Eye pain from viewing through binoculars? (1 Viewer)

[akadius]

Hey everyone, I recently received a pair of Swarovski nl pure 8x42s. I've been spending some time each evening viewing through them to test them out.

I've noticed that my right eye feels discomfort or a dull pain in what feels like roughly the whole eyeball after viewing for a while. It can linger for some hours but tends to go away by the time I go to sleep and it seems to be gone for most of the following day. The pain is not severe but strong enough that at times in constantly aware of it. I've noticed that going out in the sunlight seems to cause the pain to resurface but not always.

I've thought maybe I don't have the diopter settings worked out quite right or maybe it is from exposure too too much light through the binoculars. Does anyone have any experience with this or any idea what could be causing it?

I have experienced this discomfort/pain from looking through binoculars before. I thought that was due to them being out of collimation. The view through the NLs appear very crisp and singular.

Thank you in advance for any insight!

 

[Richard D]

Other than double checking the diopter setting the next step is probably an eye test with an optician. It might be a slight astigmatism which causes eye strain with binoculars, but seeking professional advice is key.

 

[Boogieshrew]

I agree, go to an eye doc.

 

[Bentley03]

+1 recommending eye test.

I recently purchased a pair of two year old EL 8x32's which had literally just been returned to the dealer from Swarovski, who had realigned and serviced them, so I'm confident collimation is correct. I started alternating between those and my 10x32 NL Pure's on my daily walks, and found I was getting quite serious eye strain on the days I used the NL Pure's. I am unsure why I hadn't been affected before alternating between them and the EL's, I'm very confident nothing had happened to put them out of alignment from when I received them new. NL Pure's were returned, and dealer agreed they were slightly out of alignment. I'm wondering now if I ever would have realised, as my brain/eyes were clearly comfortable with the collimation of the NL Pure's, in isolation.

But, now I'm getting a little eye strain with my EL's too. I've determined that my glasses prescription has changed since my last eye test 18 months ago, have set the diopter to compensate for the change, and will find out today if I can again spend a day glassing without strain.

The eyes can work in mysterious ways, sometimes.

I have an eye test now booked for a couple of weeks time.

Hope you get this issue easily sorted! 🙂

 

[Ratal]

hahahahaha save money - check collimation - are both barrels lined up for a good image. Check that first.

Check first. Bino is propably at fault. It happens.

greatestbinoculars: how to check the collimation of your binocular

greatestbinoculars: how to check the collimation of your binocular

 

[Binastro]

It could be over sensitivity to light.
This may be from prescription medication or natural causes.

Migraine.

Possible small cataract.

The need for prism prescription after having an eye test.

I have had to stop viewing with a specialist PST telescope because of over sensitivity to light.

It is best to discuss this with a good optician, who can give you enough time for a thorough eye test.

Regards,
B.

 

[Ratal]

Seriously - check the bino first

Collimation Instructionsfor LW Series and Mariner Series - Oberwerk

A binocular is actually a pair of refractor telescopes joined together. The alignment between these two telescopes is called "collimation". Proper collimation is critical to a binocular's performance, and the user's viewing enjoyment. The brain can do a remarkable job of compensating for poor...

oberwerk.com

 

[Bentley03]

Seriously - check the bino first

I do agree, having read the thread starter's post again, I see only an assumption that collimation is true, not a certainty. I thought, wrongly, that it had been checked.Yes, get instrument checked properly first, Ratal is correct.

 

[iveljay]

Had something vaguely similar with a pair of bins that were marginal on ipd for me, I was subconciously centering on my strongest eye so the other complained. In theory they should have been OK from the specifications.

My daughters astigmatism meant that she could cope with some of my binoculars but not others, even with prescription glasses on. With her it ended up with running through about 10 pairs to find one that she felt comfortable with. It seemed to be very eyepiece dependent with her choice being an older model against the current version that had 'improved' eyepieces.

At the end of the day poor collimation (even after being maintained) has been the most common problem I have encountered.

 

[Sequoia Kid]

I would also think a slight misalignment in collimation as well.

I will say that the first week or so with my NL's I had some eyestrain, not pain but just a little discomfort. I thought the diopter was good as things looked great through the binos, but one day I started in on the diopter again and a very, very, slight move made things click into a really stunning view that has been comfortable ever since.

I might suggest working the diopter a bit more at varying distances and varying light conditions, that is what helped me.

I hope you get it sorted.

 

[[email protected]]

Hey everyone, I recently received a pair of Swarovski nl pure 8x42s. I've been spending some time each evening viewing through them to test them out.

I've noticed that my right eye feels discomfort or a dull pain in what feels like roughly the whole eyeball after viewing for a while. It can linger for some hours but tends to go away by the time I go to sleep and it seems to be gone for most of the following day. The pain is not severe but strong enough that at times in constantly aware of it. I've noticed that going out in the sunlight seems to cause the pain to resurface but not always.

I've thought maybe I don't have the diopter settings worked out quite right or maybe it is from exposure too too much light through the binoculars. Does anyone have any experience with this or any idea what could be causing it?

I have experienced this discomfort/pain from looking through binoculars before. I thought that was due to them being out of collimation. The view through the NLs appear very crisp and singular.

Thank you in advance for any insight!

If you just notice it when you use the binoculars, I would get the binoculars checked out. Do you have another pair of binoculars to try and see if you also get eye pain with them? Try to isolate the problem.

 

[akadius]

Other than double checking the diopter setting the next step is probably an eye test with an optician. It might be a slight astigmatism which causes eye strain with binoculars, but seeking professional advice is key.

I think I'll take your advice and get my eyes checked out. It has been a few years. Do you happen to know what the solution is if you have an astigmatism that causes strain with binoculars?

 

[akadius]

+1 recommending eye test.

I recently purchased a pair of two year old EL 8x32's which had literally just been returned to the dealer from Swarovski, who had realigned and serviced them, so I'm confident collimation is correct. I started alternating between those and my 10x32 NL Pure's on my daily walks, and found I was getting quite serious eye strain on the days I used the NL Pure's. I am unsure why I hadn't been affected before alternating between them and the EL's, I'm very confident nothing had happened to put them out of alignment from when I received them new. NL Pure's were returned, and dealer agreed they were slightly out of alignment. I'm wondering now if I ever would have realised, as my brain/eyes were clearly comfortable with the collimation of the NL Pure's, in isolation.

But, now I'm getting a little eye strain with my EL's too. I've determined that my glasses prescription has changed since my last eye test 18 months ago, have set the diopter to compensate for the change, and will find out today if I can again spend a day glassing without strain.

The eyes can work in mysterious ways, sometimes.

I have an eye test now booked for a couple of weeks time.

Hope you get this issue easily sorted! 🙂

That's interesting to hear. I'm going to set up an appointment and also look into how to check the collimation. By appearance through viewing they appear to have a clear image. And thank you!

 

[Binocollector]

You'll probably need a bino with enough eye relief to use with glasses.
I get the same problem when working on the computer too long or staring at the cell phone. But in my case I think it's from not blinking enough and the eyes getting dry. But I need new glasses too. Never got eyestrain from looking through my binos so far.

 

[akadius]

Seriously - check the bino first

Collimation Instructionsfor LW Series and Mariner Series - Oberwerk

A binocular is actually a pair of refractor telescopes joined together. The alignment between these two telescopes is called "collimation". Proper collimation is critical to a binocular's performance, and the user's viewing enjoyment. The brain can do a remarkable job of compensating for poor...

oberwerk.com

Any advice or resource for a way to reliably check the collimation at home? They are brand new but I guess it happens through shipping most likely?

 

[akadius]

I would also think a slight misalignment in collimation as well.

I will say that the first week or so with my NL's I had some eyestrain, not pain but just a little discomfort. I thought the diopter was good as things looked great through the binos, but one day I started in on the diopter again and a very, very, slight move made things click into a really stunning view that has been comfortable ever since.

I might suggest working the diopter a bit more at varying distances and varying light conditions, that is what helped me.

I hope you get it sorted.

Thank you for your advice. I hope that it is something as easy as a diopter adjustment and I will try that again today. I'd rather not have to send them in as that could take several weeks.

 

[akadius]

You'll probably need a bino with enough eye relief to use with glasses.
I get the same problem when working on the computer too long or staring at the cell phone. But in my case I think it's from not blinking enough and the eyes getting dry. But I need new glasses too. Never got eyestrain from looking through my binos so far.

Thank you for your thoughts. That could be the issue. I have the 8x42 nl pure and I think they have enough eye relief to use with glasses but I've never looked into it or really thought about using glasses with binoculars.

 

[akadius]

If you just notice it when you use the binoculars, I would get the binoculars checked out. Do you have another pair of binoculars to try and see if you also get eye pain with them? Try to isolate the problem.

I have a pair of astronomy binoculars I think I've noticed since strain on my right eye with. It had been a while, though. And I think it's a bit worse this time around. And that's a good idea to attempt to isolate the problem.

 

[Richard D]

I think I'll take your advice and get my eyes checked out. It has been a few years. Do you happen to know what the solution is if you have an astigmatism that causes strain with binoculars?

Glasses/contacts or lazer surgery are the normal treatments. Obviously try other binoculars, but if you get the same issues with multiple pairs it might be astigmatism. Often with a slight astigmatism it only causes eye strain when you've been staring a lot - it's common for heavy computer users for example.

 

[Sequoia Kid]

Thank you for your advice. I hope that it is something as easy as a diopter adjustment and I will try that again today. I'd rather not have to send them in as that could take several weeks.

For sure. What makes it sound like a diopter thing to me is that it is one of your eyes and not the other. That makes it feel like it is an alignment either of the focus or the collimation. I'm no expert though.