Binos for glasses wearer - hunting

[hawke]

Hey guys, any suggestions for binos and still wearing glasses? My current pair has very little eye relief and I have to constantly take off my glasses, which makes target acquisition after glassing annoying.

Preferably something sub $600 if possible.

[MostlyLeverGuns]

Wife and I both wear glasses, only removed for sleep. Wife has Opticon 8x32, older Nikon Monarch 8x40, Nikon Monarch 12x42 while i mostly use a Leupold 10x50 Wind River Olympic, a Nikon 7x35 Action EX andwe have a Leupold Yosemite 6x30. We have not had issues with eye relief on any of those binoculars. My wife does have an issue with inter pupillary distance (how wide apart your eyes are). Some binoculars do not close narrow enough and this can cause problems. We fold the rubber eyecups down and have no problems. The birdwatcher sites have much information on good binoculars. I really like the Opticon 8x32 (about $400?) and may get another for myself. Very sharp image while compact and lightweight. I find depth of field and the ability to hold steady makes more than 10X difficult for field use. For most hunting, 7X is good, but there are not many quality 7X so 8X is winning, many, many good 8X x 32 or 42 under $600.

[Rick Hodges]

I have been very pleased with my Leupold Cascade 8x42's. The fold down eyecup give me sufficient eye relief to be used with my glasses on. I particularly like the locking diopter feature...many allow you to adjust diopter with a simple twist...jostling and bumping change it. I won't consider a bino that doesn't allow you to lock the diopter adjustment.

[tazman]

I wear glasses and use binoculars. I haven't purchased a set in nearly 20 years.
I just fold the eye cups down and go ahead.
I focus for the left eye first them focus the right eye to match since that is the side that has the individual focusing ring.
After that the binos focus the same for both eyes at all distances.

[Bazoo]

I have the cheap leupold Mackenzie BX1 binoculars and they work with my spectacles. Made in China, waterproof with lifetime warrantee, 100.00 on sale. I don't live and die by my binos, and they've worked fine a couple years.

[W.R.Buchanan]

You should be able to get what you need by just folding the eye cups down like several mentioned above. There are so many good binos out there now and with the quality of glass and coating getting better every year it is getting difficult to justify spending more than about $300 on a set of binos.

I have Steiner 8x30's I got on sale 20 years ago for $99. They are normally $199 even now. I have new Vortex Diamondback 10 x 42's $250 ish, and Minox 10x25's that were closeouts for $75! All of these are so close to top name optics like Leica, Zeiss and Swarovski that most people couldn't tell the difference. It is difficult for most people to justify the cost of high end binos unless they are using them full time for work, like as a guide or some kind of work where you are using them alot every day like maritime use.

I also have cheaper Bushnell and Tasco small binos that I haven't paid over $25 each for and they work pretty well for 95 % of my Bino Viewing. They are kept in my cars and trucks and bug out bags. I am more likely to use these Optics because they are with me when I need them as opposed to others that get left at home.

Randy

[winelover]

I wear glasses and have been using the 8 x 30 Steiner's, like Randy, for as many years. Eye cup down, for eyeglasses. Adjust focus for @ 20 yards and done. No more focusing, good for any distance, after that. Light weight and compact for hunting.

Winelover

[Rick Hodges]

I also have a fixed focus Steiner 8x30's binoculars. (fixed in that you set it once) They work fine out west and in wide open spaces but the lack of focusing ability while glassing limits them for my usual use. I usually hunt forests and brush and use the focusing ability to pick my way through the brush. By adjusting the focus you can actually see through brush to see game behind it. Basically you throw the brush in front out of focus and have the area behind it in sharp focus.
I use the Steiner's mainly on the boat.

[Duckiller]

After 50-60 years of being quite near sighted I had cataract surgery and at75+ am farsighted. Solves lots of problems. Don't need to fold eye cups. Can see things at long distances without glasses. Main problem is I can no longer read newspaper without glasses. When your Dr. tells you you are developing cataracts live with it life will get better.

[Repass]

Nikon Monarch 5 8x42 have been working well for me. In this great article you will get details info. Some of the best affordable glass I have looked through.

[13Echo]

I have a Zeiss 8x32 Terra for my car and it is excellent and falls in your price range. Vortex Diamondbacks are very good and not expensive. Vortex Vipers are more expensive but not too much out of your range and are the near optical equal of the very expensive German brands. There are several models of each to choose from.

[osteodoc08]

I wear glasses and use binoculars. I haven't purchased a set in nearly 20 years.
I just fold the eye cups down and go ahead.
I focus for the left eye first them focus the right eye to match since that is the side that has the individual focusing ring.
After that the binos focus the same for both eyes at all distances.

This right here.

[BK7saum]

I have had a pair of Leupold Wind Rivers and a pair of cascades. noth have eyecups that can be left in for eyeglass wearers or pulled out for those without corrective lenses.

[JBinMN]

I wear glasses and use binoculars. I haven't purchased a set in nearly 20 years.
I just fold the eye cups down and go ahead.
I focus for the left eye first them focus the right eye to match since that is the side that has the individual focusing ring.
After that the binos focus the same for both eyes at all distances.

Ditto.

[13Echo]

You need about 16 mm of eye relief to effectively use binoculars with glasses. A bit more is better. All but the cheapest binoculars have adjustable eye cups largely for use with glasses, but if there is insufficient eye relief you won’t get the full benefit.

[W.R.Buchanan]

I just focus my binos for my uncorrected eyes and push my eyeglasses up or take them off completely when using the binos.

I do this because one of the basics of using Binos effectively is to anchor the eye cups up in and under your eye sockets. This stabilizes your hold on the binos and locks the relationship between the binos and your eyeballs in place and it allows more stable viewing. Also folding your elbows in until they rest on your gut, (assuming you actually have a gut) stabilizes them even more. This works pretty well and you all should try it.

This last part came from the "Tight Weaver Stance" I use when shooting my Pistols. IE: the left arm is folded into my gut as the last movement of my presentation. It locks the grip down to where you can easily obtain your sight picture and better control your trigger press as the gun is almost perfectly stable at that point. Makes you shoot alot better!!! Takes practice!!!

Randy

[MostlyLeverGuns]

My wife and I do pick up binoculars several times everyday to look out over miles of Wyoming, hay fields, grasslands, looking at eagles(golden and bald, our resident hawks and owls, coyotes, cattle. I just got a new Nikon Monarch 7 8x42 yesterday. The clarity and resolution is remarkable when comparing to older binoculars that were considered very good years ago. Optics have been advancing, like computers, autos, electronics ... and due computers, older ones are 'O K' but the modern ones do work better. These Monarch 7's were $426 on Amazon and I am very impressed with them. We DO NOT remove our glasses for using binoculars, but press the binoculars tight against our glasses with fingers against our foreheads. We wear broad-brimmed hats constantly outdoors to to the big and very bright sky with binoculars used daily over very long distances.