Telescope Reviews: Reasons for renewed interest

Dear Guys , Gals and Mr.Onions ,

I thought it worth mentioning some of the reasons my passion for looking through , reading about and discussing binoculars seems to have been rejuvenated .

A few months ago , I found myself in the rather depressing state of realising that I seemed to have lost almost all interest in even looking through binoculars , and for a while , couldn't really put my finger on why .

A few weeks ago I started re - reading some of my posts to this forum from almost five years ago , and started to think about why and how my diminished passion had come about , when suddenly , something clicked .

I realised the main turning point in all this was when I started to wear GLASSES .

I have NEVER felt comfortable looking through binoculars when wearing glasses -- and the bold voice of Dave ( DJB )kept nagging away in my brain .

YEARS ago , Dave once wrote " I simply REFUSE to wear glasses when using binoculars " -- and I started thinking to myself " why can't I just be as determined as that ? "

So , three weeks ago , I made the decision that regardless of astigmatism and short - sightedness , I was NOT EVER going to wear glasses again when looking through binoculars -- PERIOD !

I can't begin to describe what a difference this has made to me -- I'd actually FORGOTTEN just what a simple PLEASURE it can be to just hold a binocular to my eyes and let my eye sockets sink into the eyecups -- with no unwanted reflections from the eyeglasses to annoy me , no fear of scratching the glasses against the eyecups , nor of scratching the eyepieces with my glasses , no more obsession with inadequate eye - relief ruining my pleasure , or of losing that all so important outer 10% of the field of view , no more fussing around rolling or twisting eyecups back and forth or in and out , and no more permanent relegation to closet of two otherwise quite enjoyable binoculars to use in the form of Swift Kestrel 10 x 50 and Helios 15 x 70 .

There continued to be two slightly annoying problems with two other of my little armoury -- namely the otherwise truly WONDERFUL Nikon 10 x 42SE , and the perhaps not so wonderful Strathspey 20 x 90 , both of which I have addressed with some success over the past couple of weeks .

With regard to the SEs , fellow member Patric ( Swedepat )will remember only too well that for almost a YEAR now , I'd been awaiting the delivery of some specific neoprene washers which I ordered after accidentally discovering they were a PERFECT fit to place / temporarily glue to the existing inner rings of the eyecups , to rectify the well - known problem of " blackout " due to the capability of placing the eyes too CLOSE to the eyepieces .

Well -- a dozen of those washers finally turned up two weeks ago -- but to my great disappointment , I quickly discovered that the modern versions are slightly SMALLER in outer diameter AND slightly THINNER than their predecessors .

This means that not only NO LONGER will just ONE of these washers adequately " pack - out " the surplus eye - relief -- but in fact TWO are now required to make it physically impossible to get one's eyes close enough to the eyepieces to see the dreaded " blackout " .

Not only that , but due to the slightly reduced outer diameter of the washers , they will now JUST about fall out if the binoculars are held vertical with eyecups facing the ground , if shaken slightly .

I have overcome both problems by the simple application of four narrow strips of black adhesive tape to hold the washers inside the rolled - out eyecups . They may LOOK a bit rough -- but who cares ? -- I can now sink my eyes into the eyecups , see the entire 6 degree TFOV , with a perfect field stop , and no blackouts whatsoever .
This simple action has converted the Nikon 10 x 42 SE into a binocular with an exceptional EASE of view -- more akin to the " E2 experience " ( although admittedly without the wonderful extra wide field of view ! )

As a result , the Nikon 10 x 42 SE has become a " MUST HAVE " glass -- not only for me , but for my wife Kathy , who has abandoned her previously beloved Swarovski 8 x 20B pocket with such vengeance that it is taking me all my time to get the SEs from her grasp now , especially at weekends at our newly located weekend retreat , sandwiched so delighfully between two National Parks , the English Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales .

I have also managed to come across an alternative set of lightweight aperture masks cum objective lens caps for occasional use with the 20 x 90 . I have taken the extreme measure of fitting 50mm masks , which I can happily report seem to be having the effect of completely eliminating all the visual CA , and internal reflections , with the added bonus of providing a greater depth of FOCUS , the reason for which is explained in a very interesting article I came across on the internet , which I may post a link to if anyone is remotely interested .

Finally , I cannot pretend to have reconsidered my position here at Cloudy Nights without mentioning the fact that NOT to have done so , I would have considered a most SELFISH act of defiance , bearing in mind that many folks I can only consider to be TRUE friends , have repeatedly asked me to start posting again .

Well , it is SPRING after all -- my favourite time of the year -- and I hope that everyone here can and will share my will to let byegones be byegones .

As I was reminded by the passing of a dear former family member only a week ago , life really is too short for anything other than love and sharing .

At least , I'm prepared to give it another go , folks , with apologies to anyone I may have offended or upset along these sometimes rocky roads .

Thanks for reading .

Kind regards ,
Kenny

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If everyone is thinking the same thing , no-one is thinking - General George S.Patton

Zeiss 7 x 42 BGAT
Captain's Helmsman 7 x 50
Nikon 10 x 42 Superior E
Swift Audubon Kestrel 10 x 50
Helios 15 x 70 Observation
Strathspey 20 x 90
Televue 76 APO
Zeiss 85 Diascope
Helios 102 f5 refractor
Various eyepieces barlows tripods mounts etc.
Panasonic Lumix DMC - TZ5 digital camera