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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

condensation confirmation? (1 Viewer)

dwatsonbirder

dwatsonbirder

Well-known member
I wonder if somebody would be kind enough to confirm my fears based on the below images please?
I noticed a slight haze the other day when using my binoculars in warm weather and sun (its been a while!) after 6hrs use in heavy rain the previous day, and when I looked into the objective lens a small circle of what looks like mist was present.

I've had these bins for a number of years and used them in the tropics for months at a time, but never had an issue - is it likely the seal has gone? Is this something that can be rectified? I'm a bit concerned as I'm off to Sri Lanka in a couple of months...

Thanks in advance
 

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Should be a straightforward job if you return them to Swarovski asap for resealing and purging. Send them to the Service Department at Swarovski Optik. UK with a covering letter. Hopefully you've got the warranty documentation to hand.
 
As PYRTLE says, you should send them to Swarovski as soon as possible. It's vital that the interior is dried out before the moisture has a chance to cause internal corrosion or degradation of any cement between lenses. Swaro's customer service is absolutely top-notch, so you'll be in good hands - your bins will come back like new.
 
MandoBear said:
As PYRTLE says, you should send them to Swarovski as soon as possible. It's vital that the interior is dried out before the moisture has a chance to cause internal corrosion or degradation of any cement between lenses. Swaro's customer service is absolutely top-notch, so you'll be in good hands - your bins will come back like new.
Click to expand...

Both lenses look air-spaced to me. :cat:

Bill
 
For those not in the know, what does " air-spaced" mean in layman's terms? And, do you also think they should go back for a qualified technician engineer to fix the problem? Thank you Bill.
P
 
PYRTLE said:
For those not in the know, what does " air-spaced" mean in layman's terms? And, do you also think they should go back for a qualified technician engineer to fix the problem? Thank you Bill.
P
Click to expand...

Hi, Pyrtle:

Air-spaced lenses are not cemented together; they are ... air-spaced, giving the designer more “degrees of freedom.” Cemented objectives can be subjected to condensation, but only in pockets. Notice how uniform those condensation patches are? That couldn’t happen if Canada (NOT "Canadian") Balsam or Norland 62 was holding them together.

Hope this helps. Swarovski is great for making things right. :cat:

Bill
 
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Thanks for the replies everybody, I've contacted Swarovski and they are happy to take a look at them. Apparently they are covered under a 30 year warranty, so I'm good until 2032 (may be able to afford the new SLC's by then!). Fingers crossed they can sort them.

Hopefully my partner won't mind me using her Nikon's for the remainder of the autumn!

Cheers
 
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Good news! Pack them off and let Swarovski get them sorted.

Bill, the objectives may well be air-spaced, but I would be pretty confident that there will be some cemented lenses in the oculars if nowhere else.
 
I'm guessing these are either the SLC 7x42B or 10x42WB. I may have linked this https://www.juelich-bonn.com/jForum/file.php?9,file=769,filename=image.jpg before but here is a cross-section showing a weak converging (+ve.) lens followed by a focussing cemented doublet objective, in which the air space increases towards infinity focus.
The majority of recent designs use a diverging (-ve.) focussing lens, which is moved forward towards the objective for infinity focus.
An exception is the Zeiss SF, which is a little like a reversed old SLC but with a fixed cemented doublet objective and weak coverging focussing lens.

John
 
MandoBear said:
Good news! Pack them off and let Swarovski get them sorted.

Bill, the objectives may well be air-spaced, but I would be pretty confident that there will be some cemented lenses in the oculars if nowhere else.
Click to expand...

Hi, MandoBear;

I insinuated nothing different. I have been inside thousands of instruments and have seen NONE without cemented elements. :cat:

Bill
 
Hi Bill,
I take your point, and I hadn't meant to suggest that a man of your background and long experience of optics wasn't aware of this. My concern was more about the fact that those pesky water molecules can get pretty much anywhere in a pair of binoculars and wreak their damage - perhaps unseen, until it's too late. Of which, of course, you will also be all too aware! ;)
 
MandoBear said:
Hi Bill,
I take your point, and I hadn't meant to suggest that a man of your background and long experience of optics wasn't aware of this. My concern was more about the fact that those pesky water molecules can get pretty much anywhere in a pair of binoculars and wreak their damage - perhaps unseen, until it's too late. Of which, of course, you will also be all too aware! ;)
Click to expand...

But let’s not forget that pinnacle of science ... MAGIC! I have repaired and collimated binoculars from the Middle-Eastern Sandbox in which the internal lenses and prisms were COATED with particles of dust so fine it could get in where water couldn’t—or, at least, didn’t. :cat:

Bill
 
WJC said:
But let’s not forget that pinnacle of science ... MAGIC! I have repaired and collimated binoculars from the Middle-Eastern Sandbox in which the internal lenses and prisms were COATED with particles of dust so fine it could get in where water couldn’t—or, at least, didn’t. :cat:

Bill
Click to expand...

Indeed... and the little black Thunderflies (we also call them Thrips in the UK) just seem able to get into anything...
 
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