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Swarovski Habicht 8x30 W (built in 2009) (1 Viewer)

pechelman said:
Please forgive my seemingly bad form of quoting myself, but the OP requested via PM that I do provide an update to this. Figured it would help more people if I shared publicly.

In reading this forum, there have been a few solutions to the problem, and it is somewhat of a problem, that the eyecups are really just inadequately short for proper eye relief. Granted, this can be mitigated by using the "good technique" I mentioned above, which also helps hold most any binocular more stable, but it isnt always convenient as it doesnt provide a quick or easy way to consistently "mount" the optics to your face.

The solutions noted on the forum that I've taken note of are the following
  1. Use the GA eyecups
  2. Use the winged swaro aftermarket eyecups
  3. Use bicycle innertube bulked up around stock eyepiece

Each of these have their own benefits and annoyances.
GA eyecups require getting these or scavenging / swapping them from another pair of bins and also offer a less stylish option.

Winged eyecups from swaro are pretty pricey and require the use of their new rainguard (i think?) since they're likely too large for the stock one on the leather habicht. Also, I wasnt really wanting big wings like that as sometimes they've created a tendency to fog the ocular lens for me.

Lastly, the bike innertube is a great option on the cheap, but it looked sort of bulky and odd. Might also have trouble fitting the stock rain guard.

The road I ventured down was looking at microscope accessories since they too have binocular optics on some units. What I found was a nice set of soft rubber slip on eyecups for under 10$ shipped. As it turns out, they are very very slightly winged and are thin\flexible enough that it still allows use of the stock rain guard, though it isnt as free sitting as with the smaller stock eyecups.

Now it's simple enough to raise the bins directly to the eye sockets and they block pretty much all of the stray light and, for my face at least, fit perfectly in my eye sockets. Highly recommend these.

https://www.amazon.com/AmScope-EG-S...005ORIVQY/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

Hopefully it's ok I linked to amazon, if not, please let me know and I can remove the link to these and replace with the product name/description so people can find them.
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One question for anyone using these microscope eye cups. Does this decrease the FOV you are able to see? I would think it would if they are longer than the original eyecups.
 
black crow said:
One question for anyone using these microscope eye cups. Does this decrease the FOV you are able to see? I would think it would if they are longer than the original eyecups.
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Don't know how many others are using them, but here's my impression.

The stock habicht eyecups have a couple of problems as I see it.
They don't protrude far enough from the occular lens to provide enough eye relief AND they have a reduced inner diameter due to an inward flaring lip. The shortness of the eyecup also has a pronounced effect on stray light entering through the eyecups and causing some flare and reflections.

The only way that I could achieve a proper full FOV without blackouts was to use my index fingers and first knuckle to help space the binocular away from my face. When positioned correctly, there was just a touch of the eye cup touching the top of my upper eyelid.

This definitely made the habicht a 2 handed affair to get a good\stable picture.

So, having said all of this, the eyecups I just bought fix all of these problems for me. They provide both a longer eye relief so that it provides the full FOV when the eyecups are placed against my eye sockets AND they have a much larger interior diameter. The binoculars now can be mounted and used in a 1-handed operation. The very slight winged shape of them too also help block stray light without creating too much of a seal that they fog up any more than what I'm used to. The ONE downside I've found thus far is that the stock rainguard is a tight fit.

Also, since that original post, I made a couple of modifications to the eyecups in question.

First, I bought these habicht's from an eyeglass wearer who attempted to make these work by shaving down an extra set of stock eyecups to almost nothing. I quickly discovered these fit perfectly inside a little recess on the inside of the microscope eyecup AND that it was the perfect length ER if I lowered the new eyecup down on an internal flange. What I ended up doing was to hack off the bottom of the microscope eyecup, insert the flush cut stock eyecup, and now have what looks to be like a seamless near factory eyecup. I can take a picture later when I get home, but till then, here's a quick mspaint sketch of what I did.
 

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OK thanks. Now would you say that without your further modifications the microscope eye cups worked well enough on their own? I bought the eyecups just in case but it's unlikely I'd go further with it, at least for now.;)
 
This sounds a great personal modification to fit a classic bino to an individual.

For the benefit of others viewing this modification I would just remind them that the eye relief is the distance from the highest point of the top eyepiece lens to the exit pupil. The eyecup doesn't create eye relief but it must work with it to deliver the eye to the right place which is to the exit pupil where the full field of view can be seen. That might sound like arguing over details but it isn't really.

Lee
 
Troubador said:
This sounds a great personal modification to fit a classic bino to an individual.

For the benefit of others viewing this modification I would just remind them that the eye relief is the distance from the highest point of the top eyepiece lens to the exit pupil. The eyecup doesn't create eye relief but it must work with it to deliver the eye to the right place which is to the exit pupil where the full field of view can be seen. That might sound like arguing over details but it isn't really.

Lee
Click to expand...

Lee

Many thanks for that clarification on what I wrote. As you note, eye relief is an optical system quantity independent of anything external to the binocular lenses/optical path. My intent with the reference above to the eyecup creating the proper eye relief was that it helps locate user's face/eye at the approximate distance away from the occular lens (eye relief distance) so that one can get a full view. Hopefully that post above didnt create any confusion for anyone.

Best regards,
Phil
 
Well I'm confused easily. I'd like to see a photo if you take one. I'm not sure my question was answered as to the microscope eye cups working sufficiently well without alteration?

I'm not ordering today after all. I still need to get this all clear in my mind. I think I could build some workable objective shields on my own but altering eyecups might be something I'd not try to tackle.
 
black crow said:
Well I'm confused easily. I'd like to see a photo if you take one. I'm not sure my question was answered as to the microscope eye cups working sufficiently well without alteration?

I'm not ordering today after all. I still need to get this all clear in my mind. I think I could build some workable objective shields on my own but altering eyecups might be something I'd not try to tackle.
Click to expand...

Sorry I missed that one question. They work pretty much the same unaltered, however, because now the microscope eyecups are physically screwed down to the binoculars with their flange being clamped down by the thread\base of the stock/cutdown eyecup, they are more secure and dont move or slide around at all. So in that respect, they offer a more repeatable view. They also look better.

Took a couple of pics too.
 

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pechelman said:
Sorry I missed that one question. They work pretty much the same unaltered, however, because now the microscope eyecups are physically screwed down to the binoculars with their flange being clamped down by the thread\base of the stock/cutdown eyecup, they are more secure and dont move or slide around at all. So in that respect, they offer a more repeatable view. They also look better.

Took a couple of pics too.
Click to expand...

You do nice work. They look great!
 
bluespiderweb said:
Really? You don't see the smudges on the oculars that I see?
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Haha!
Tough crowd here :)

I suppose this is one additional benefit to the new eyecups. The stock ones are so short that the ocular lenses get a bunch of eyelash oil on them. Since it was a pretty common occurrence, I hadn't thought about cleaning them. But you inspired me to do that last night. Hopefully now with the longer eyecups this wont be a problem anymore!
 
No, not tough, just surprised from how it looked, that you could get a good view out of them. It could be the digital camera enhancing things like that-maybe it's not like that in person, to be fair.

Good job on the eyecups, and hope they work well for you.

By the way, how do you like the binocular?
 
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bluespiderweb said:
By the way, how do you like the binocular?
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I really enjoy them. At times I wish the view was a bit wider like EII's or 7x42 dialyts. Also sometimes wish they were a little more compact for fitting into a jacket pocket. But the view...sharp, neutral, bright, and 3d. Just fantastic. For me though, the addition of these eyecups really transformed the use of them. Before they were a little fiddly to get into perfect position with eyecups that were too short. I was beginning to think they might spend more time on the shelf as sort of nostalgic throwback for occasional use, but now I am able to quickly bring them up to my face, like any other modern binocular, and everything snaps into focus with no blackouts.

Samolot said:
Anyone know the diameter of the eyecups? I am debating about getting a pair of the Habichts eventually. I hear the eyecups let a lot of stray light in and was interested in getting some eye shields from Field Optics (http://www.fieldopticsresearch.com/...ye-Cups/p/EyeShield-Compact-Size-sku-B002.htm). Are they at least 1.10 inches wide?
Click to expand...

The stock eyecups are exactly 35mm outer diameter.
While they do let in a bunch of stray light, that's really not of any consequence, because one must use "proper technique" by using their index fingers and knuckle to mount them to the face since the stock eyecups will likely be too short. Doing so will eliminate all stray light but requires some concentration, good hand placement, and a bit of practice. It reminded me a bit of learning to mount a shotgun if you've ever done that.
 
pechelman said:
I really enjoy them. At times I wish the view was a bit wider like EII's or 7x42 dialyts. Also sometimes wish they were a little more compact for fitting into a jacket pocket. But the view...sharp, neutral, bright, and 3d. Just fantastic. For me though, the addition of these eyecups really transformed the use of them. Before they were a little fiddly to get into perfect position with eyecups that were too short. I was beginning to think they might spend more time on the shelf as sort of nostalgic throwback for occasional use, but now I am able to quickly bring them up to my face, like any other modern binocular, and everything snaps into focus with no blackouts.
Click to expand...

That's why we have other makes and models to choose from, and be happy to have the choices. One bin cannot do it all, though some would rather adapt than buy into the market. I get that too, but there are so many good bins out there to choose from, and we really should support the industry we love if we can. ; )

But your statement about using them or not-that's what really counts! Now you have something you enjoy using, and it will get used instead of being stored away. Your eyecup experiment might very well help others to do the same, so good job on that! And it will keep those lenses cleaner too without all the eyelash oil. That's probably a good thing too! ; )
 
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