Using the NL Forehead Rest to eliminate blackouts: 10x32 NL (1 Viewer)

[Owlbarred]

Note I do not wear glasses -- the following may not work for those who do.

Despite very carefully making many slight eyecup adjustments, I had vexing blackout problems while scanning large open areas with a recently acquired 10x32 NL.

I returned home disillusioned and a bit distraught. That evening I removed the Forehead Rest (FR) from my 8x42 NL and installed it on my 10x32s, turned the eyecups inward to position 0, using the FR solely for support (the eyecups do not touch my face). The result the next day was NIRVANA!!!

The next 3 days afield confirmed a steady view with this arrangement without blackouts. I absolutely love the small size, light weight and wonderful 'feel' of the 10x32 NL. The extra 2x (after 20+ years with 8x) is a nice bonus when birding in open areas. Some veiling glare still occurs when facing west in late afternoon, but once-vexing glare spikes have been virtually eliminated using the method above.

I still prefer 8x for general birding, but the 10x is what I'll carry when birding in open areas.

 

[Jason Bugay Reyes]

Note I do not wear glasses -- the following may not work for those who do.

Despite very carefully adjusting eyecups, I had vexing blackout problems while scanning large open areas with a recently acquired 10x32 NL.

I returned home disillusioned and a bit distraught. That evening I removed the Forehead Rest (FR) from my 8x42 NL and installed it on my 10x32s, turned the eyecups inward to position 0, using the FR solely for support (the eyecups do not touch my face). The result was NIRVANA!!!

The next 3 days afield confirmed a wonderfully steady view with this arrangement without blackouts. I absolutely love the small size, light weight and wonderful 'feel' of the 10x32 NL. The extra 2x (after 20+ years with 8x) is a nice bonus when birding in open areas. Some veiling glare still occurs when facing west in late afternoon, but once-vexing glare spikes have been virtually eliminated using the method above.

I still prefer 8x for general birding, but the 10x is what I'll carry when birding in open areas.

Does it also help stabilised the bino better for you?

 

[Owlbarred]

Does it also help stabilised the bino better for you?

I posted the following last year re: 8x42 NL with and w/o a forehead rest (FR) and suspect the same would be true for the 10x32 NL. See post #1 below. Stability differences with and w/o a FR were minor, but using the FR had an additional unforeseen advantage (see the last sentence in the referenced post).

Viewing the moon to gauge stability with/without the Forehead Rest when using 8x42 NL's.

 

[Owlbarred]

In post #1, I noted that setting the eyecups set to 0 (fully inward) when using the NL's Forehead Rest (FR) eliminated blackouts.

Today, while afield scanning large open areas, I realized that when using the FR, even with the eyecups set outward to click position 1, (eyecups still not touching the face) blackouts were eliminated. Both 0&1 eyecup positions provided a steady view with only the headrest as a means of support.

Significance: The justifiable fuss about making micrometer-scale eyecup adjustments to eliminate vexing 10x32 NL blackouts may not work for some (did not work for me) and is unnecessary when using the FR as described above and in post #1. Instead, the method above allowed for a comparatively large range of eyecup adjustment (positions 0-1) that banished blackouts when using the Forehead Rest with the 10x32 NL.

I suspect that using the method above will work with other NL models for which careful eyecup adjustment fails to eliminate blackouts.