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Jeronimo Cruz
super member
Reged: 09/01/08
Posts: 141
Loc: Tucson, AZ
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Hi all,
Fall has finally come to Tucson. It's getting cooler every evening. This has really started to effect the performance of my little Mak. It now needs more and more time to cool to ambient temp after being inside. This got me wondering...
...Do binoculars need cool down time? How much do tube currents effect optical performance? Is this significant in everyday use? If larger binos are more suseptable, are smaller ones (<50mm aperture) more or less immune? Do waterproof binoculars have longer cool down times than non-waterproof binoculars? Is it possible for waterprrof binoculars to even have tube currents at all? What about porro vs. roof binoculars?
Thanks!
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Jeronimo
TeleVue 101 + Gibralter
Celestron NS11 GPS/wedge + Hyperstar
Photon Instruments 127mm + SV F50W2
Lunt Solar Systems LS60DS Ha + Celestron CG-5
Naglers, Panoptics, Radians, Nikon binoviewer
Fujinon 10x70 FMT-SX, 7x42 CD; Canon 15x50IS;
Pentax 7x50 PCF WP, 10x50 PCF WPII, 10x50 DCF SP
Work
20" R/C RCOS on Paramount + Tak FSQ
16" R/C RCOS on Paramount + TEC 140
16" Meade LX200 SCT + TV 76
Ethos, Naglers, Panoptics
Coronado Solarmax 90mm Ha
Coronado Solarmax 70mm Ca
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Simon S
sage
Reged: 01/07/07
Posts: 389
Loc: Crawley West Sussex UK
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I do think some high magnification binoculars suffer in the heat, and I have seen this first hand.
I bought a pair of Russian 25x70 porros a few years ago and was using them in the sun and put them on the grass while I was taking some photographs.
When I picked them up they had suddenly become badly out of collimation. One side of the binocular was in the shade, the other in the direct sunlight. This is however a very poorly made a binocular but does show the effect of direct heating on an instrument.
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My binocular collection recent first
http://www.flickr.com/photos/binoculars/
My binoculars in Alphabetical order http://www.flickr.com/photos/binoculars/sets/72157613812824211/detail/
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Mark9473
Post Laureate
Reged: 07/21/05
Posts: 3210
Loc: 51°N 4°E
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My 20x80 do need cooldown time. It's not a matter of tube currents, but of the focus shifting. Can take 15 minutes or so. I haven't noticed this with anything smaller than that.
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Mark
Leica 8x20; Vixen 8x42; Swift 8.5x44, 10x50 and 20x80; TS 7x50; Orion 15x63; Docter 15x60
WO Megrez II 80 FD + Baader 90° T2 Amici
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KennyJ
Reged: 04/27/03
Posts: 12895
Loc: Lancashire UK
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I once carelessly left a 12 x 25 compact model behind glass on a car dash board for about two hours in direct sunlight in the hottest part of the day in summer in the Canary Islands .
It still felt quite warm after about twenty minutes of getting back in the car and throwing it onto the back seat in a temper after it burnt my fingers .
That was the day I discovered those ruby coatings were not as bad as commonly reported .
Most of the coatings just peeled away from the lenses after the cooking process , but the views through the binoculars remained just as bad as when it was in place ! :-)
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
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CESDewar
GorillAstronomer
Reged: 01/16/05
Posts: 2069
Loc: Morganton, GA, USA
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Quote:
...Do binoculars need cool down time?
Only if you get them really angry 
Seriously, the answer is no, unless you had them sitting in the sun cooking before you took them out. But for all practical purposes, there is no problem. Your Mak is a different issue and Mak's are notorious for having longer cool-down times than most other optical designs.
Perhaps some giant binoculars might experience some issues briefly, but your average pair of astronomical binoculars is not going to be an issue...
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DJB
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 02/23/05
Posts: 1589
Loc: Lisle NY
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Question for you Kenny,
Are you saying that the coatings were some kind of "plastic" add on? Sorry about your misfortune.
Generally, the larger the objective, the longer (larger) the tubes, then one should consider a cool down time. Just my opinion.
Best regards,
Dave.
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KennyJ
Reged: 04/27/03
Posts: 12895
Loc: Lancashire UK
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Hello Dave ,
In a moment of forgetfulness , I didn't send a sample away to a scientific laboratory for analysis , but being in Gran Canaria at the time I wasn't sure if there even was such a laboratory readily available .
Plastic or not , the coating peeled away as if it had been applied perhaps like spray paint onto the objective lenses , which themselves could well have been plastic as opposed to actual glass -- or at least the outer lens certainly could have been .
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
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Joe Ogiba
Post Laureate
Reged: 02/14/02
Posts: 4066
Loc: NJ USA
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I don't think you will see any difference in your Fujinon 10x70 FMT-SX or Canon 15x50IS if you used them right away vs waiting for them to cool down IMHO.
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Pentax PF-80ED,Meade 102ED APO,Orion EON 72,120ST
Apex 127,C6 XLT,CR150,C9.25,XT10
Zeiss 7x42 FL,Canon 10x42L IS WP,15x50 IS
12x36 IS II
Garrett Optical 28x110 HD-WP Signature Series
Oberwerk BT-80 45, Apogee RA-88-SA
Denk II Power x Switch binoviewer w/13mm Ethos, 20mm Pentax XW's, 20mm Widescan III's.
17mm Ethos, 22mm Nagler, 40mm Pentax XW, 14mm Pentax XL, 5.2mm Pentax XL, 8-24mm Pentax XL Zoom
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Scott Beith
SRF
Reged: 11/26/03
Posts: 37194
Loc: Frederick, MD
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I toss my bins outside with a cloth over them to let them reach ambient temp., just to avoid dewing.
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   SLAP Observer (TMB130SS, SV102V, SV80ED)
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." -- Edmund Burke.
"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." -- George Orwell
"The measure of a man’s greatness is not determined by what he accomplishes for himself, but by what he accomplishes for others.” -- Some Bald Guy
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DJB
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 02/23/05
Posts: 1589
Loc: Lisle NY
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Hi Kenny,
Thank you kindly for your reply concerning the coatings.
I assumed, probably incorrectly, that it was some kind of spray on adhesive or "paint"--best I can say.
I simply based this on the overall cost of these types of binoculars. Thanks again and take care.
Best regards,
Dave.
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