Using Binoculars with Glasses

Using binoculars with glasses can be enjoyable and easy with the proper technique.

Glasses can be a necessary evil. They are used to either correct a problem like declining vision (prescription) or prevent a problem (safety, sun), such as glare or dust entering the eye. While they are extremely effective in most cases, glasses can also be frustrating when trying to incorporate them with binoculars.

That optical combo is extremely common as hunters, competitive shooters, bird watchers, travelers, sports fans, and an infinite assortment of people utilize the two together. These tips can help improve your overall experience.

Glasses: To Wear or Not to Wear?

Most people who wear glasses do not realize that if they’re nearsighted or farsighted, they don’t actually have to wear glasses while using binoculars. While folks with astigmatism, on the other hand, may not be as fortunate. They likely need to wear glasses at all times.

Basic nearsightedness and farsightedness may be solved with the twist of a few dials, allowing the user to temporarily disregard their glasses. The center focusing ring is designed to help bring focus to objects that are both close and far away. The user should look through the binoculars and adjust the dial to add clarity.

The center focus ring will move the internal lenses closer or farther away from your eyes to form a similar effect as using glasses. While your setting may not be the same as someone with 20/20 vision, the images should be clear.

When is it Necessary to Wear Glasses?

People with astigmatism will usually not see a clear image when looking through binoculars without their glasses. This comes from an imperfection in the curvature of an eye’s cornea or lens – a problem that will not be corrected simply from adjusting focus and must be corrected with glasses or contact lenses.

Early morning and late afternoon may also present situations when glasses must be worn. But instead of corrective glasses, low light angles may require sunglasses to be used during viewing sessions. Bright lights from sporting events may also require viewers to supplement with anti-glare glasses to optimize their viewing experience. Regardless of the application, glasses with binoculars are unavoidable at times.

Adjust Eye Relief

Eye relief is the distance from your eye to the binoculars’ ocular lenses. If the lenses are too close to your eye, the sight picture can look hazy with a black cloud around the edges. Additionally, the glass can brush against your eyelashes and cause discomfort. When the lenses are too far away from an eye, the image forms a tunnel-vision that does not utilize the entirety of the field of view.

A quality binocular like the TORIC have specialized eyecups that feature a multi-stop function that holds the position of the eyecup in place and does not move until you’re ready to reposition them.

Adjustable eyecups help eliminate this problem. In essence, the eyecups help a user gain consistency in their eye relief. People who don’t wear glasses should fully extend the eyecups. This provides some distance between the eyeball and binocular lens. And allows the user to then press the eyecups around their eye socket. Conversely, people who wear glasses should fully retract the eyecups since the glasses will naturally add distance between the eyeball and the binocular glass.

Consider Eye Shields Using Binoculars with Glasses

People who use binoculars while wearing glasses are not able to fully seal the eyecups around their eye socket. Instead, the eyecups rest on the lenses of their glasses. While focus issues can be solved from adjusting eye relief and using the center focus dial, the gap from the open area between the glasses and the eyeball can allow light to creep into view and create glare.

Binocular Eye Shields can be purchased as a separate accessory and fit almost all binocular eyepieces.

Eye shields are not for everyone since their shape and texture may not fit all types of glasses. When they fit well, they can drastically help increase the viewing experience by blocking side-light, which will cause the field of view to appear brighter. Eye shields will also reduce watering from wind and precipitation blowing into the sides of the eye.

Adjust the Diopter

While we may not realize it, many of us have eyes with different prescriptions. While the center focusing ring will adjust the focus for both lenses, the diopter ring will make fine adjustments between both lenses. This can be especially helpful for people who wear bifocals and will sharpen the overall field of view.

First look through the binoculars with both eyes open. Use the center focusing dial to bring the view into focus. Then close the right eye to check focus on the left eye. Once the left eye is in focus from the center dial, close the left eye. Now use the diopter ring to focus the right eye. Once the right eye is focused, open both eyes to verify focus and continue adjustments.

With the right equipment and techniques, using glasses with binoculars doesn’t have to be frustrating. All it takes is a little practice to make it an enjoyable experience.