This has come up incidentally in a number of threads, so I thought I would start one dedicated just to this topic.
Vintage Extra and Super Wide Angle binoculars almost universally have very little eye relief to work with. So if you needed to wear glasses you were pretty much out of luck. I found a “formula” that has worked with a number of my vintage extra wide angle binoculars such that they have once again become useful to me. Your vintage binocular needs to have 3 things to make this work for you…
1. Total eye relief will always be small, so you need to have access to every millimeter your eyepieces give you. The best candidates have eyecups that can be unscrewed to be removed. Some will have rubber eyecups that can be stretched to be removed.
2. Then you need the eye lenses to be mounted as close to the top edge as possible. Most vintage extra wides won’t have too many adjustments available, but some will. Take advantage of what you can get from those adjustments, but getting the eye lenses flush with the top surface is key.
3. Hopefully after removing the original eyecups, there remains a few millimeters of threads that an O-ring can be stretched over.
If you have these 3 things available to you, there’s a good chance for success. Below are a few of the binoculars in my collection that I have had success with. I have tried Buna, Viton and Silicon O-rings, but I much prefer the Silicone O-rings because they tend to be easier to clean, easy to stretch, and they come in many colors. I prefer red, as you can see. Silicone is very soft on eyeglass lenses, and fitting the right size O-ring will prevent the lenses from getting scratched.
Starting at the upper left, I use size 322 O-rings with my “Silver Ring” FPO / Bushnell Rangemaster 7x35s. I can easily see the entire 10° FOV while wearing my glasses.
Below the two Rangemasters are the excellent Wards 67-7092 (12.5°) and 67-7078 (11°) 7x35s. These two J-B138 binoculars are almost perfectly designed for size 324 O-rings. While I can get the 11° field to fit into my field of view, it is pretty much impossible to get the 12.5° to squeeze into my FOV. But it sure is fun to try!
In the middle column I have my J-B52 / J-E32 Sans & Streiffe model 900 (11.5°) and 999 (12.5°) 7x35s. I use metric size 32x4mm O-rings with these binoculars to achieve similar results to the Wards binoculars above.
Below the Sans & Streiffe pair I have a Swift Holiday (11°) 7x35 also fit with 32x4mm O-rings. This is a particularly early Tamron made version of the Swift Holiday, and so far is the only version of the Holiday that I have been able to successfully fit with O-rings.
Below the Holiday is a Tasco model 410 (12.5°) 7x35, and you would be similarly successful with a Tasco 110 7x35 as well. But again, 12.5° won’t entirely fit, and the Tasco 110/410 has less available eye relief than the Wards 67-7092 or the Sans & Streiffe 999 above. So you will want to have your glasses as high up your nose as possible! It also is fitted with the 32x4mm O-ring.
In the right column are all Kowa-made binoculars, and all are fit with size 324 O-rings. The first is a Kowa / Cadillac Supreme (7°) 10x50. Below that are 2 Kowa / Bushnell Rangemaster 7x35s. And finally there is my Kowa / Soligor (10°) 7x35.
When I stretch the O-rings onto the eyepieces, I will typically stretch from inside to outside. Then before I stretch it over the outside lip I will twist the O-ring to “tuck it in” as I place it over the eyepiece threads. If done right, this will cause the O-ring to stay in place better. Nevertheless, if bumped, they could still come flying off, so you should be careful with them (but of course, you are already careful with your binoculars!) You can also place a small bead of silicone adhesive over the threads to hold the O-rings in place better, if you like.
So what’s old is new again! See if you can fit your Vintage Extra Wide Angle binoculars with a pair of O-rings, and remember why you always loved that wide field of view.
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Edited by SMark, 26 August 2021 - 11:09 PM.
