Optic selection for folks with glasses?

[hiking_metal_punk]

Hi y'all, I have modest farsightedness with astigmatism in both eyes and I've had some trouble using binocs or scopes with my glasses in the past. I assume good binocs can compensate via eyecup adjustment but I've also heard electronic optics can be bad for astigmatism, anyone have thoughts on that?

 

[ZDR]

My wife wears glasses and has mild astigmatism in both eyes. She commandeered my Leica Trinovids 8x32s for bird watching as other binos didn’t really work for her.
I think the eye cups and the optical qualities just work well for her.

 

[Crghss]

Take em off, they don’t add anything to your vision when looking through a scope/Bono’s.

 

[TTT]

I glass and hunt with corrective lenses on. It’s too inconvenient to take off your glasses to look through binos then put back on to look around or aim through a rifle scope, not to mention the higher likelihood of fetting them dirty or lost while out. Also, when light conditions are not great your eyes will have difficulty adjusting. Farsighted correction is one thing , but no bino, spotter, or scope can compensates for astigmatism. Just look for binos with longer eye relief.

 

[gr8fuldoug]

If you check out the Athlon Cronus 8.5x42's I think you'll be thrilled. 22mm of ER which is awesome for eye glass wearers

• E2ES System- Edge 2 Edge Sharpness system: E2ES System is a field flattening system that produces sharper, clearer images all the way from one lens edge to the other
• ED Glass- High definition glass: ED glass gives you an image with little or no chromatic fringe so the final result brings a clearer and sharper image to your eyes
• ESP Dielectric Coating- Enhanced Spectral Prism Dielectric Coating: ESP Dielectric Coating is a multi layer prism coating that reflects over 99% of the light to your eyes bringing you a clear, bright image that displays accurate color reproduction.
• Lightweight Magnesium Chassis: Magnesium chassis give you the strength of a metal chassis while reducing the weight as much as 35%
• XPL Coating- Xtra Protective Layer coating: XPL Coating gives you an extra protection on the exterior lenses from dirt, oil and scratches
• Phase Corrected prisms: Phase corrected prisms produce images that have better contrast, a higher resolution and better color reproduction
• BaK4 prisms: Bak-4 glass prisms reflect more light to your eyes which will give you brighter and sharper image.
• Advanced FMC: Advanced Fully Multi-Coated lenses gives you better light transmission to bring optimum brightness and true color across the entire light spectrum.
• Locking Diopter: Locking Diopter keeps the diopter adjustment knob from accidentally moving from the optimal setting
• Long Eye Relief: Long eye relief can be particularly important for eyeglass wearers because longer eye relief allows them to still see the entire field of view.
• Close Focus: Close focus is important for those who are nature observers and especially important if you are going to watch butterflies or insects
• Twist Up Eyecups: Twist up eyecups with intermediate stops allow you to set the eyecups to the ideal eye relief for you eyes
• Waterproof: Waterproof to protects the binocular in the harshest weather conditions or if accidentally submerged underwater
• Argon Purged: Argon purging gives you better waterproofing and thermal stability

 

[willidru]

I found that if I wear glasses that are smaller and closer to my face it helps a little

 

[BjornF16]

In general, look for eye relief (ER) of 16mm or greater.

I have pair of 10x42 SLC with 16mm ER...it is right at minimum (but I have to be conscious of how I place the binos so I see full FOV).

I also have a pair of 8.5x42 EL with 20mm ER...it is much easier to see full FOV on ELs than SLC.

But that is me and my glasses. YMMV.

 

[hiking_metal_punk]

Thanks for the suggestions y'all; I haven't had enough binocs on my face to know what kind of eye relief to look for so I'll keep an eye out for >16 mm

 

[sneaky]

I wear glasses and have no issues with my SLCs. Can't use ELs because of the rolling ball effect from the field flattener lenses. I disagree that taking off glasses is inconvenient during hunting. That's not my experience at all. Contacts are nice, but more of a pain in the ass to deal with than glasses on a hunt. If I'm going to be glassing for a while I'll take my glasses off, they hang around my neck. Not sure how I'll lose them that way. I also have mild astigmatism and have no trouble using binos or scopes while not wearing my glasses. EVERYONE is different. You'll just have to figure out what works for you.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[hiking_metal_punk]

Sneaky does that rolling ball effect give you motion sickness or some other annoyance? I'm more of a photography guy, I'm familiar with the phenomenon but I reckon it's unlikely to keep your face on the camera enough to get the same effect as with binocs

 

[rickjames80]

I will echo what everyone has said. Look for long eye relief. I switched to 8x years ago for this reason. They generally have much better eye relief. I used the Meopro 8's the last few years, but recently upgraded to the SLC 8x's. Both work well with glasses

 

[TheGDog]

I do just fine with my Vortex Vultures 15x56 on tripod. I have to wear glasses all the time now. Absoutely nothing is in focus without them. Also Diamondback 10x42 no problem. Also the compact 8x26mm Diamondbacks also real easy to use.

The Vortex Razor 11-33x50mm kinda tricky to use with glasses for me. Cause ya gotta kinda really be right up on it at the higher magnification levels.

To re-iterate, I really like the Vortex Vultures since I've gotten them! I can quickly scan huge amounts of terrain real fast!

 

[North61]

Try em out before buying if possible. I have mild astigmatism and without glasses on, I'll have magnified distortion. It doesn't make sense to have an exceptional optical instrument feeding a defective eye. Contact lenses is one way to deal with it.

With glasses and my face geometry I find 18mm eye relief (or more) better than 16, and 20mm is what I actually search for. You can find this in several 8x42 or 10x50's but very few 10x42's. The Swarovski EL is an exception. Unfortunately not every binocular company measures eye relief in the same way so it pays to test. Very few zoom eye pieces in a spotting scope stay at 20mm across the power range. The Leica 20x50 is close but I have to cuddle in pretty hard at 50X. The dog leg (folded mirror) Leupold 60mm scope has it covered, but isn't quite a top tiered instrument, (though pretty good). There are some great fixed LER eye pieces that give 32mm or so for some models of spotter. Good luck...it's a fun search.

 

[hiking_metal_punk]

Unfortunately not every binocular company measures eye relief in the same way so it pays to test.

Good to know, and also that figures