the eyepiece. Both yourself and Ratal have commented on the large amount of eye relief on the Aurora so hopefully it will be fine.

Petrus, once eye relief gets to around 16mm or higher it is rarely the problem. What can cause problems are the eyecups and how many positions they have and how far apart these positions are, plus, if you wear spectacles, how thin or thick are the lenses, do you have your spectacles resting right at the top of your nose or are they 1cm or 1.5cm down your nose, not to mention whether you have eyes that bulge out from their sockets or are sunken deep inside the sockets..... Always remember it is the factors that influence where your eyes end up when looking through the binos that can create problems rather than the eye relief in the specifications. So it can mislead your thinking to say you like the eye relief to be too long. The eye relief is what the eye relief is and is usually neither too short or too long, it is the other factors that affect where your eyes end up in relation to the sweet spot that can be problematic.

For example, if you wear spectacles about 1cm down from the top of your nose, your spectacles when up against the eyecups could be in the perfect position to avoid blackouts but still see the full field of view, but your eyes are at least 10mm further away from the ocular lens, more if your eyes are a little sunken, so you would not able to see the full field of view. On the other hand if your spectacles are normally resting right at the top of your nose and your eyes actually bulge outwards somewhat from their sockets, then it is possible that your eyes will be too close to the ocular lens and you will get blackouts.

Lee

 

[Petrus82]

Petrus, once eye relief gets to around 16mm or higher it is rarely the problem. What can cause problems are the eyecups and how many positions they have and how far apart these positions are, plus, if you wear spectacles, how thin or thick are the lenses, do you have your spectacles resting right at the top of your nose or are they 1cm or 1.5cm down your nose, not to mention whether you have eyes that bulge out from their sockets or are sunken deep inside the sockets..... Always remember it is the factors that influence where your eyes end up when looking through the binos that can create problems rather than the eye relief in the specifications. So it can mislead your thinking to say you like the eye relief to be too long. The eye relief is what the eye relief is and is usually neither too short or too long, it is the other factors that affect where your eyes end up in relation to the sweet spot that can be problematic.

For example, if you wear spectacles about 1cm down from the top of your nose, your spectacles when up against the eyecups could be in the perfect position to avoid blackouts but still see the full field of view, but your eyes are at least 10mm further away from the ocular lens, more if your eyes are a little sunken, so you would not able to see the full field of view. On the other hand if your spectacles are normally resting right at the top of your nose and your eyes actually bulge outwards somewhat from their sockets, then it is possible that your eyes will be too close to the ocular lens and you will get blackouts.

Lee

Do you think the diameter of the glass in the eyepiece makes a difference?

 

[Mikewander]

As a non spectacle wearer, these were the only ones in my price range (£1000ish) that i could jam in my eye sockets without kidney beans, blackouts, or similar. With the eye cups fully extended they are perfect.
Just back from a week in the Aviemore area and they never let me down.
Mine were the 10x42s.

 

[Troubador]

Do you think the diameter of the glass in the eyepiece makes a difference?

I have read that one of the reasons the lenses in binocular eyepieces have acquired a larger diameter in recent decades is the requirement for good eye relief at the same time as wider fields of view.

BTW here is Zeiss's explanation of what eye relief is:
"The exit pupil (the circle of light that carries the image) created by binoculars is located around 15-18 mm behind the eyepiece. This distance from the exit pupil to the top eyepiece lens is referred to as the eye relief. To use the binoculars comfortably, without distracting effects sometimes called ‘blackouts’, and to ensure the full field of view can be seen, the pupil of the user should be at exactly this distance from the top eyepiece lens".

Lee