Hi everyone,
I've just joined the forum so this is my first post so hope I'm in the right section.
I have just bought myself a pair of Monarch 7 8x30 binoculars to use for a mix of viewing shorebirds, garden birds and views when we go walking. The only previous binoculars I've owned were a 30 year old pair of Ranger County which I don't think were a particularly quality binocular. Having tried the Monarchs briefly twice now I'm finding that I'm getting eye strain/headache above the eye after only around 5 minutes of use. I find myself having to concentrate quite hard adjusting them to get a sharp focus so don't know if this is causing the eye strain. I also find when looking through them I sort of strain a bit to see things as large as I want (a bit like wearing a pair of reading glasses that aren't quite strong enough), am I perhaps expecting to much of them? I also wonder whether I could do with deeper eye cups as I find I get tempted to hold them very slightly away from my eyes. To give a bit of background I'm in my mid 50's and just wear +2 reading glasses. Also I'm noticing there is a bit more shake that I had expected but can't be sure whether that's down to my age/technique or make of binoculars.
Is the problem that they are 8x30? I'd gone for these as they are lightweight which is an important factor for me. i don't know whether another/higher quality make would make a difference or whether it's a lens size issue and I would be better with a 10x30 for more magnification? This may be a silly question but is there a difference between makes in that some are more prone to being harder to hold steady than others? I have discarded the idea of an 8x42 due to the extra weight.
I would really appreciate any advice as to whether it might be down to me, the make/model I've bought or size I've gone for and whether anyone has experience of this problem with this make/size. I bought them from a branch of the London Camera Exchange so I'm not sure whether they would allow me to have a refund if I can't get around the problem, they have only been used very carefully for around 2x10 minutes. I would also appreciate anyone's suggestions of makes/models I could try. Looking on the LCE website there doesn't seem to be that many makes that are lightweight and good quality as I appreciate good optics. The ones that stood out for lightness were the Monarch 7 HG although wondered if I could run into same problem and the Swarovski's which I can see are considerably more expensive (gulp!) but although I'm not being flippant about the cost, I do intend to keep them for a very long time which in my mind helps to swallow (to a certain degree) the cost of more expensive ones.
I'm really sorry this has turned into a bit of a long ramble but I just wanted to give you as much information as I can. Many thanks Sue
I've just joined the forum so this is my first post so hope I'm in the right section.
I have just bought myself a pair of Monarch 7 8x30 binoculars to use for a mix of viewing shorebirds, garden birds and views when we go walking. The only previous binoculars I've owned were a 30 year old pair of Ranger County which I don't think were a particularly quality binocular. Having tried the Monarchs briefly twice now I'm finding that I'm getting eye strain/headache above the eye after only around 5 minutes of use. I find myself having to concentrate quite hard adjusting them to get a sharp focus so don't know if this is causing the eye strain. I also find when looking through them I sort of strain a bit to see things as large as I want (a bit like wearing a pair of reading glasses that aren't quite strong enough), am I perhaps expecting to much of them? I also wonder whether I could do with deeper eye cups as I find I get tempted to hold them very slightly away from my eyes. To give a bit of background I'm in my mid 50's and just wear +2 reading glasses. Also I'm noticing there is a bit more shake that I had expected but can't be sure whether that's down to my age/technique or make of binoculars.
Is the problem that they are 8x30? I'd gone for these as they are lightweight which is an important factor for me. i don't know whether another/higher quality make would make a difference or whether it's a lens size issue and I would be better with a 10x30 for more magnification? This may be a silly question but is there a difference between makes in that some are more prone to being harder to hold steady than others? I have discarded the idea of an 8x42 due to the extra weight.
I would really appreciate any advice as to whether it might be down to me, the make/model I've bought or size I've gone for and whether anyone has experience of this problem with this make/size. I bought them from a branch of the London Camera Exchange so I'm not sure whether they would allow me to have a refund if I can't get around the problem, they have only been used very carefully for around 2x10 minutes. I would also appreciate anyone's suggestions of makes/models I could try. Looking on the LCE website there doesn't seem to be that many makes that are lightweight and good quality as I appreciate good optics. The ones that stood out for lightness were the Monarch 7 HG although wondered if I could run into same problem and the Swarovski's which I can see are considerably more expensive (gulp!) but although I'm not being flippant about the cost, I do intend to keep them for a very long time which in my mind helps to swallow (to a certain degree) the cost of more expensive ones.
I'm really sorry this has turned into a bit of a long ramble but I just wanted to give you as much information as I can. Many thanks Sue