[JonAxe]

Hi,

I'm hopeful that you might be able to give me some advice on the seriousness of a "feature" that my newly purchased Celestron 15x70 binoculars have.

The left objective lens is fixed into the tube 3-4mm further recessed than the right objective lens. It is really obvious and I guess it means I'd be looking through 2 different focal lengths / magnifications? I've not had an opportunity to have more than a quick daylight glance through them so far and so am unsure as to the effect it might have.

Your thoughts would be much appreciated.. Thanks.

Jon

[Cornelius Varley]

The right hand eyepiece is adjustable to suit yours eyes. I first close my right eye and focus the binoculars to suit my left eye then rotate the right eyepiece to suit my right eye.

Peter

[JonAxe]

hi,

Thanks, but i am referring to the front objective lens as opposed to the eyepiece.

If I stand the binocs on end and look across the top of them the left lens is recessed about 3mm further into the main tube than the right hand one.

Thanks,

Jon

[tetenterre]

QC at Kunming Optical is variable and, by their own admission, is minimal on the budget binoculars like the Celestron 15x70. What has probably happened is that the objectives have slightly different focal lengths and have been placed so as to reflect this. As long as you can focus both sides to suit your eyes, there is nothing to be concerned about.

[topdude]

The front objective tubes just screw into the main body.
How does the rubber covering look where the tubes screw in, is there a gap on the longer one, is the rubber puckered up on the shorter one ?
You could try gently loosening then tightening the tubes to see if they are fully seated.
Be careful if you fully unscrew the tubes as they are a mare to get back in without cross threading (you can tell i've been there!)
Bear in mind the objective lenses are offset in the tubes for collimation purposes so tightening the tubes will alter the alignment.

[beetlejuice]

I agree with tetenterre. This is the consequence of buying inexpensive binos. I've had my fair share of those with the concommitant disappointments. So now I only buy quality kit. Yes, it costs more, but the viewing and owning experience tends to be a lot better. Quality kit will also last longer so can be cheaper in the long run as you don't have to keep replacing the cheap kit when it fails (which it will).

[jfox61]

I have had 2 pairs of these returned due to collimation errors. I am 50years old and used dozens of Bins in my lifetime. I own a Pair of Nikons and pentax's, (the nikons are new and the Pentax's i've had for about 6 years) and have never had problems with any of the dozens of bins I have used.

Seems as said above QC seems to be an issue in the peoples republic

[tetenterre]

Originally Posted by jfox61

Seems as said above QC seems to be an issue in the peoples republic

It can be, but the problem is not "the peoples republic" but the "western cheapskates" who have an eye on price as opposed to quality. Let's get real here -- a 15x70 binocular costing less than two half-way decent eyepieces: exactly what sort of quality -- or quality control -- were you reasonably expecting? As the biggest manufacturer of binoculars in "the peoples republic" puts it:

For years, the international markets are flooded with unbelievably low-price Chinese binoculars and some of the users have been complaining or bashing loudly about the quality control consistency of Chinese binoculars for a while. Actually, it's quite simple to improve the quality consistency: spending much more time in grinding and selecting glass, spending much more time in training the workers for assembling the binoculars, and spending much more time in the final quality check - then, a much better quality binocular will be made, however, at the tradeoff of much higher production cost.