Binoculars with adjustable alignment?

[Paz]

Having been reading threads about out of alignment binoculars, I was wondering do any manufacturers make binoculars with the facility to adjust the alignment of the barrels to keep them aligned or is it the case with any binocular that once they are out of alignment there is no fixing them?

[happy-kat]

There is a guide I read (can't find the bookmark right now it is on Cloudy Nights I think) about how you can see if you can align them back again yourself.

[Ruud]

Yes, often there are screws around the prism housing which are meant for collimation. I've heard it is a difficult adjustment, though.

[ghostdance]

I've successfully adjusted my Helios using the little screws that are (usually) tucked away under the rubber housing (on my bins at least). Small adjustments work wonders.

Happy-kat's right, there are articles about this but again I don't have a link right now either (will post if I find it in my bookmarks)...I'm assuming by 'alignment'  you mean the same as collimation? Do you have a doubled image (out of collimation)?

[ronin]

There are often small screwss to adjust the internal prisms, usually hidden under the plastic external covering.

If you mean as it reads something to alter the alignment of the individual tubes then that is not common, at least on "normal" binoculars - not sure about the semi-professional items.

Although it may seem sensible it also means that it is easier for the collimation to drift off. Basically one more item to go wrong. I suspect that like me many people pick up a set of binoculars by one barrel and that means any barrel alignment could easily go out. Gets annoying have to reset the collimation at say every time they are used.

To minimise this the adjustment mechanism would need to be quite substantial, thus biger, bulkier, heavier binoculars.

[Paz]

Thanks very much for the replies.

Yes by alignment I mean where you see two stars when you are looking at one. Both my binoculars are out - one by a lot and one only sightly.

Neither are expensive or high quality so I can't complain. I will have a look for screws and see if anything inside looks adjustable.

[BinocularSky]

If they have screws on the side of the prism housings, they will be approximately as shown below:

I only bother with the top screws (i.e. near the eyepiece): turning them clockwise moves the image in the direction the screwdriver is pointing. Do no more than 1/8 turn at a time. Of course, you have no simple way of aligning the optical axis to the binocular hinge, so make sure the binocular is set to your inter-pupillary distance (IPD); it will drift off collimation when you change the IPD. For all normal purposes, defocus one tube slightly and align until the point image of a star in the other tube is central to the blur in the defocussed one.

[NGC 1502]

Here's the CN link refered to above -

http://www.cloudynights.com/page/articles/cat/articles/how-to/%E2%80%9Ccollimating%E2%80%9D-binoculars-r408

Regards, Ed.

[Tomofmoo]

Does anyone know if quantum 5 uses these screws ?

[Paz]

I've noticed a number of second hand binoculars for sale that are cheap because they are out of collimaiton. For example I've seen some Helios Appollo 28x110's advertised at much less than half price that need some one with the "patience and skill" to collimate them - I'm patient but not skilled!

I can;t work out where the adjustment screws are on Appollos from any pictures I can see online and anyway I guess you can;t tell until it's too late if they are adjustable back to being properly collimated or if they would run out of adjustment before being correct.

[BinocularSky]

The Apollo's collimation screws are under the rubbers covering the cover plates.

[Tomofmoo]

The thing is I have ordered quantum 5s from the same site (possibly) as them Apollos because they had a few of them in quick succession the ones I have said ooc wasn't that bad but still need a professional to adjust l was just wondered if anyone on here knows how to and where the adjusters are

[Paz]

Thanks for the advice which has helped me with improving my binocular's collimation. Fixing vertical misalignment was relatively easy but after a fair bit of practice to learn what effect moving each screw has and being able to adjust them both in the dark whilst looking at a bright defined target I've got it spot on sideways also.

Having done this I have noticed not just that my eyes don;t have to work so hard but I can see more detail. It's cloudy tonight so I can;t see stars but just focusing on a lampost 200 yards away with the collimation deliberately a little out I think I can see it clearly enough but when I bring it back into exact alignment I could see a cobweb dangling off the lamppost that was not visible when the collimation was out.

It will be interesting to see if I can pick out any new sky targets when there's a clear night!