Using Binoculars with Astigmatism

[Steven_J]

Hello all.

I hope someone can help me with making the most of my 'new' bins.

I picked them up earlier this year and have packed them away after two weeks of frustration.

Having pulled them out this week, I tried to do what I picked them up for which is learn the night sky, constellations and generally enjoy the sky with minimal setup.

I have considerable astigmatism, -2.75 x20 right eye and -1.75 x 165 in left eye, and it seems to defeat most of the point of binoculars for me.

I can get dioptres that make individual eye focus, if not perfect, then sharp enough to appreciate.

But no matter how close I make the IPD, even to the point of crushing my nose, the images never merge into a single clean panorama.

I'm having a contact consultation before the end of the year, but I was wondering if anyone had any ideas about if contacts will fix the above issue, or had any tips or experience with this that might help.

Cheers,

Steven

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

This sounds like a collimation issue. I have astigmatism, and simply got binoculars to with long eye relief to ensure I can use them with my glasses. Astigmatism is not a problem then. However, if the bins are not properly collimated, the images will never fuse. Bins can be collimated quite readily, but the exact procedure depends on the type (porro or roof prism).