#BINOCULAR DOUBLE VISION HOW TO#

And it's great that the layer of whatever material they use on yours protects you from accidentally touching the screws, but you should be able to do it on purpose when you need to. You can mess with them by accident, or on purpose. Second, they keep people from messing with them.

Ugh! However, this isn't likely to happen just by exposing those screws. The last thing you want is water in your binocs. This serves two main purposes.įirst, the layers do actually protect those screws and the inside of the binocs from the elements. Often the companies producing the binoculars hide the adjustment screws under a layer of rubber or latex or etc. And grab a ruler and some tape while you are at it. A pen knife if you are willing to permanently alter your binocs or some glue if you are not.ħ. Check out this Instructable by yours truly!Ħ. 'But, Alan,' you say, 'I don't have a tripod adapter, don't want to buy one, and I'm not even sure my binocs are tripod mountable.' I got you covered. A tripod and a tripod adapter for your binocs. Whatever you use, you want the '+' to be (a) level with the ground and (b) near a vertical (plumb) line.ĥ. I typically use a rig across the lake I live near. As long as you won't be cited for littering, hang the sign from a tree with a plumb weight tied to the bottom center. Use the black marker to make four squares on the sides, rather than a black + in the middle. You can make one with a marker and a piece of cardboard. But here are some things that will come in handy:Ĥ. Most brands use tiny slotted screws, though some like to get creative. Porros are usually bigger and have that classic 'binoculars' look, like someone in WWII would have used, whereas roof prisms are sleek and often marketed as 'portable' or some such word meaning small.Ģ. Look at the pic to figure out which your kind are. Those aren't brands but the way these two designs work shows in the shape of the pair. Porro prisms are much easier to adjust than roof prism binoculars. For whatever reason, you have a pair with double-vision, and that just won't do. Maybe they weren't collimated correctly before leaving the warehouse. Sometimes this happens because the package delivery service guy dropped your new pair (in which case, again, check for a warranty before going any further). Sometimes your binoculars fall out of collimation because you dropped your old pair of field binocs. Following my method accounts for that and allows us to collimate much more proficiently. If you simply adjust one barrel until the double vision is gone, you'll get rid of that problem, but you won't have nearly as much light coming in, resulting in dimmer, less sharp images. Rather, the usual suspect for poorly collimated binocs (double-vision) is that one of the prisms has fallen out of adjustment.Ī lot of folks armed only with this knowledge will simply adjust the screws on one side until the double vision is 'fixed.' However, true collimation is the result of getting the light to enter the center most part of the objective lens and following a path to the center most part of the viewing lens. Fortunately for binoculars, the problem is much less likely to result from the objective lens sitting askew. In the binocular world, you have to consider not one, but two columns coming together to make an image. The light will not travel from the objective lens to whatever mirrors and then to the viewer correctly. It is often the result of the objective lens or a mirror not sitting 100% correctly with the scope's barrel. A poorly collimated scope dims an image, and/or makes it hazy. A well collimated scope allows a column of light to pass through the objective lens, bounce off any mirrors, and enter the viewing lens straight into your eye. But before dissecting that old pair, or chucking them, try this method for fixing double vision.Ĭollimating is a word astronomers use when talking about fixing up their scopes. But what a waste of space if they are off kilter. But maybe your pair is different.Īh, binoculars! What a wonderful boon to backyard astronomers, nature lovers, and even sports fans. Before proceeding, you should check to see if your binocs are under warranty, because following this 'ible will most likely void any of those.Īlso, the instruction set herein is true for all of the binocs I've repaired, which is quite a few since I foolishly let onto my friends that I did my own.

#BINOCULAR DOUBLE VISION HOW TO#

This How To is about recollimating (or fixing double-vision) on binoculars.

Binocular double vision