Spectacle wearer and binoculars

[Seajay]

Hey up everyone, I wear spectacles and have trouble using binoculars when birdwatching. Has anyone found a solution (please don't say contact lenses)?

[Boddie]

Steiner Skyhawks - fantastic

[Amber]

Are your eyecups up? Carl can't use his 8x50s without the cups raised as they won't focus to his specs prescription.

[smartie]

We found this site useful in explaining what you need. Sorry, it's American, so refers to "eyeglasses" instead of specs. Not knowing what binoculars you have, I don't know what the eye relief would be. My Leicas claim to be 16mm, which works very well with my specs when the eyepieces are screwed down.

Birding Binoculars 5 - Eye Relief

[Seajay]

Originally Posted by Amber

Are your eyecups up? Carl can't use his 8x50s without the cups raised as they won't focus to his specs prescription.

I think Amber I'm basically trying to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear when I compare what I have against the Skyhawks Boddie suggested. They are expensive but there again an important piece of equipment. Boddie - do you wear specs?

[colincurry]

I wear glasses and have Opticron bins with fold down rubber eyepieces for use with specs. These work fine. My Controller has the small folding Leica bins with eye pieces that may be raised or lowered. I can use these as well.

Where I do find a problem (and perhaps this should be a separate thread) is reading the data in the viewfinder of my 30D in sunlight. I suspect that this is the because the gap between my eyes, my specs and the viewfinder allows the light to get in. I do wear a floppy hat that I move to block the sun. Not a pretty sight, but birders are not known for sartorial elegance out in the field (I hope none of our lady members will be upset - cringe). I went out on Tuesday when it was bitterly cold but very sunny. At one stage, I had a woolly hat pulled down over my ears, surmounted by my floppy hat to ward off the sun. An even less pretty sight - but it was so cold that I hardly saw another person.

I wonder if others have this problem with the viewfinder data, and how they overcome it. So far as I can tell, there is no way to increase the brightness of the data display.

Colin

Colin

[Seajay]

Originally Posted by smartie

We found this site useful in explaining what you need. Sorry, it's American, so refers to "eyeglasses" instead of specs. Not knowing what binoculars you have, I don't know what the eye relief would be. My Leicas claim to be 16mm, which works very well with my specs when the eyepieces are screwed down.

Birding Binoculars 5 - Eye Relief

An excellent and very informataive site, Smartie. It's clearly explained all I needed to know now it's just a matter of deciding what to buy and the Steiner Skyhawks are looking good, trouble is I always need something new! Now if I can get my wife interested in birdwatching like Colin it would be easier to justify the spending....

[Tormentil]

Originally Posted by colincurry

Where I do find a problem (and perhaps this should be a separate thread) is reading the data in the viewfinder of my 30D in sunlight. I suspect that this is the because the gap between my eyes, my specs and the viewfinder allows the light to get in.

I wonder if others have this problem with the viewfinder data, and how they overcome it.

It is sometimes a problem. I usually cup my hand over the viewfinder.

Does it effect the cameras exposure reading ?

[Boddie]

Originally Posted by Seajay

I think Amber I'm basically trying to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear when I compare what I have against the Skyhawks Boddie suggested. They are expensive but there again an important piece of equipment. Boddie - do you wear specs?

Yes I do wear specs mate and the Skyhawks fold down eyepices are great with specs on.

The best I have tried by far

[speckled wood]

Originally Posted by Amber

Are your eyecups up? Carl can't use his 8x50s without the cups raised as they won't focus to his specs prescription.

I have the same problem and with glasses off each of my eyes are so different that I cannot adjust binos enough to compensate, I am grateful that my prime interest is insects rather than birding so I don't have a real need to use binos.

SW