Spectacles and birding (1 Viewer)

Mike Crawley · Dec 2, 2015

Not sure which forum is best for this question but here goes.
Hopefully the mods will put it in the right area.

I'm very short sighted and I’ve worn spectacles for nearly 50 years and have always worn them for birding. Over the last few years I’ve become a varifocal wearer.
Recently I upgraded to some swish and fashionable new specs with quite big lenses (not in the Deirdre Barlow category !!) and suddenly I’m experiencing some problems.
I suspect it's the large lenses that are the problem but welcome any comments.

I suspect the answer is some cheap, small, frames.
My previous specs have been small lenses both with and without varifocal.
Any comments ?
varifocal v single vision ?

Cheers

delia todd · Dec 2, 2015

What problems are you getting Mike?

Using them with bins, a scope or.....?

I have varifocals and manage pretty well... it's the fogging up problem at this time of year that gets to me LOL.

Mine are a medium sized frame.

Mike Crawley · Dec 2, 2015

Bins and 'scope Delia

I think the problem comes down to choosing the right bit of lens to look through - if that makes sense.
I feel a visit to specsavers coming on - their £25 frame range might be suitable

delia todd · Dec 2, 2015

choosing the right bit of lens

Yes... that's the answer, it can take practise, especially if you're new to this type of lens.

One answer, though, might be to have a pair made up for birding with with bigger area of the critical bit for use with the bins... don't know the technical term for this though... you'll need someone with the knowledge to help you there.

Jeff Hopkins · Dec 2, 2015

I'm horrendously near-sighted, and I actually take my glasses off to view through the scope. I always have...even before I got bi/vari-focals. I just feel more comfortable doing it. Mind you, my glasses are photochromic, so taking off the glasses helps with image brightness.

As to binoculars, I think the key is finding the right pair of bins rather than changing your glasses. There's too many things you do in glasses without looking though bins to screw up your vision just to accommodate the bins.

My opinion. Your mileage may vary.

Keith Dickinson · Dec 2, 2015

Mike - couple of questions spring to mind

1 - can you comfortably see to read without your spectacles on?

2 - are you bothered about the appearance of the spectacle lenses?

If the answer to 1 is yes then get a pair of specs for just distance and take them off to write down your notes. That way you won't get any distortions etc. As you say Specsavers do a basic pair for £25.00 which would be an ideal way to solve the problem.

If the answer is no then some form of multifocal is going to be needed, which brings me to Q2 - if you are not worried about the appearance then get a pair of specs with a D-seg or C-seg bifocal lenses as the distance element will the same as normal and there will be a line to cross to reach the near power, ask the dispensing optician to set the seg a millimetre or so lower than usual to give you maximum distance area.

If the appearance of the lenses is at premium then a varifocal lens is needed, ask for one with a short near corridor so that you get full near power quite quickly and again ask for it to be set a mm or so lowerto maximise distance power.

I speak as a varifocal spectacle wearing birder who is also a Dispensing Optician, I cannot see to read without specs so have to have distance and near in the specs. As I can get a pair of specs through work at a discount I have varifocals that are great for birding - lenses set lower than normal so not brilliant for very small print but distanced area huge and a pair with the lenses set at the normal height so that small print is good but they are not so good with bins.

Mike Crawley · Dec 2, 2015

Thanks Jeff, I've been a Swarovski fan for the last 15 years and currently use their 10 X 42 EL binoculars. I'll stick with them and work harder with my specs

Thanks Keith, I'm so short sighted that I have to hold a book about 6 inches away from my face to read it comfortably. My specs are brilliant for reading, etc.
I don't really care about the appearance of my birding glasses and I'm getting more tempted to go for single vision and hold my notebook at arm's length. However, I will pose the question wrt bi-focal with the far sighted bit lowered a little.

njlarsen · Dec 2, 2015

I use varifocals and have done that for many years. One thing about bins especially is that the eye relief of the bins make a difference. If there is not enough, then it restricts your view; but if you have glasses sitting very close to your eyes the eye relief can also be too large and that can seemingly lead to blackout if you do not get the bins positioned exactly right. Is that what you are experiencing?

Niels

Mike Crawley · Dec 2, 2015

Thanks Niels, I've been on varifocal stir about 10 years and it's only this new pair that have proven to be problematic. I use Swarovski ELs so I can experiment with the eye relief. The more I think about it the more sure I am that it is a position problem.

LesR · Dec 2, 2015

Hi Mike, I've used varifocals for the last 20 years, but found when I started using binoculars and scopes a few years ago that I was having similar problems. To solve that I use varifocals for every day use and a pair of bifocals for binoculars and scope. I need the reading part to see my camera screen too.

Les

Mike Crawley · Dec 2, 2015

Thanks Les

itchytwitcher · Dec 3, 2015

Hi Mike

I use varifocals for birding without any problems - but I think that the reason I have had no problems has a potential explanation.

i am short sighted but need reading glasses. I was given a choice of a whole range of different varifocal lens designs when I first went to the opticians, with different prices for different setups. Some had small areas that fitted my prescription at top and bottom, the rest of the field of view being intermediate - some had much bigger areas that fitted the prescription, with much smoother/smaller intermediate areas - ie., the lenses were flatter where it mattered. The former were all well priced, but the latter were increasingly expensive the flatter the main lens areas became. First time around, I chose an expensive pair for best, and had a cheep pair for spare. The expensive pair with the big flat areas at the top of the lens proved fantastic for looking through my bins, the cheap ones were terrible - if I moved my head a fraction the bird went straight out of focus.

Subsequently I have always paid quite a bit for my varifocals - not easy for a Yorkshirman - but would now never go birding without them. My current pair have posh Nikon lenses, and there are now even flatter lenses from Zeiss available. The other way of achieving the same effect of a large flat lens area of course is to follow the advice of Les above, and go birding in bifocals - financially far more sensible!

Anyway, I hope that my homespun logic doesn't sound too off beam, but the shape (and cost) of the varifocals seems critical ro me - "alpha" spectacles if you like.

itchy

SanAngelo · Dec 3, 2015

Early on, "blackout" became a problem I found time consuming.

No matter what, at some point during an outing I experienced blackout while throwing those binos up to my glasses. Besides the hassle of adjusting the specs or glass, finding the right placement, it was always at the cost of the image down range.

My solution was a bino marine cup or faceshield. I keep my specs on a lanyard, drop them around my chest, place the binos to my face, pre-dialed in i.e. diopter adjustment, and focus as normal.

I use a Pentex 10x42 WP; the faceshield fits nicely on the glass and the glass fits like a glove on my face. It's all sweet and easy for me.

Now, if I could just find a way to focus faster with my new Pani FZ1000.

Good luck my friend.

Mike Crawley · Dec 3, 2015

Thanks itchy, already paying a lot for my specs. My prescription is so strong that the lenses look looked bottle bottoms if I don't have very high index glass. IIRC they are Zeiss.

SA, thanks but I don't have any trouble with "blackout" and after nearly 30 years birding with specs on I can't imagine trying to change to taking them off to use binoculars.

delia todd · Dec 3, 2015

SanAngelo said:
My solution was a bino marine cup or faceshield.

Hi SA.... just thinking.... would it be possible to have prescription lenses put into these cups?

SanAngelo · Dec 3, 2015

delia todd said:
Hi SA.... just thinking.... would it be possible to......?

I wouldn't think so. They're made of rubber but not as hard as an automobile tire. They fit over the eye ring after you remove the original eye cups that come with binos.

Marine cups or faceshield are found on "big eyes" used on the signal bridge of US Naval ships, a standard issue.

I recently changed out the shield, pictured above. They were on my glass for about 20 years. I keep the glass in an sling field bag. Pulling the binos out of the bag, on occasions, causes the shield to catch on the zipper unseating it in the process. After 20 years the ridge that seated the faceshield to the top of the eye ring stretched out a little. Thus the need to change out the shield.

I have no use for the old shield, I was going to throw it away but I couldn't bring myself to do it.

I'll give it to you if you want, you can see if it can be adapted to your use. Send me a PM with your addee, I'll mail it at no cost.

Andy Hurley · Dec 7, 2015

I wear varifocals, also varifocal sunglasses. I don't have the problems you have though. I need them because I can't read without them, including looking at images on the back of a camera and also for worsening long distance sight and swapping everytime I took a picture and then looked at the monitor was so annoying and frustrating. My lenses have the widest area for reading and are towards the larger end of the 'Dierdre' scale.

They factored in getting the changeover zone in the right position for me. I explaned to my glasses maker that I wanted to use binos, scope and camera. The camera for both for long range and for short range. The reading part is low enough so I don't have to hold my ebook/ camera display so high to read it, but high enough so I can read a computer screen without needing extra specs. All varifocals are custom built to suite the user's dioptrine requirements, so you can get them to adjust the depth of each area to your needs too. Mine are at the extreme range that they can manage.

Mike Crawley · Dec 7, 2015

thanks Andy

Andy Hurley · Dec 7, 2015

delia todd said:
Hi SA.... just thinking.... would it be possible to have prescription lenses put into these cups?

I don't see why not. You choose what frames you want and they make the lenses to fit them. There are glasses that go from the 'John Lennon' to the 'Dierdre Barlow' and everything in between.If you took them to your opticians you could ask if it's possible. Thinking back to my army days, the people who wore glasses had lenses made to fit inside their respirator, so it is physically possible if the will is there.

It might mean having to get a pair of the 'John Lennon' type that are the same size as the marine cup and swapping the lenses into them, or cutting the marine cups to fit the lenses of another shape.

delia todd · Dec 7, 2015

Andy Hurley said:
I don't see why not. You choose what frames you want and they make the lenses to fit them. There are glasses that go from the 'John Lennon' to the 'Dierdre Barlow' and everything in between.If you took them to your opticians you could ask if it's possible. Thinking back to my army days, the people who wore glasses had lenses made to fit inside their respirator, so it is physically possible if the will is there.

It might mean having to get a pair of the 'John Lennon' type that are the same size as the marine cup and swapping the lenses into them, or cutting the marine cups to fit the lenses of another shape.

Cheers Andy

I'm still seriously thinking about SanAngelo's kind offer. Trouble is, there'd need to be somewhere for the lenses to fit into without dropping out.

I used to have a lens made to fit my rifle sight, which worked well. But it had to be done through a specialist, from memory; though the optician arranged it. Too many years ago LOL.

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