Exit pupils not aligned, is that normal?

[Kerrschild]

I just bought the Meade 10x56 on Amazon and tried them for the first time. It was nearly impossible to remove the black beans from the image.

When I went to check the exit pupils, I saw this:

Here's another view:

The exit pupils are not centered, and in fact they exit in opposite directions, laterally, to the outer side of the binoculars. I'm really used to the typical picture of binoculars where the exit pupil is at the center of the lense, so I'm not sure if this is ok.

 

Should I return them right away?

 

What do people think? Thanks!

 

 

[Franklin]

They look like Marty Feldman binoculars to me, I'd get my money back.

The exit pupils should be circular if well collimated, ellipse shaped if not.

Edited December 12, 2023 by Franklin

[Peter Drew]

Are you sure its not just a perspective effect?  A camera cannot accurately photograph two exit pupils at once from such a short range.  Try photographing them individually with the camera exactly in line with the eyepiece.  When set to your eye spacing your eyes will be exactly in line with the exit pupils. A camera cannot do that.    🙂

[Rusted]

I'm with Peter on this. You are photographing from too close.

A quick check of my Nikon 8x42 showed central exit pupils at arms length visually.
My phone camera showed a similar appearance at arm's length.
Individual exit pupils should be central in the eyepiece when viewed separately on axis.

May one assume you have folded the hinge of the binos to your normal eye spacing? (Pupillary distance.)
Try closing one eye alternately with the binos held to your face and then at arm's length.
The viewing circle should be round and crisply defined. Too wide and you get a soft oval and eye strain.

[Ratlet]

I don't think you check the image alignment this way as @Rusted said you should be checking them aligned on axis and the camera isn't going to be aligned with either of them, where as your eyes will/should be.

It sounds like you think the issue might be the collimation of the binos, but from my limited understanding this would present as the images not aligning properly.

For my money I think the issue here is the eye relief.  Those binos have 22mm of eye relief which is absolutely honking large.  With an eye relief that long if your eyeballs are too close to the eye lens then you'll get blackouts.  If you aren't wearing eyeglasses then you'll need to twist the eyecups so they extend, probably to their maximum amount.   Also make sure you've got the hinge folded so the eyepieces line up perfectly with your eyes.  Depending on your eye spacing (or in my case shallow gene pool) you might need to remove the covers from the objective side to get a couple extra mm closer.

I had a pair of SV202 10x50 and found I had to remove the objective lens covers to get them close enough because my eyes are quite close together and it was the only way I could get the IPD close enough.  I ended up swapping to 10x42 vaiants for comfort (I gave the 10x52 to my sister because she looks like Sid from Ice Age).  Also had a similar issue with blackouts until I realised the Eye relieft was 17mm.  I just stopped taking off my glasses when using them.

TL;DR :  I think eye relief is the issue.  Try extending the eye cups to their max extent, maybe even holding the binoculars a bit clear of your eyes.  Other issue might be you can't get the IPD close enough for your eyes.