scienceguy
member
Reged: 11/27/07
Posts: 32
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Hi, everyone. I own a pair of the Zhumell 20X80 binoculars. The ones currently on sale for $69. I have a concern about them, though... How do I tell if mine are collimated? When I look at terrestrial objects, I can adjust the IPD until no double-vision appears. The result is a good, crystal-clear image. Now, when I use them to look at celestial objects, I do see a double image with this same setting so I have to adjust the IPD scale again and bring the eyepieces closer together until the double-vision effect goes away. I tested last night with Jupiter. I had to bring the eye pieces very close together to make the double-image go away. Is this normal or do these binocs require collimation? Thanks.
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EdZ
Professor EdZ
Reged: 02/15/02
Posts: 12581
Loc: Cumberland, R I , USA42N71.4W
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Sounds like they are conditionally aligned (conditionally collimated) at some IPD other than your normal IPD setting. FWIW, for your use, they should be conditionally aligned at YOUR IPD setting. They need to be adjusted.
Turning prism adjusting screws is conditional alignment. Better binoculars are collimated such that they are aligned at ALL IPD settings.
edz
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Teach a kid something today. The feeling you'll get is one of life's greatest rewards.
member#21
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scienceguy
member
Reged: 11/27/07
Posts: 32
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Thanks for the quick response. Can I adjust this setting myself? If so, what steps should I take?
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EdZ
Professor EdZ
Reged: 02/15/02
Posts: 12581
Loc: Cumberland, R I , USA42N71.4W
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Set them to YOUR IPD and then follow instructions for turning prism screws to collimate them on stars. See Best Of thread and follow links to collimation.
edz
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Teach a kid something today. The feeling you'll get is one of life's greatest rewards.
member#21
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scienceguy
member
Reged: 11/27/07
Posts: 32
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Thanks a lot! I will take a look at those. If I have any questions I will post back. Thanks, again, for your help.
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scienceguy
member
Reged: 11/27/07
Posts: 32
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These Zhumell 20X80 only have two screws near each eye piece, one on each corner. Are these the screws I would need to turn to adjust the conditional alignment? Thanks.
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EdZ
Professor EdZ
Reged: 02/15/02
Posts: 12581
Loc: Cumberland, R I , USA42N71.4W
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http://www.cloudynights.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=735&password=&sort=7&thecat=500
http://www.cloudynights.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=736&password=&sort=7&thecat=500
edz
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Teach a kid something today. The feeling you'll get is one of life's greatest rewards.
member#21
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scienceguy
member
Reged: 11/27/07
Posts: 32
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Thank you. I think I got it. Please tell me if I got this procedure correct.
1. Focus on a distant star.
2. Find your correct IPD setting.
3. Move your head back so that your eyes are at least 6" away from the binocular eye pieces.
4. Use the binocular screws to align the star pin point image until it appears as once single merged image.
5. Once the image of the star is merged onto one single image, the pair of binoculars is aligned.
Are the steps above correct?
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EdZ
Professor EdZ
Reged: 02/15/02
Posts: 12581
Loc: Cumberland, R I , USA42N71.4W
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yes
edz
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Teach a kid something today. The feeling you'll get is one of life's greatest rewards.
member#21
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scienceguy
member
Reged: 11/27/07
Posts: 32
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Thank you for your help and for sharing your knowledge with us.
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bcuddihee
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 11/04/06
Posts: 934
Loc: Cincinnati Ohio
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I just received my Zuhmell 20x80's, purchased from Telescopes .com and delivered by Fed X. I was hoping for better..much better. The box came with one side crushed in although in defense of fedx I can say the box used was very lightweight,..much larger than the bino, with very little in the way of packing or cushion in the box itself. The binos in their soft case were lying at the bottom of the box and some sparce with some loosely crumpled craft paper on top. Upon removing the binos from their case I immediately notice that the housing supporting the right objective was cocked to one side. The mid tube housing was also loose and cocked to one side. Needless to say the views weren't just a little off..there were two distinct side by side images of my neighbors swing set staring at me. Called telescopes .com and they are going back at their expense. I will not go down this road to try for another pair. Oberwerk is located some 20 miles from me so I'll pick out a pair there. Hope others have fared better than me.
BC
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B Cuddihee
On the quest to find the best for the least!
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1968 Jason Empire 60X700mm refractor (my buddy from way back)
Celestron Nexstar8SE(a remarkable 8" grab and go)
Feathertouch Microfocuser
Stellarvue 50mm "Sparrowhawk" finder
Denk bino's with Power x switch
Pair of 26m Celestron Silvertop Plossls
Pair of Smart Astronomy 19 EF's
Pair of Smart Astronomy 16 EF's
Agena 38 SWA
Agena 26 SWA
Garrett 2" 2x ED Barlow
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Nick Lloyd
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 10/24/06
Posts: 1641
Loc: cincinnati
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Here we go... 50% happy vs. 50% unhappy
I probably end up splitting the gas with you on a trip to Beavercreek!
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"The best scope is the one you use." -rcg
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RonL
member
Reged: 12/17/07
Posts: 42
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Ok... So I got the replacement pair today (after having sent the defective one back). I'm sorry to say... SAME PROBLEM. Although the box arrived in good condition and the pair of binoculars was in good shape, the same "double vision" problem is again present in this pair. The pair is conditionally aligned at one specific IPD setting. Readjusting the IPD and you start seeing double. This is a very, very low-end product. I would not recommend anyone to take his/her chances with this product.
In my case, I'm keeping it. I'm letting my wife's teenage brother have it. He saw the binocs and he liked them and it turns out they're conditionally collimated for _his_ IPD setting.
I'll simply cut my losses with this one.
Now, on a positive note, I also received a pair of FUJI's and a pair Canon with the image stabilizer I'd been waiting on. These are flawless instruments with excellent optics and design. There is simply no comparison between these and the Zhumell ones. Thanks, guys, for recommending these. But these are for my brother. I'll save some more money and get a high-quality pair of binocs like these in a couple of weeks.
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Dis
member
Reged: 03/04/08
Posts: 23
Loc: Sonoran Desert, AZ
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How can they even honestly sell these when it seems that quite a few if not most of these arrive without collimation? Do they actually collimate these at the factory and they all get screwed up during shipping or are they not even bothering to collimate?
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Nikon Action Ex 7x50
Orion Resolux 15x70
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RonL
member
Reged: 12/17/07
Posts: 42
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I think that such a low priced product (compared to the market average for the specific size) is either very low quality control or poor optics (or a combination of both). Both of these binocs I received did not appear to have been damaged during handling or shipment. I conclude they came like that from the factory. I'm not an expert in optics to say the least but it seems to be that the optics in these binocs are of acceptable quality compared to other binocs I have tried (for the price, that is), which means the problem must be in the collimation or quality assurance (filter out those that are not well aligned). Based on all the reviews I have read and the people I personally know who have ordered a pair, it seems the number of non-collimated ones is as high as 50%, so you have a 50% chance of getting a good one. It's like the flip of a coin...
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EdZ
Professor EdZ
Reged: 02/15/02
Posts: 12581
Loc: Cumberland, R I , USA42N71.4W
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Not all this may pertain, but it's all been said before. here it is again.
Sometimes you get lucky, sometimes you don't.
If They Look the Same, What Could be Different?
These Look The Same, are they?
" I could be choosing lenses that have passed a specific selection criteria for the objectives that are used in one binocular. For another brand binocular, I could be selecting lenses that have not been tested at all, so I take my chances. For a third brand, I may be using the lenses that did not pass the inspection criteria used to get the lenses in the first brand noted above. You don't honestly think they throw away all the lenses that do not meet a specified test criteria, do you? Just because they don't meet the criteria for brand A doesn't mean they can't be used for brand C."
Are these the same?
edz
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Teach a kid something today. The feeling you'll get is one of life's greatest rewards.
member#21
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