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Removing Canon eye cups? (1 Viewer)

18000bph

Well-known member
Any experience or pointers for removing the rubber eyecups from the eyepieces on the Canon IS binoculars? Is it possible to remove them non-destructively?

Mine are the newer 14x32. My goal is to completely remove the eye cups and put a thin ring of something like felt or moleskin around the end of the eyepieces. The stock eyecups just claim too much precious eye relief even when folded down.

How can these binoculars be so spectacular yet have such terrible eye cups?
 
Any experience or pointers for removing the rubber eyecups from the eyepieces on the Canon IS binoculars? Is it possible to remove them non-destructively?

Mine are the newer 14x32. My goal is to completely remove the eye cups and put a thin ring of something like felt or moleskin around the end of the eyepieces. The stock eyecups just claim too much precious eye relief even when folded down.

How can these binoculars be so spectacular yet have such terrible eye cups?



If the rubber eye cups are like the ones on my 12x36 IS III the diopter is integrated with the right eye cup and the top portion of the eye cup turns when setting it.

I wouldn't try removing them on mine.

FWIW I don't have any problem using mine. I use it with the eye cups unfolded.

Bob
 
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Any experience or pointers for removing the rubber eyecups from the eyepieces on the Canon IS binoculars? Is it possible to remove them non-destructively?

Mine are the newer 14x32. My goal is to completely remove the eye cups and put a thin ring of something like felt or moleskin around the end of the eyepieces. The stock eyecups just claim too much precious eye relief even when folded down.

How can these binoculars be so spectacular yet have such terrible eye cups?

I have had a look at mine and pulled the bottom edge of the eye cup away from the barrel and to that stage they don't appear to be glued. They appear to be locating by blocks that fit into slots. Don't forget if you want to try and remove them a bit further the right eye cup has the dioptre marking on it so it might have addition location.

If you unfold the eye cup and pull it up with one hand, this lifts the bottom of the eye cup slightly. If you then push up on the eye cup up with your thumb you can at least see how it is located and decide then whether to go any further.

The 12x36 lll that Bob mentions has a totally different eye cup.

Do you wear glasses because I think if you do their fit on your facial features are perhaps critical. I have thin framed glasses with close fitting lenses and don't have any trouble with the eye cups turned down. In fact I can use the same setting with or without glasses. With glasses the eye cups rest on the lenses and without, the eyecups rest on my brows.

Please be careful if you do try to replace the eye cups as the highest point on the eyepiece lens is only about 1 or 2mm below the level of the folded eye cup and would become very vulnerable to damage if you try to reduce it below that.

Hope this helps.

Stan
 
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As Stan said the eyecups of the 12x36 are of a completely different design, and in fact they are quite comfortable. I have removed them from several examples, not for replacing them but because I wanted to increase the dioptric compensation range, and they are very easy to remove.
I do not have any experience with the new Canon models but their eyecups appear to be quite similar, possibly identical, to those of the older 50mm models---and the eyecups of the 50mm models are very hard to remove.
 
I have the 8x25 IS and I have removed the rubber eye cups completely, they are glued on from the factory but not too difficult to remove without damaging the eye cups or the eyepiece eye lens. I gained an extra couple of mm by removing the eye cups and it was VERY worth it for the extra FOV that I got with my glasses on. I agree that the eye cup is not great and should have been a twist up / down version instead and have 20mm Eye Relief like Pentax and TeleVue (e.g. Delos) have, for spectacle wearers such as myself.

Add to this TeleVue Dioptrx compatability (easy enough, simply add a flange like on TeleVue eyepieces) and a filter thread on the front for Nebulae filters (I am also an Astronomer as well as bird watcher) then that would be wonderful.

I still see a good amount of the FOV with my glasses on, just not all of it that I would like and as a result I loose the "immersion factor" that extra Eye Relief would bring. BTW the 8x25 IS are awesome for bird (and Aeroplane!) watching, I like that they focus pretty close and the image quality is very good indeed and no double images (collimation issues).

Regards,
AG
 
I don't know if there is a difference between the eyecups on the 14x32 and 12x32, but it looks like there is very little to gain, when folded down, by removing the rubber eyecups on my 12x32. Adding felt might take up a fair amount of the improvement.

If you're close to seeing the entire field it might work, but if you need several mm of improvement I'm skeptical.

It would be nice if rubber binocular eyecups were easier to remove and replace.

Clear skies, Alan
 
I don't know if there is a difference between the eyecups on the 14x32 and 12x32, but it looks like there is very little to gain, when folded down, by removing the rubber eyecups on my 12x32. Adding felt might take up a fair amount of the improvement.

If you're close to seeing the entire field it might work, but if you need several mm of improvement I'm skeptical.

For me, the problem isn't the thickness of rubber, but the outside diameter of the folded down cup interfering with the bridge of my nose.
 
For me, the problem isn't the thickness of rubber, but the outside diameter of the folded down cup interfering with the bridge of my nose.

Thanks for the clarification. It is pretty wide and higher at the outer rim, so I can see that.

Clear skies, Alan
 
Hi,

Just cut off the rims with small curved nail scissors as I did with my 15x50’s that have very similar eye cups.

Doug.....
 

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I pulled off mine on the 1550is and displaced them with a new pair I bought for $1.
Apply some white glue, now they are perfect.
 
Seems crazy for a Bino that costs over £1000 ... in the case of the 14x32 ... or £899 for the 15x50. These eyecups are rubbish !
 
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