I wear spectacles - short sighted + astigmatism.
Now a days, in my 70's, with my near vision requiring assistance I wear transitional (vari-focal) specs most of the time.
But for stalking I wear single (distance) vision lenses and peer under or over them if I need to look at my phone or watch.
I find quality bino's and scopes (spotting and rifle- ) work well with keeping my (single vision) specs on all the time. For a while I tried wearing vari-focals while stalking but find that the view and accuracy with the rifle-scope is better with single vision specs. I don't take my specs off in the field as a) I can't see without them and b) if I take them off to use bins or scope, I'll put them down somewhere then can't see to find them!
With my current Pulsar Axion XM38, I find it works best with the rubber eye piece folded back down on itself and then looking through my spectacles - but this gives me a slightly reduced field of view compared with taking specs off. Wish thermal imagers had adjustable - screw in/out - eye pieces as on Swaro' and Leica bino's, which allows full functionality for spectacle wearers!
So my question is: can folk tell me which thermal imagers have truly spectacle friendly eye-piece(s) allowing the same sort of flexibility as that found on those high end bino's, without loss of field of view? I'm looking for the experience of folk who have tried actually using the thermal imagers in the field with spectacles as I find that a quick peek through them in the shop or at the game fair is not the same as actually using them in the field. (before you suggest it, I also have dry eye and allergy problems along with the astigmatism and that makes corrective contact lenses a less than ideal solution!)
I find the Axion XM38 fills most of my needs and is a good compromise from the high seat when I'm starting off getting into position 90 or more minutes before sunrise and need to spot the deer some distance away before there's enough light to see them through the bino's/scope. Thus I'm ready, waiting and know where to look from 60 minutes before sunrise, till it gets light enough to see through scope/bino's. The XM38 gives better "reach" than a wider field of view would, but makes it less useful in say, walking through the forest and scanning quickly through the near/middle ground. It occurs to me that the Pulsar XG35 (+/- LRF) would give a wider field of view (much better when on foot), but with its greater pixel count I could use 2x optical zoom to get the same reach (and resolution) as the XM38 for high-seat use - but the XG35 has a different eyepiece which can't be folded back. And even the Axions are a bit pricey to be making mistakes with!
I'd appreciate views from anyone who has experience of spectacle wearing and thermals. Thanks.
Alasdair
Now a days, in my 70's, with my near vision requiring assistance I wear transitional (vari-focal) specs most of the time.
But for stalking I wear single (distance) vision lenses and peer under or over them if I need to look at my phone or watch.
I find quality bino's and scopes (spotting and rifle- ) work well with keeping my (single vision) specs on all the time. For a while I tried wearing vari-focals while stalking but find that the view and accuracy with the rifle-scope is better with single vision specs. I don't take my specs off in the field as a) I can't see without them and b) if I take them off to use bins or scope, I'll put them down somewhere then can't see to find them!
With my current Pulsar Axion XM38, I find it works best with the rubber eye piece folded back down on itself and then looking through my spectacles - but this gives me a slightly reduced field of view compared with taking specs off. Wish thermal imagers had adjustable - screw in/out - eye pieces as on Swaro' and Leica bino's, which allows full functionality for spectacle wearers!
So my question is: can folk tell me which thermal imagers have truly spectacle friendly eye-piece(s) allowing the same sort of flexibility as that found on those high end bino's, without loss of field of view? I'm looking for the experience of folk who have tried actually using the thermal imagers in the field with spectacles as I find that a quick peek through them in the shop or at the game fair is not the same as actually using them in the field. (before you suggest it, I also have dry eye and allergy problems along with the astigmatism and that makes corrective contact lenses a less than ideal solution!)
I find the Axion XM38 fills most of my needs and is a good compromise from the high seat when I'm starting off getting into position 90 or more minutes before sunrise and need to spot the deer some distance away before there's enough light to see them through the bino's/scope. Thus I'm ready, waiting and know where to look from 60 minutes before sunrise, till it gets light enough to see through scope/bino's. The XM38 gives better "reach" than a wider field of view would, but makes it less useful in say, walking through the forest and scanning quickly through the near/middle ground. It occurs to me that the Pulsar XG35 (+/- LRF) would give a wider field of view (much better when on foot), but with its greater pixel count I could use 2x optical zoom to get the same reach (and resolution) as the XM38 for high-seat use - but the XG35 has a different eyepiece which can't be folded back. And even the Axions are a bit pricey to be making mistakes with!
I'd appreciate views from anyone who has experience of spectacle wearing and thermals. Thanks.
Alasdair
with a high powered laser terrifies me.
