Is glare in the bino or in the eye of the beholder? I bought 8x32 Vortex Vilpers(with input from BFers see:)
http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=190762
from EO and was extremely pleased with them until I took them out on a summy day. The glare up to an angle of around 30-35 degrees away form the sun was severe. The glare covered almost the bottom third of the view close to the sun and decreased gradually away from the sun.
The guy I talked to at EO told me that he got frequent calls about glare in some binos (he named a few), that some glare was normal, that glare was something some individuals saw more than others, and that glare was probably caused by sunlight entering between the eye and the bino.
The thing is that I have three binos (8x42 Monarchs, 8x32 Nikon SEs and Zeiss Conquests 8x40s) that show hardly any glare even close to the sun. Also, when I tested the Vipers I shaded the area between my eye and the bino with my hand and the glare did not change. It only decreased when I shaded the objective lens in the front of the bino.
What is exactly the nature of glare and what causes it? Arn't lens coatings supposed to deal with glare in binos of this price range?
Has anybody else noticed this problem with 8x32 Vipers?
Does anybody know if Minox BL 8x32 BRs, my next choice, have similar problems with glare?
Thanks.
This was well explained here by Henry Link, and I speak only because he seems decreasingly enthusiastic about re-explaining stuff.
When sunlight illuminates the interior of the bino near the objective lens, there is often a clear path for that lit-up surface to be directly seen through the eyepiece. It is not too hard to install a simple ring in the barrel that will block that, without blocking the desired light coming from the lens itself. But the tolerance is tight, and it's disappointing how many manufacturers seem to miss an easy opportunity to make the bino immune from this first-order glare effect.
A next order glare effect is when light from that surface scatters in all directions, and so necessarily will be able to permeate the length of the binocular and pollute the image. If the illuminated surface, as well as all the other interior surfaces, are rough textured and black, this effect can be minimized.
In addition, glass surfaces of the prisms that need not be exposed should be hidden.
Depending on where the glare is coming from, scooting your eyes around can sometimes find a spot where it isn't so bad for that particular viewing angle.
Binoculars vary greatly in this way. Generally, small exit pupils are worse than big ones, because the image of the first type of glare falls so close to, or within, the eye's pupil. The worst I've seen is the 3mm exit 8x25, right on up the ladder to the best, the 7mm exit pupil of a 7x50.
Having said so much and attributed the guts of it to Henry, I dang sure hope I got it right or he will be very disappointed in me!
If the 8x32 Viper is bad for glare, well, that's pretty much it, not your fault, bummer. Was there ever a birder who didn't look into shadows near the sun? I am a major glare hater myself.
Ron