I once had a pair of BD XD 8x33s. They were very nice but on the very outside of the view there was a bright halo no matter what I did. Recently I read a review of the Genesis model and the reviewer mentioned the same thing. He said that he retracted the eyepieces one position and then and only then then did the halo disappear. Has anyone else had the same experience with their Kowa? Any idea why the halo occurs? Perhaps they don’t blacken the edges of their lenses? Just curious. I had forgotten about this until I read the Genesis review.
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Halo Effect? (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Upland
- Start date
Stephen Mark
Well-known member
I have three different Genesis models and have not seen anything like that.
Steve
Steve
I have both the 8x33 Genesis and the BD 8x32 and can't say that I have ever experienced the halo effect with either. The 8x33 Genesis is an excellent binocular and the BD 8x32 is great value for it's price. In my opinion Kowa's bins are underrated, and it's a pity that they are not more popular.
Same here, none of my three Genesis models exhibits anything like that.
Glad to here none of you have had that problem. I just thought it was interesting that I did and another reviewer had the same experience. Perhaps we both had pairs that escaped QC. By all accounts Kowa makes excellent binos and I really liked mine except for the halo. I’m sure I would still have them if not for that.
black crow
Well-known member
I believe you.
I get that so bad on my Zen 7x36s that it's unpleasantly distrating on an otherwise great binocular. Someone at Zen Ray I called about this issue told me it had something to do with the wide FOV but I doubt that now. I've seen this also slightly on the Monarch 7 8x30 which has a wide fov but not huge. I just bought a pair of Genesis 8x33 and Had I gotten halo, I would never have bought them. It's too distracting. You might have a bad sample. My Zen I got a great deal on as a demo so who knows what they may have sent me? I'd really like to know because I see this in some binoculars. I was surprised to see it in the Monarch 8x30. I've also seen it very slightly in a Celestron Trailseeker 8x32 with a normal fov.
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I get the same thing with the Russian 10x40.
The 12x45 is great for me, so is the 8x30.
All have wide field eyepieces.
The 10x40 was made later and should be a 10x37.5.
In this case by poor design it was expanded to 10x40, probably with fast objectives
For me the 10x40 has a ring of light in each tube.
The point is that some quite good reviewers said the 10x40 is the best one.
I am stunned by their not noticing these rings of light.
Maybe for them it didn't happen. It is possible that they wore glasses and with the small eye relief they did not see the field stops and get the full field.
Personal criticism regarding an observation and an observer is just not on.
It is likely that the observation regarding the 8x33s mentioned is because of the eye position for this observer along the optical axis and the clear space between the eyecup and eye socket.
However, it could be because of the binocular design.
I get bad black outs with the Nikon SE 8x32 and SE 10x42, others don't. In my case it is because of the critical eye position along the axis and eyecups that are probably too short for me.
The 12x45 is great for me, so is the 8x30.
All have wide field eyepieces.
The 10x40 was made later and should be a 10x37.5.
In this case by poor design it was expanded to 10x40, probably with fast objectives
For me the 10x40 has a ring of light in each tube.
The point is that some quite good reviewers said the 10x40 is the best one.
I am stunned by their not noticing these rings of light.
Maybe for them it didn't happen. It is possible that they wore glasses and with the small eye relief they did not see the field stops and get the full field.
Personal criticism regarding an observation and an observer is just not on.
It is likely that the observation regarding the 8x33s mentioned is because of the eye position for this observer along the optical axis and the clear space between the eyecup and eye socket.
However, it could be because of the binocular design.
I get bad black outs with the Nikon SE 8x32 and SE 10x42, others don't. In my case it is because of the critical eye position along the axis and eyecups that are probably too short for me.
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Yes it seems like it probably was an eye placement/fit issue and not a defect. This makes a lot of sense given that the reviewer I mentioned said he got rid of the halo by adjusting the eyecups down. I like to put my binos right up to my face and have them fit without moving then around much. Unfortunately the Kowas didn’t work that way for me but from the reply’s I’m the exception. As I said previously I was impressed with my pair outside of the sighting issue. I wish there was a dealer in our area so I could play around with them more.
black crow
Well-known member
jgrader I'm going to test that out on my Zens with that audacious mirrored ring. I have a pair of those winged eyeguards on my 25x100s that I'll put on the Zens.
OK just tested this. Didn't do it but I made a discovery. I can't believe how slow in the uptake I am at times. When I press my eyes into the eyecups to what feels good and right to me I get the ring of light. So I slowly backed my eyes out and bingo! That huge ring of light mostly disappeared. At least to the point where I didn't distract me. It's going to take some training to use them this way but they are totally usable now and they are a pretty nice bino with a 477 ft fov. I owe this all to you my friend. Maybe someone mentioned it in the past and I was too dumb to pick up on it. With me anything is possible but I'm going to be using these again even though they are no longer my best pairs like they were at one time.
OK just tested this. Didn't do it but I made a discovery. I can't believe how slow in the uptake I am at times. When I press my eyes into the eyecups to what feels good and right to me I get the ring of light. So I slowly backed my eyes out and bingo! That huge ring of light mostly disappeared. At least to the point where I didn't distract me. It's going to take some training to use them this way but they are totally usable now and they are a pretty nice bino with a 477 ft fov. I owe this all to you my friend. Maybe someone mentioned it in the past and I was too dumb to pick up on it. With me anything is possible but I'm going to be using these again even though they are no longer my best pairs like they were at one time.
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BC if the ZR eyecups remove for cleaning you could slip a rubber o-ring under them so they don't screw down so far. This will 'extend' the eyecup rather than you backing off your eyes so should give the same effect and allow you to use your more natural placement of the eyecups jammed firmly into your eye sockets.
Lee
black crow
Well-known member
What a cool idea. Thank you. They are on loan for a few days but when they get back I'll try that. If that works I owe you. I've struggled with that issue for years. I really do like those binoculars even though I prefer 8X. Outside of that issue I have no complaints. They were a great value IMO.
Take care to check that they do unscrew for cleaning because not all eyecups do this. If you can't find this out from the instruction booklet or from the internet don't use excessive force to try to unscrew them just a moderate twist should discover whether they are fixed in place or not.
Good luck
Lee
