Holding binoculars in the right way reduces hand and arm fatigue, which makes bird watching more enjoyable. But the best way to hold binoculars is not immediately obvious to beginners.
You might also encounter problems that can be easily solved with a little know-how. In this article you will learn:
- How to hold your binoculars in the best way in your hands
- Exactly how far to hold the binoculars from your face
- How to solve the common problem of seeing black shapes through your binoculars
With these common queries addressed, you can enjoy your bird watching experience to the fullest.
To check that you have already set up your binoculars correctly to suit the width of your face, check our article here.
Adjusting new binoculars: how to set up and focus binoculars for bird watching
Beginners’ top tip: how should I hold binoculars correctly?
- One suggested technique to hold your binoculars is to put your first two fingers and the next two around the body or barrel. How far around the body of the binoculars will depend of course on the size of the instrument and the size of your hands and fingers.
- Once you have your fingers in the correct position on the binocular body, raise the eyepieces to your eyes.
Your thumbs will line up at the sides of your face. You can rest the joint of your thumbs against the outer edge of your eye socket. - Adjust your grip so that you can hold the binoculars steady while also being able to move one finger to alter the focus wheel as necessary. This is often located in the middle of the hinge between the two barrels.
- Having your hands and wrists in this position allows your grip to be more relaxed. The ergonomics also make it more likely that the rest of your arms will be lined up to brace comfortably against your body.
How close do I hold binoculars to my eyes?
There is an optimal distance at which it is best to hold your binoculars from your eyes. You can tell if your eyes are at the right distance because there will be visual clues.
What does it look like if I hold my binoculars too close?
If you are holding the binoculars too close to your eyes there will be dark shapes at the sides of your vision. With the binoculars too near to your eye, then the image will be unclear around its edge.
Your eyes will get tired quickly and they will be inclined to blink more than usual.
What does it look like if I hold my binoculars too far away?
If you are holding the binoculars too far away from your eyes then you will not be able to see a complete image through the eyepieces. You may only see the center of the image and miss out on the outer edges.
With the binoculars too far from your eye, the image will just shrink into the centre.
You can tell if this is the case because it will be like looking through a hole, like tunnel vision. It’s clear that you only have a restricted view compared to what you should be able to see.
The distance between the ocular lens and your eye is called eye relief. It is really useful to know more about how this affects the quality of your viewing. It will be specified on each pair of binoculars.
Eye relief = the distance between the lens and your eye
If you don’t wear eyeglasses, look for a measurement of 9-13mm, which will allow your eye to be at the right distance for a nice wide field of view.
For those people who do wear glasses, choose a measurement between 14-18mm, depending on the thickness and the distance of the glasses from the eye.
With incorrect eye relief, you’ll find that you are constantly trying to move the binoculars into a suitable position, bumping them into your brow or against your glasses and still getting a distorted image!
For more details, with all you need to know about eye relief, check out our article here.
All about eye relief: choose and use binoculars for glasses wearers
Should binoculars touch my face?
Your binoculars should not touch your face. This distance between your eyes and the ocular lenses, which is called eye relief, means that there is a clear gap in between.
This gap of eye relief means that your eye is at the optimal distance from the lenses so that you see the whole image right to its extreme edges.
Some people do find that it is helpful to rest the binoculars lightly against their brows. It should not be necessary. But if you find this suits you, ensure that you are still able to benefit from the full width of the image.
Pressing the binoculars against your face may cause damage to the instrument. It may also cause discomfort to you. Natural oils from your skin will need cleaning off to take care of the binocular coating.
The most important thing to remember about the positioning of your binoculars is that you should see a full, clear image of whatever you are looking at. The image should be free of shadows or dark shapes around the outer edges.
If you are not seeing a proper image, check our guidance on how to hold binoculars. We tell you how to set them up to suit the width of your face. There is a link at the end of this article for you to move onto.
Why do I see black spots in binoculars?
If your view through your binoculars is spoiled by black shapes, there are a couple of possibilities to check to get rid of them.
Are the binocular barrels too far apart?
To make sure that the distance is set correctly, lift the binoculars up to your eyes and look through. Ideally, you will see a perfect bright circle. If you see black areas it means that the width isn’t set correctly.
The two barrels of the binoculars are connected by one or two central pivots. Gently but firmly squeeze or extend these hinges so that the space between the eyepieces matches the space between your eyes.
This means that the left and right fields of view are aligned correctly for your particular interpupillary distance. If you begin with two circles, move the barrels so that they merge into one.
Have you extended the binocular eye cups?
Most binoculars for bird watching have adjustable eye cups on the ocular lenses, closest to your eye. These eye cups are fixed outside of the ocular/optical lens and fit into your eye socket.
Eye cups enhance your experience by enabling you to tailor your pair of binoculars to your own eyes, with or without glasses.
But if you don’t have these set correctly for your eyes, you are likely to see black shapes restricting your view all around the outside of the image.
Sometimes these shapes or shadows can look like kidney beans, usually around the edges. This problem can be known as a ‘kidney bean blackout’.
How do I extend or fold up the binocular eye cups?
These eye cups can be extended. This is most useful for people who do not wear glasses. They twist or pull out so that you can adjust the eye relief to suit your eyes, whether or not you wear glasses.
Glasses wearers would usually want the eye cups unextended. This will keep their eyes as close as possible to the optical lens.
When your eyes are at the correct distance from the lenses, you will find the sweet spot for the best image.
If you make these two adjustments correctly, it should solve the issue of the floating kidney bean shadows. Binocular blackouts should be a thing of the past!
Next steps for using your binoculars properly
To know more about how to set up your binoculars correctly to suit the width of your face, check our article here.
Adjusting new binoculars: how to set up and focus binoculars for bird watching
This will explain in more detail about the importance of getting the correct interpupillary distance for your eyes. It also explains how and why it is possible to calibrate your binoculars. Correct calibration means your binoculars are adjusted perfectly to suit the vision in each of your eyes individually.
The positioning of your eye in the correct position in front of the binoculars is crucial to ensure a clear and bright image. This allows you to get the maximum benefit from your bird watching tool.
Another good tip to move on to is to find out how to get the best image, free of any shaking, when you are hand holding your binoculars > Hold steady: how to stabilize binoculars without shaking
Caring for your binoculars in the right way will not only extend their life, but improve the views that you can see as well. These suggestions may help > Maintenance and cleaning: how to care for binoculars