BirdForum is the net's largest birding community dedicated to wild birds and birding, and is absolutely FREE!

Register for an account to take part in lively discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="WJC" data-source="post: 3417745" data-attributes="member: 25191">In true, 3-axis collimation, the hinge must be taken into consideration, as in G. Dallas Hanna’s view (1953), the hinge is the heart of a binocular. Even so, this vital piece of the process is rarely mentioned in popular literature or on the web. Instead, both sources are filled with the adventures of inexperienced technicians sharing what they have read, or importers trying to offer knowledge as a service.THE IMPORTANT IFs IF one optical axis is parallel to the axle, and IF screws are only adjusted on the offending side, technicians will find elementary techniques involving rooflines, power poles, or anything else—given the object is distant enough—adequate to restore the binocular to its original collimated condition without the need of more sophisticated techniques or test equipment.IF one must TEST his binocular to SEE if it’s collimated, the test is unnecessary. We all have varying degrees of spatial accommodation. IF the error in parallelism falls within that range, he might say his bino is “collimated.” And, although it is NOT "collimated," it may be aligned just fine... for him!I have performed a conditional alignment on one or two of my binos, when nothing more was needed, and for customers who didn’t want to spend the extra money to get the “Full Meal Deal.”It comes down to whether one MUST have a full collimation job to see better, or his spatial accommodation will do the trick.Clinical or practical? The user must decide. However, following the willy-nilly instructions plastered all over the Internet, the user is not giving that option and although he may perform a fine conditional alignment, he may also be taking the instrument farther away from clinical, 3-axis collimation in the process. In the worst case scenario, it’s like giving a child a hammer, and a handful of bullets, and telling him to do play in the street.There are various studies on the maximum allowable collimation error—and, of course, they’re all different. As soon as I find the one I like best, I will post it on this memo.  :cat:Bill</blockquote>

Verification