Owlbarred
Well-known member
Instead of qualitative, uncontrolled assessments of camera lens glare (e.g. I see or never see veiling glare), they use sophisticated 6-axis robotic equipment and software to obtain objective, repeatable tests. Oh to have such a machine for objectively comparing veiling glare among binocular models and brands!!!!!
At the risk of beating a dead horse (guilty as charged), some on this site maintain that because they never see veiling glare in their binoculars, it must be due to inherent differences among an individual's personal characteristics. Veiling glare is somehow like an allergy that some experience and others don't. Well, perhaps.
As a qualitative aside, to date, 16 people in my birding club have now compared binoculars at the harrier roost (westward view with a dark tree line in the backround) at the same early evening period beginning 1 hour or less before time of official sunset. All have seen veiling glare through their own binoculars as well as others' binoculars on the same day, with as noted in an earlier post, marked observed differences among models and brands of binoculars. My beloved 8x32 Swaros -- absolutely wonderful elsewhere -- were among the worst offenders, with one comment "Egad, how can use these?" particularly telling.
Take home message? Long overdue for not giving binocular makers an excuse for not addressing the obvious VG shortcoming in certain alpha binoculars. Field of view and light transmission are provided for each binocular, why not a standardized VG test with a standardized parameter to better inform consumers a priori?
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