How to USE binoculars?

[AryMay]

I have been following the threads on binoculars and finally convinced my husband that this was a purchase we needed to make before our cruise. We have an older pair of binoculars that used to be my father's (7 X 35) but have never used them. For that reason, DH was reluctant to invest a lot of money into the second pair. We ended up buying a pair of REI compact binoculars (8 x 25) for less than $100.

 

Should I have the eye pieces touching my face when using the binoculars? If so, then they must be pushing on my eyes in a weird way because I have black areas that block part of my view. If I hold them away from my face I have the full view, but it just seems awkward to be holding them that way. (I assume I am supposed to adjust the binoculars so that the "two circles" become "one circle"...correct?) Any idea what I am doing wrong? Am I just "binocular challenged?"

 

Since I have no problems using the older pair I guess I will end up with those and my husband will get the new pair. Unfortunately they are not waterproof. :(

 

I would like to just return the REI pair and get something else, but we are almost out of time and we live in a very small town where Walmart is the only store that carries any binoculars. I'm not sure ordering online without testing them is a good idea.

[AnJ]

On your compact binoculars, at the eyepiece, they should turn so that the rubber moves away from the lens. This gap is used if you do not wear glasses and there should be a gap of about a quater of an inch.

 

Also, the right eyepiece should be adjustable for your vision.

 

Now, put the binoculars up to your eyes and move the two barrels so that the view you have through the glasses is as close to one scene as possible.

 

And there you have it...

[AnJ]

Try this silly video....

 

http://www.howcast.com/videos/359888-How-to-Use-Binoculars

[fishin' musician]

The video is silly, but it covers the dioptic adjustment which is the critical first step and why sharing binoculars is tough.

[Mytime2014]

thank you for asking! I pulled out my pair and couldn't figure out what to adjust first!

[knorrisb07]

I found this write-up very useful.

 

My personal experience is not to push your eye socket into the binoculars eyecups. It will cause blackout. I often rested my eyebrow on the upper rim of the eyecup and leave some space between the lower rim of the eyecup and my face to allow air to flow through. Works out for me.

[mytime53]

I found this write-up very useful.

 

My personal experience is not to push your eye socket into the binoculars eyecups. It will cause blackout. I often rested my eyebrow on the upper rim of the eyecup and leave some space between the lower rim of the eyecup and my face to allow air to flow through. Works out for me.

 

This method also allows you to find what you're looking for...if you have both top and bottom of your eye socket touching the binoculars, you will usually be looking below what you want to see.

[fishin' musician]

I spend a fair amount of time sporting a pair of binoculars in a variety of pursuits be it counting antler points, seeing the beauty of a rose breasted grosbeak in my birdfeeder or trying to see what species of fish the boat a quarter mile away just netted. I always have my eyecups screwed all the way out, then open my eyes as wide as I can, shove the cups into my sockets and close my eyes around them, with my sockets touching as much of the cups as possible.

[plenox]

I found this write-up very useful.

 

My personal experience is not to push your eye socket into the binoculars eyecups. It will cause blackout. I often rested my eyebrow on the upper rim of the eyecup and leave some space between the lower rim of the eyecup and my face to allow air to flow through. Works out for me.

 

That is the method I used as well. I learnt it from a birding guide when on a tour in central America.

[nukesubsailor]

When using variable power binoculars, I find it best to keep them on the lowest power while scanning for something as it gives you a wider field of view. Then when you locate some object you want to see, zoom to a higher power to view it better.

[TanTien]

All binoculars have something they call eye-relief (ER).

 

Eyecups block extraneous light and eliminate glare, and also keep the viewer’s eyes a specific distance from the eyepieces.

 

If you don't have enough of it; your field of view will be constricted or vignetted.

 

Too much eye relief causes you to see crescent shaped shadows that seem to move around in your optical field.

 

One technical definition is the distance (expressed in millimeters) from the last surface of the lens of an eyepiece to the plane projected behind it where all the light rays of the exit pupil come into focus. That's a lot of optical terminology in just one sentence for non-techies.

 

When the eye cup is twisted down (or folded down), a larger amount of the eye relief is available for eyeglasses wearers. When the eye cup is twisted up, less of the eye relief is available, which is fine for people who don't wear glasses.

 

The reason glasses wearers need a little more of the total existing eye relief is because their eyeglasses are in the way so the focal plane can't reach the person's eye. This causes the field of view to be vignetted.

 

 

Remember, as a rule, if you wear glasses you'll need at least 15mm of eye relief. However, if your glasses rest further out on your nose, or if you have a strong prescription with thicker lenses, you may need 16mm to 18mm.

 

So you should adjust the eyecups to where you can see the maximum light and as little blackness as possible. If it is too black all around you have too much ER, and you need to fold down or twist down the eye-cups. If you have to hold your binoculars on your eyebrows to eliminate the effect then your binos don't have enough ER.