No matter what I do, I still see double. I’ve tried focusing the eyes separately (my eyesight in one eye is worse than the other) and then together but no dice. I’ve tried opening them up wider and closing them closer, still no dice. I’ve had lasik eye surgery - could that be the culprit? I don’t remember having this problem when I was a kid.
My neighbor across the canal constantly uses binoculars to spy on me and I want to be able to return the favor but it’s no fun if I can’t see anything out of them.
What exactly do you mean by “seeing double?” Is it blurry, or two clear distinct images?
Have you tried more than one pair of binoculars? When you adjust the spacing of the eyepieces, do you look through them and then move them together (or apart) until the two “circles” merge into one? Are you focussing with the main central focussing wheel as well as adjusting for the variation between your eyes?
Have you tried a different pair of binoculars? If the prisms have gotten out of alignment, it will produce double vision. This can happen if the binoculars have been dropped.
I’ve tried everything focus-wise. I’ve only tried one pair as I only have one pair. I didn’t know the prisms could get out of alignment (or even what that means…). It’s highly possible that they’ve been dropped at some point.
If I drop them again, will they go back in alignment??
Next time you are at a mall, stop in a sporting goods store, and ask to try another pair. That will tell you whether it is your binoculars or your eyes.
Another idea would be to have someone who uses and understand binoculars examine yours - they’ll be able to tell whether the problem is with you or the binocs.
I’ve had Lasik and it has not affected my binocular usage. They even made me nearsighted in one eye and farsighted in the other and the only problem I have had is when I handover the binoculars over to my girlfriend and she gets all confused over the settings.
But if they aren’t aligned, you’ll see double. And if they don’t have a common focus mechanizm, it’s a huge nuisance to switch from a nearby object to a distant one.
Quite often, the large lenses at the end of the binoculars (known as the objective lenses) have gone out of alignment because:
the factory messed it up (this would only apply to the really cheap, bargain basement, discount store type of binoculars. - I once owned such a misaligned pair).
as others have said, the binoculars may have been dropped
some clown removed one or both of the objective lenses, and put back one (or both) incorrectly.
The objective lenses are attached to the binoculars with a very fine threading. The persons who remove these objective lenses fail to realize just how precisely these lenses must be threaded in order for the binoculars to remain properly aligned (or collimated).
Basically, I would suggest looking at the point where the objective lenses meet the binocular body. Look around the entire circumference of each.
Does there seem to be a small space on one side and no space 180 degrees away from that point? That is the objective lens you must remove and rethread the right way.
Yes, the objective lens threading is so fine that it can be screwed into the binoculars in a slightly sideways angle yet still be firmly attached (at the price of seeing double).
And the reason I learned this? I’ve fixed several pairs of binoculars for friends and neighbors that have had this very problem. Sometimes I’ll ask “Did you ever take these apart?”
The good news is that it isn’t my eyes. I borrowed a pair from one of the security peeps and I could see fine through them. He’s going to take a look at mine tomorrow. I swear I didn’t take them apart, wolf_meister!
The sad part is that the nosy neighbor across the canal doesn’t really need the binoculars - the canal isn’t that wide. But if she’s going to spy on me, I’m going to spy back, damnit!
I’ve been in my hunting stand trying to figure out why I can no longer see through my binoculars. I did a google search on my phone and saw this. Sure enough one of my oculars had a gap at the base (probably) banged of dropped. I popped it back in and now I see fine, thanks!!
I know it’s an old thread, but I have some zombie input… There are people who simply don’t have binocular vision. They can’t use binoculars, or stereograms, or View-Master 3-D slide viewers. In many cases, it is a developmental defect, occurring in the first couple of months post-natal, where the attribute simply doesn’t develop. Such people are pretty much normal in most ways; their brains (or optic nerves, or???) just don’t develop the full 3D image that most of us see.
And in my case, my right eye has always tended to wander a bit. Not enough to make normal 3D viewing a problem (except when I’m tired), but enough to make it really difficult to use binoculars. Like the OP, I just see two circles about 75% of the time, no matter how wide or narrow I adjust the binos – *any *binos (though expensive ones work a little more often for me than cheap ones.)
I have trouble with binoculars and with MOST stereograms, and usually ViewMaster slide viewers don’t work for me – except that this one time, in some roadside gift shop, I picked up a ViewMaster and was startled to see a glorious 3D image.
My hunch is that particular ViewMaster had gotten dropped, thereby knocking the lenses slightly out of alignment, which compensated for the natural alignment problem I have with my eyeballs.
My eyes look normal, but I have a very slight tendency to go cross-eyed, and a corresponding difficulty going “wall-eyed” a la actor Jack Elam. Alas, in order to view the majority of stereograms, you have to go slightly wall-eyed, which is why I can’t see the 3D effect in that type. But there are some stereograms that are best viewed cross-eyed, and those work fine for me.
